Pallam (Pallom), is a small village in the Kottayam district of Kerala state, south India. It is near Kottayam town.
The village has a mix of predominantly Hindu and Christian residents.
St. Paul's Orthodox Church, which has a history of over 150 years, St. John the Baptist CSI Church with its unique architecture (may be influenced by the leanings of the Orthodox Syrian Christians who joined the newly found CSI Church by the Church Mission Society from Britain, St. Ignatius JSO Church (Kallooparamb Pally), and St. Andrew's CSI Church and Valiyaveettil Devi Temple, Pakkil Sasta Temple (believed to have been consecrated by Parasurama), Mavilangu Mahalakshmi Temple are the major attractions of Pallam. The Thiruvarpu temple is also located nearby. St. Mathew's Church is a Roman Catholic church in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kottar, and was established in 1939. Syrian Christians have a significant presence here. They seem to have come to Pallam after the arrival of the Pallam Royal family of the Thekkum Koor Dynasty. They also settled there to purify the oil bought from the market; in those days Syrian Christians were appointed to act as the comptrollers and purchase agents of royal house-holds, partly due to their mythical ability to touch and purify oil. The 'Parekadavil' family is also ancient Syrian Christian family at Pallam. Parekadavil Kuriala Mani or Mani 'Ashaan' as he was popularly called, was one of the early graduates in Pallam from the 1900s with a B.A. degree and Licentiate in Teaching, who went on to become an Inspector of Schools at Kottayam. His daughter, the venerable Miss Alice Mani, was the first woman from the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church to be conferred with the Bachelor of Divinity degree, and went on to be one of the longest serving Indian head-mistresses of the Buchanan Girls High School at Pallam. The 'Ennakkal' family is also another ancient Syrian Christian Family from and at Pallom . It houses many famous persons like EC George Sudharshan (scientist)
Among the prominent Syrian Christian families in Pallam are the 'Edathumpadickal' family, which literally means resident of the left gate of the Edathil Palace. Mathu (Mathew) of Edathumpadickal was the Commander of Royal Army Pallam, known as Akambadi Naayakan Mathu. The 'Pulluparambil' and 'Kannampuram' families were very active in the administrative activities of the erstwhile State of Travancore-Cochin, as well as in the setting up of activities by the English Missionaries.
These predominant Syrian Christian families are believed to be branches of descendants of the first four Brahmin families who believed the Gospel and embraced Christianity, as preached by Saint Thomas, one of the twelve disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. Education
Prior to the arrival of CMS Missioners itself, this place was famous for education. There had some prominent Gurus ( teachers) who used to follow Gurukul Education System . Ulahannan Asan of Aaryattuparampil was one among them who was the teacher of Catholicose Mar Baselios Geevarghese II .Later he joined hands with CMS Missioeries to start English Education at Pallom This is the place where one of the earliest schools were set up in Kerala, CMS Middle school (Currently CMS Higher Secondary School) and the Buchanan Institutions started by Henry Baker. The Buchanan Teacher Training School helped a lot in the spread of education, especially among the lower echelons of society, through the dedicated teachers trained there. The region benefited a lot from the early exposure to English education and the first graduate in Kerala is supposed to belong to this village. The village has kindergarten, primary and secondary schools. The C.M.S. (erstwhile Church Mission Society, currently under CSI Madhya Kerala Diocese Society) runs separate schools for boys and girls. The main playground for soccer is in the boy's school. St. Paul's C.B.S.E. School is run by the St. Paul's Orthodox Church.