Manjapra

Manjapra
town

Government Higher Secondary School, Manjapra
Manjapra

Location in Kerala, India

Coordinates: 10°12′30″N 76°27′10″E / 10.20833°N 76.45278°E / 10.20833; 76.45278Coordinates: 10°12′30″N 76°27′10″E / 10.20833°N 76.45278°E / 10.20833; 76.45278
Country  India[1]
State Kerala
District Ernakulam[2]
Languages
  Official Malayalam, English
Time zone IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN 683581
Nearest city Angamaly
Lok Sabha constituency chalakudy

Manjapra is a small village situated in Ernakulam district, Kerala state, south India. It is situated about 9 km from Angamaly and 7 km from Kalady. Chandrappura and Vadakkumbhagom are the main business centers.

If you look Manjapra from space, it looks like an island surrounded by paddy fields on all sides. The unique geographical feature of Manjapra is that all four entry points to this panchayat are from a padam (cultivated paddy field) and stream of water called as Thoodu. First entry point is Kuzhiampadam from Kalady town, the other one is Karingallikkadu padam from Angamaly town, the third one is Naduthodu from Neeleswaram panchayat and the last one is Kothayipadam from Azyampuzha panchayat.Another famous agriculture hub is mularippadam,near chandrapura.

Manjapra, known as green village,is very close to famous Christian pilgrimage centre, Malayattoor, which is one of the few places visited by Saint Thomas, an apostle of Jesus Christ. Also,It is closer to the renowned Sree Sankara Temple, Kalady.Manjapra is renowned for its religious harmony and the people's attitude in celebrating festivals together.

Chandrapura is the main business hub with all the government offices including panchayat, village, electricity office and krishibhavan is located. Manjapra is blessed with 3 major schools (St Marys U.P.S, Government High School and St. Patrick academy)that provide quality education. Traditionally, the people of manjapra is known for their skill and knowledge in brewering liquor and agriculture products. Quality agriculture products are exported to different parts of the world from this village carrying the brand name of Manjapra. Crops include snake beans, bananas, bitter melon, nutmeg, pepper, tapioca etc. A majority of the youth from this village works in jobs like IT professionals, nurses, doctors, teachers, technicians etc. A lot of talented employees in Australia, UK, Middle East are born and broughtup from this blessed village.


Religious places

These are the religious places in Manjapra, Holy Cross Church, Karppillikkavu Sree Mahadeva Temple, St. George Church and Puthoorppilly Sree Krishnaswamy Temple.

Karppillikkavu temple is one of the rare temples in Kerala in which Mahadeva is giving "Darshan" to the west. Puthoorppilly temple is also known as "Kallamabalam" because of its unique architecture where the sanctum sanctorum is made of "Kallu"-Malayalam for stone-. Legend says that this has been made by the "Bhuthaganas" of Lord Shiva overnight. The temple is a protected site by the Archaeological Survey of India and managed by the Travancore Devaswom Board.

The main church, Holy Cross Church Manjapra, is another religious hotspot in Ernakulam district in Kerala. The church celebrates the feast "perunnal" of St. Sebastian and St.Mary in the months of January and November every year. It is believed the church was built about 500 years ago [AD 1401] and the monument of this construction is still protected. Sebipuram church situated in the northside of manjapra, celebrates the feast of St.Sebastian and St.Alphonsa during the months of January and August every year.

References

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