Adoor

Adoor is a municipality in the Pathanamthitta district of Kerala, India. It is the headquarters of the Adoor Taluk and Adoor Revenue Division. Adoor is located 18 km southwest of the district headquarters Pathanamthitta and 85 km north of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram.

As per the 2011 Indian Census, Adoor had a population of 29,171.

Etymology
Adoor (Ad-oor) in Malayalam translates as "Ad" means "separated" (adarnu) and "oor" means "place" or "land". So it means "adarnu kittiya ooru" in Malayalam and in English it means "An obtained separated land". Also called as, "Noble" ആഢ്യൻ" and "oor" 'ഊര്" means "place" or "land". So it means "Aadyanmaarude Ooru " "ആഢ്യൻമാരുടെ ഊര് " in Malayalam and in English it means "Land of Noble personnel".

History
The history of Adoor is directly connected to the history of Kollam district. During the 1st century A.D., most of the places in Kollam district were ruled by the Ay Kingdom, with their headquarters at south Travancore. It is known that during the rule of the Ay Kings, a Buddhist Monastery existed in Adoor. Some megalithic monuments like dolmens, dating back to the Neolithic period, have been discovered in the Enadimangalam village of Adoor Taluk.

Adoor was once part of Ilayidathu Dynasty and Pandalam dynasty. In 1741, Venad Maharaja Marthandavarma included Adoor to the Travancore Kingdom. King Marthandavarma once came to Adoor to hide from Ettuvettil Pillai (a wealthy family who tried to capture King Marthandavarma and to get hold of his throne) and sought the help from Chittundayil house but it was refused and then support and shelter was provided by the grandmother of Nellimuttil family at Adoor, in the later days, after he became the King he then made revenge to the Chittundayil house and granted help to the Nellimuttil house. During the rule of Dharmaraja, a notable event was the battle against Tippu Sultan, where travancore made alliance with the East India Company. During the rule of Rani Gowri Parvathy Bayi, in 1812 A.D., pandalam was annexed to the kingdom of Travancore. The Anantharamapuram market situated at Parakkode is known to be one of the oldest, largest and busiest market during the Travancore era. After India got its independence in 1947, the Maharaja of Travancore refused to join Indian Union, but later had to agree. On 1 July 1949, Travancore and Cochin States were integrated and the Maharaja of Travancore became Rajpramukh of Travancore-Cochin State. On 1 November 1956, The State of Kerala was formed integrating the earlier regions of Travancore, Cochin and Malabar. After that, Adoor was in Kollam district until a new 13th district called, the Pathanamthitta District came into existence as a separate administrative unit on the 1 November 1982. The newly formed Adoor Taluk comprised nine Villages of Kunnathur Taluk and two villages of Mavelikkara Taluk of former Kollam and Alappuzha districts. On 1 April 1990, Adoor municipality came into existence and the area under Adoor municipality is presently known as Adoor Town.

Adoor was part of Central Travancore and was never directly under British rule. Adoor was a major town of both wealthy Hindu families and notable Saint Thomas Christian families. Adoor was never captured by King Marthanadavarma.

Adoor Dharma Hospital (now known as Adoor General Hospital) was established in the 1880s during Travancore rule.

In 1914, the first school opened in Adoor: Adoor Malayalam School, known today as Adoor Govt. UP School.

In 1934, Mahatma Gandhi visited Adoor and laid the foundation stone of the present SNDP building situated near a private bus stand. The message of khadi and charkha gained more attention during this time. During the 1940s, communism started emerging in Adoor. SNDP and NSS have made great contributions to the development of Adoor.

Administration
Adoor is part of the Pathanamthitta district and is one of the two major revenue divisions of Pathanamthitta. Before the formation of the Pathanamthitta district in 1982, Adoor belonged to the Kollam district. Adoor's Assembly Constituency is a part of the newly formed Pathanamthitta Loksabha with the present MP being Shri Anto Antony. The present MLA of Adoor is Shri Chittayam Gopakumar.

Municipality Wards
Adoor Town consists of 28 wards of Adoor Municipality.

Adoor Revenue Division
Adoor Taluk consists of two municipal towns: Adoor and Pandalam. Adoor is one among the only two revenue divisions of the Pathanamthitta district. The Adoor Revenue Division includes Kozhencherry (Pathanamthitta), Konni, and Adoor Taluks. The revenue division was previously located in the Kollam District. Adoor is located between the two major cities of Trivandrum and Kochi in south Kerala.

Municipalities and Block Panchayats of Adoor Thaluk
With headquarters at Adoor town, the Adoor Thaluk consists of two Municipalities and two Block Panchayats. Pandalam Block Panchayat includes two Panchayats (Thumpamon, Pandalam Thekkekara) from Adoor Thaluk, while the remaining are under Kozhenchery Thaluk.

