Ernakulam, Kerala, India

🇮🇳 Ernakulam, is the central portion of the city of Kochi in Kerala, India and has lent its name to the Ernakulam district. Many major establishments, including the Kerala High Court, the office of the Kochi Municipal Corporation and the Cochin Stock Exchange are situated here. Ernakulam, which is where a huge part of the commercial activity in Kochi city happen, is known as the commercial capital of Kerala. The Ernakulam Junction is a major railway station of the Indian Railways, and the busiest railway station in Kochi city. Initially, Ernakulam was the headquarters of the Ernakulam District but was later shifted to Kakkanad, an eastern region in Kochi. Ernakulam was once the capital of the Kingdom of Cochin. The city has served as an incubator for many Malayali entrepreneurs and is a major financial and commercial hub of Kerala. The Kochi Metro's first phase runs through Ernakulam region as well. The second phase aims to connect the CBD with the IT hub of Kakkanad.

Etymology The word Ernakulam has a varied derivation, with some references to mythology and others to temples. According to Komattil Achutha Menon, the word Erangiyal got its start from a particular kind of mud. In the past, Lord Shiva was referred to as Erayanar in Chennai. This was done in Kerala as well, and it became known as Ernakulam after that. There are also other opinions about the origin of the name, saying that Rishinagakulam became Ernakulam after losing it, but that the word Ernakulam came from Ernakulathappan Temple, and that it came from the word Kulam (Pond) for a long time because it was full of water bodies.

History The region can claim to have played a significant part in fostering the trade relations between Kerala and the outside world in the ancient and medieval period. The early political history of Ernakulam is interlinked with that of the Chera Dynasty of the Sangam age, who ruled over vast portions of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. After the Cheras, the place was later ruled by the Kingdom of Cochin (Perumpadapu Swaroopam).

Princely State of Cochin Although under British suzerainty (specifically the East India Company) since the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814, Rama Varma XII of the Kingdom of Cochin moved his capital from Mattancherry to Tripunithura in about 1840. Fort Cochin Municipality was established in 1866 under the Madras Town Improvement Act of 1865, and municipal elections were first held in 1883. Ernakulam became a municipality in 1910. In the first state census of 1911, the population of Ernakulam was 21,901; 11,197 Hindus, 9,357 Christians, 935 Muslims, and 412 Jews.

Geography The Ernakulam District is situated in Central Kerala in India. Ernakulam is located at an elevation of 22.36 m (73.4 ft) above the mean sea level.

Economy As of November 2012, Ernakulam was on target to become the first district in the nation of India to have 100% banking, ensuring that all families, except for voluntary exclusions, hold bank accounts.

Ernakulam, aka the CBD (Central Business District) of Kochi, has seen high urbanisation in the past few decades, thus turning it into an economic hub of the city. The first traces of this transformation were seen after the MG Road connecting Ravipuram and Kacherippady was opened in 1972. The development took a new shape after the Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA) built the Marine Drive to the West of MG Road, in the late 70s. Marine Drive and MG Road thus became the backbone of Kochi's economic activities, and acted as the base for the city to expand in all directions thereafter. Although the current bypass of Ernakulam is quickly becoming the new,

Transport: Road Ernakulam is a city that is connected to the North-South Corridor National Highway System via the four-laned National Highway 66 as well as National Highway 544.The MC Road starting from Thiruvananthapuram ends in Angamaly. The highway traverses through the entire length and breadth of the city from different points and provides access to the nearby cities such as Thrissur, Palakkad, Salem and Coimbatore. NH 66 was supposed to be acting as the bypass for Kochi city, but the fast-paced urban expansion of Kochi has meant that the bypass quickly became a city road passing through the middle of it, thereby forcing the NHAI to propose a new bypass for the city.

The state-owned Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) runs inter-state, inter-district and city services, mostly from the Ernakulam KSRTC bus stand which is the busiest bus stand in Kochi after the Vytilla Mobility Hub. The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation also operates two other bus stations in Ernakulam region of Kochi city, called as Ernakulam Jetty and Thevara Depot.

