About
Punanvely
PUNNAVELY IS A SMALL
VILLAGE SITUATED IN MALLAPALLY TALUK OF PATHANAMTHITTA DISTRICT. IT
IS ABOUT 30KM EAST OF MALLAPPALLY
Punnavely is about
12sq.km in area with approximately 500 families and a population of
about 2500 to 3000 people. About 100 to 150 years ago a few families
from nearby places like mallappally, thiruvalla, ranni and so on
acquired land and settled down at punnavely. A good proportion of
the present population are descendants of those setters.
How did punnavely
get its name?
There are a
few explanations. However, a more reliable one seems to be that
according to some of the old folks, there was a vast area of land
near the big stream( valiya thodu)
not far from the present Marthoma church. It was a hillock as well.
The hillock has a large field( vayal)
which contained PUNNA TREES (punna is
a medium sized evergreen smooth skinned trees,
15to18 meters in hight, a medicinal plant very useful as ointment for
rheumatism. In foreign countries its oil is known as “bombay oil”.
Punna belongs to the GUTTIFERAE family; its scientific name is
calophyllum inophyllum linn; Alaxandria laurel in English,
sultan campa, sultana campak in Hindi).
Punna vayal became Punnaveli. ( Punnavely was spelt Punnavelie in the
1920s; nowadays it is either spelt Punnavely or Punnaveli).
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