Demographics
As per the 2011 Indian census, Adoor has a population of 29,171 and a population density of 1401 PD/km2. Of this, 47.1% are males and 52.9% are female. 8.27% of the population is under 6 years of age. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes constitute 12.41% and 0.13% of the population respectively. The total literacy rate was 96.31% (97.49% for males and 95.27% for females), which is higher than the state average of 94% and the national average of 74.04%.

Religion
According to the 2011 census, Hindus are the majority with 54% of the population adhering to the religion. Christians form a significant minority, constituting 37% of the population. Muslims constitute 9% of the population.

Hospitals and Dental Clinics

 * Govt. General Hospital, Adoor
 * Lifeline superspeciality hospital and fertility clinic, Adoor
 * Mount Zion medical college Hospital, Adoor
 * Hollycross Hospital, Adoor
 * Maria Hospital, Adoor
 * Mount Sinai Medical Centre, Paranthal
 * Government Veterinary Hospital, Adoor
 * Moses Dental Clinic, Adoor

Adoor has at least four medical colleges within 40 km radius or one hour travel proximity. Famous Medical colleges and hospitals include Konni Government Medical College (28 km), Pushpagiri Medical College (31 km), Believers Church Medical College Hospitals (37 km) and Muthootu Medical Centre Pathanamthitta (18 km).

Hotels

 * Park Residency 4 star Hotel
 * Wyte Portico

Landmarks
Adoor is home to many places of worship, including the Mannadi Temple.
 * Sree Narayanapuram Mahavishnu Temple


 * Juma Al Masjid, Central - Adoor


 * Gandhi Circle, Adoor


 * St. Thomas Orthodox Cathedral, Kannamcode
 * St. Mary's Orthodox Church | Holy MarthaMariam Pilgrim Centre, Karuvatta - Adoor

Road


Adoor is a junction with major roads connecting it to Ernakulam, Trivandrum, Kayankulam, Punalur, Pathanamthitta and Kollam. The only means of transport in Adoor is roadways. There are two bus stands in Adoor. KSRTC bus stand has got 24 hours bus services with daily interstate, interdistrict and town connectivity. The municipal bus stand near bypass stations all private busses.

KSRTC provides services to nearby states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Major services include super deluxe, superfast, and fast passengers to Mangalore, Manipal, Marthandam, Thalakkulam, Sulthan Batheri, Perikkalur, Kannur, Udayagiri, Kozhikode, Thrissur, Ernakulam, Trivandrum.

Bus services from other depots towards Bangalore (Scania), Sulliya (Super Deluxe), Batheri (Super Deluxe), Thenkasi (Fast Passenger), Pazhani (Super Fast, Fast Passenger) are also available.

Private bus services like Kallada, Kerala Lines, and Rukma have daily services towards Bangalore, Chennai, and other destinations from Adoor.

Being the center of southern Kerala, Adoor has good highways and modern roads for travel and the shipment of goods. Adoor has the MC road (SH1) passing through it until Trivandrum and the National Highway 183A passing through Adoor connecting Pathanamthitta and other major places. Built during the era of the Travancore Dynasty, recently MC road from Kazhakoottam to Adoor was raised to the status of safety road. This is the first safety road project to be built in Kerala. Adoor bypass starts from Nellimutilpadi in Adoor, passes through Moonnalam, and ends at Karuvatta in Adoor. The Kayamkulam-Punalur (SH8) road also passes through Adoor making it the centre of Kayamkulam and Punalur. KP Road connects Adoor to various places like Charummood, Pathanapuram. People mostly use MC-Road in Adoor for traveling to Trivandrum rather than using National Highway 66 to avoid traffic jams. This makes the MC-Road the most popular route for traveling to Trivandrum. The National Highway 183, which Starts from Kollam, passes through Adoor and ends at Theni in Tamil Nadu. There are plans to bring ring roads within Adoor. The upcoming projects of renovating and expanding 110 crores Anayadi- Koodal road and 42crore Ezhamkulam - Kaipattoor road are under process.

Airports
The nearest airport is at Thiruvananthapuram-Thiruvananthapuram International Airport which is 90 km away.

Railways
The nearest railway stations are Kayamkulam Junction Railway Station 25 km away, Chengannur Railway Station, Kottarakara Railway Station (21.5 km). A railway station was planned for Adoor but this plan was shifted to Mavelikkara. There are considerations about bringing a major junction railway station to Adoor. The proposed railway station will have railway flyovers and nearly eight tracks with lines Kayamkulam-Punalur via Adoor, Chengannur-Thiruvananthapuram via Adoor.

Education

 * College of Engineering, Adoor
 * Kendriya Vidyalaya Adoor

Notable people

 * Adoor Bhasi, actor
 * Adoor Bhavani, actress
 * Adoor Gopalakrishnan, director
 * Dr. Jitheshji, World's Fastest Cartoonist
 * Govindankutty, actor-anchor
 * Gouri G. Kishan, actress
 * Adoor Pankajam, actress
 * Adoor Prakash, former Kerala Minister, present Attingal MP
 * E. V. Krishna Pillai, writer
 * Anil Adoor, Vice President of Asianet, Visual Media Journalist