Transport: Rail The Ernakulam Junction railway station is located close to the city's main shopping area situated on Ernakulam MG Road, and is connected by metro. The Southern Railway Zone of the Indian Railways operates the main rail transport system in Ernakulam.

The Ernakulam Junction Railway Station is a junction and departing station of passengers and express trains, and is the stopping point for trains going towards the south side Alappuzha. Both the North and South railway stations have been selected by the Ministry of Railways to be upgraded to airport-like ones. The redevelopment of the Ernakulam Junction railway station has recently gotten underway.

Transport: Air The Cochin International Airport is situated about 27 km away from Ernakulam. The old civilian airport of Kochi was situated much closer to Ernakulam, at Willingdon Island. It is now formally known as INS Garuda, and is a part of the Southern Naval Commanheadquarters headquarters.

Transport: Metro Ernakulam region is connected with the other parts of Kochi city with the Kochi Metro, which was opened in July 2017. The first phase is being set up at an estimated cost of ₹51.81 billion (US$650 million), and has a length of over 28 km stretching from Aluva in the north to Tripunithura railway station in the south-east, passing through Ernakulam. Currently 25.6 km of phase 1 from Aluva to Pettah is open to public while the remaining 2.7 km from Pettah to Tripunithura is under construction.

Water Ernakulam has a number of jetties where passengers can embark and disembark from ferries. Ferry services connect with Willingdon Island, Mattancherry, Fort Kochi and Mulavukadu, at intervals of 20 minutes. Kochi Water Metro is an integrated water metro system serving the Greater Kochi region.

Media: Print Major Malayalam newspapers published in Ernakulam include Malayala Manorama, Mathrubhumi, Janmabhoomi, Madhyamam, Deshabhimani, Deepika, Kerala Kaumudi, Thejas, Metro Vartha, Siraj Daily, Varthamanam, Janayugam, Kochi Vartha and Veekshanam.

Popular English newspapers include Deccan Chronicle, The Times of India, The Hindu, and The New Indian Express. A number of evening papers are also published from the city.

Newspapers in other regional languages like Hindi, Kannada, Tamil and Telugu are also sold in large numbers.

Being the seat of the Cochin Stock Exchange, a number of financial publications are also published in the city. These include The Economic Times, Business Line, The Business Standard and The Financial Express.

Prominent magazines and religious publications like the Sathyadeepam and The Week are also published.

Media: Television Television stations in Ernakulam include Asianet, Asianet Plus, Asianet News, Zee Keralam, Surya TV, Surya Movies, Surya Music, Surya Comedy Channel, Amrita TV, Media One, Twentyfour News, Jeevan TV, Manorama news, Mathrubhumi News, Janam TV, WE TV, Flowers TV and Reporter TV. DTH services are available through DD Free Dish, airtel digital TV, Dish TV, Sun Direct, Tata Sky, Independent TV (India) and Videocon d2h. The cable operators in Ernakulam are Asianet Digital TV, Siti Cable, Kerala Vision, DEN Networks. The local channels are Asianet Cable Vision, Ernakulam cable TV and Den mtn.

Media: Radio All India Radio has two FM stations in the city, operating at 102.3  MHz AIR Kochi FM and 107.5 MHz. AIR Rainbow FM Private FM radio stations are Radio Mango 91.9, Red FM 93.5, 94.3 Club FM and 104.0 Radio Mirchi. These operate 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

Education • Universities – Cochin University of Science and Technology, National University of Advanced Legal Studies, Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies, Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit • Colleges – Maharajas College, St. Teresa's College, St. Albert's College, Sacred Heart College, Thevara, Cochin University of Science and Technology, St. Paul’s College, Kalamassery, Rajagiri College of Social Sciences, Bharata Mata College, School of Engineering, CUSAT, KMEA Engineering College, Government Medical College, Ernakulam, Government Model Engineering College,De paul institute of Science and Technology, Government Law College, Ernakulam, Union Christian College, Aluva, Viswajyothi College of Engineering and Technology, Muthoot Institute of Technology and Science, Puthencruz, Federal Institute of Science, Angamaly,SCMS School of Engineering and Technology National University of Advanced Legal Studies.