Poonjar is a small town in the Kottayam district

Kottayam district

Kottayam is one of the 14 districts in the state of Kerala, India. The district has its headquarters at Kottayam town, located at 9.36° N and 76.17° E. According to the 1991 census, it is the first district to achieve highest literacy rate in the whole of India...

 of Kerala

Kerala

or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....

 state, India. Before the independence of India, Poonjar had been the capital of the Poonjar Koyikkal Swaroopam or Edavaka.

History

The ancient palace and temples dedicated to Sree Dharma Shastha and Meenakshi are located on the banks of the Meenachil River. Raghubir Singh, the famed National Geographic photographer, has published photographs of this temple, nestled in the foothills of the high ranges of Kerala, in National Geographic. The S.M.V. High School, dedicated to the memory of the eldest nephew (Sri Moolam Tirunal) of Maharaja Shri Chitra Tirunal, was the only school in the district for decades and luminaries of all political and religious hues who have played formative roles in modern Kerala have passed through its gates. The school, as well as five temples, are currently managed by a family trust. Colonel Goda Varma Raja, the consort of the Maharani of erstwhile Travancore, Karthika Tirunal, and brother-in-law of Maharaja Sri Chitra Tirunal, was a member of this family. His elder brother was P. R. Rama Varma Raja, who, after a difference of opinion with C. P. Ramaswami Iyer, left Travancore in the late 1930s, and purchased 36000 acres (145.7 km²) of land in Alakode,Taliparamba taluk of Kannur district. He was often referred to as the Alakode Raja.

In the recent past, July 1877, among other leases, the family leased 125000 acres (505.9 km²) for 99 years, to a British planter named Thomas Munro. This is the famous Kannan Devan Hill Produce Company (KDHP) lease. This lease, not ownership, was passed on to Finlays in the 1930s, and subsequently taken over by TATA Tea Ltd in the 1950s. The lease has since expired and the land ownership is in dispute.

Geography

Geographically Poonjar is divided into Poonjar Thekkekara and Poonjar Nadubhagam villages. It is secular in nature. There are more than 6 temples and 6 churches.

Education

S. M. V. Higher Secondary School and St. Antony's Higher Secondary School are the main higher secondary schools in Poonjar.

In the year 2000, an Engineering College managed by the Institute of Human Resource Development (IHRD) was constructed near the Poonjar bus stand. The college was given the name College of Engineering, Poonjar

College of Engineering, Poonjar

The College of Engineering Poonjar , commonly known as CEP, is an engineering institute in the state of Kerala, India. The college is affiliated to the Cochin University of Science and Technology, Kochi, and the courses are recognised by AICTE.- Overview :College of Engineering, Poonjar is...

. In the year 2003, a separate building was constructed for the college at Payyanithotam (4 km from Poonjar) in order to avoid the disturbances caused during peak hours at the bus stand.

Politics

Poonjar is one of the 140 legislative assembly

Legislative Assembly

Legislative Assembly is the name given in some countries to either a legislature, or to one of its branch.The name is used by a number of member-states of the Commonwealth of Nations, as well as a number of Latin American countries....

 constituencies of Kerala

Kerala

or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....

 state. Poonjar's assembly constituency is part of Pathanamthitta (Lok Sabha constituency)

Pathanamthitta (Lok Sabha constituency)

Pathanamthitta Lok Sabha constituency is one of the 20 Lok Sabha constituencies in Kerala state in southern India. It is a newly formed constituency in the Central Travancore region of Kerala for the election of a member of the Lok Sabha...

. Previously it was part of Muvattupuzha (Lok Sabha constituency)

Muvattupuzha (Lok Sabha constituency)

-Assembly segments:Muvattupuzha Lok Sabha constituency was composed of the following assembly segments:#Kunnathunad#Piravom#Muvattupuzha#Kothamangalam#Kanjirappally#Poonjar#Palai-Members of Parliament:*1952: P. T...

. The major political parties of Poonjar are Kerala Congress (M), Indian National Congress, CPI (M) and CPI.

Eminent political leaders of the past include A. J. John, Anapparambil (former Chief Minister of Travancore-Cochin) and K. M. George (former Minster and the founder of Kerala Congress).

The present political leaders of Kerala who are from Poonjar are N. M. Joseph (former minister and State President of Janathadal (S)) and P. C. George

P. C. George

P.C. George is the incumbent MLA from Poonjar constituency in Kottayam District of Kerala. George is also vice-chairman of Kerala Congress , a splinter faction of Kerala Congress....

.