Kattappana - Religion and Demographics

Religion and Demographics

Current population consists mostly of descendants of migrants who migrated to the area in early 1950s, when the area was forest land. The town has a large population of Syrian Catholic families who migrated to Kattappana in early 1950s from Central Travancore. St. George Forane Church was the first major edifice in the town built by the first settlers to the area. The Nair and Ezhava communities also make up a good part of the population. The landmark of the town is a magnificent edifice dedicated to Sree Narayana Gurudev. There are also Muslim families here and the Juma Masjid caters to their religious needs. Religious harmony has been a notable feature of the town.
. The major places of religious worship include:

• Jyothis Bishop's House,Malankara Catholic Church- Idukki Region, Jyothis Center, Kattappana
• St.George Forane Syrian Catholic Church,Pallikavala, Kattappana (Diocese of Kanjirappally)
• St.George Syrian Catholic Church,Vellyamkudy,Kattappana(Idukki Diocese)
• St. Paul's Malankara Catholic Church, Jyothis Centre, Kattappana (Archdiocese of Tiruvalla)
• St Mary's Orthodox Church, Kattappana
• St George Jacobite Syrian Church, Kattappana (under Idukki Bhadrasanam)
• St Mary's Knanaya Church, Kattappana
• St. John's CSI Church, Kattappana
• India Pentecostal Mission Church, Kattappana
• Sree Lakshminarayana Temple, Idukkikavala, Kattappana
• Sree Dharma Sastha Temple, Ambalakavala
• Visvakarma Mahadeva Temple,Kochuthovala Rd, Kattappana
• Darussalam Juma Masjid, Kattappana

Descendants of earlier inhabitants, the tribals of the forest, can still be seen. The Mannan tribe is now concentrated around Kozhimala, near Kanchiyar. They still have a King residing at Kozhimala. The Mannan kingdom in Idukki forest areas, was reportedly a feudatory of the erstwhile Pandya Kings of Madurai and later became protege of the Poonjar Raja and Travancore Kingdom.

Before large scale migration and settlement took place in Kattappana and surrounding areas in early 1950s, there were Tamil farmers here who were seasonal farmers mainly harvesting the cardamom that was then growing naturally in the wild in the deep dense forests. There is a sizable number of Tamil labor force forming part of the floating population of Kattappana. The 1950s settlement was induced by the State Government leasing out forest land for cardamom cultivation.