Ottapalam
Town in Palakkad district, Kerala, India
Ottapalam (also spelled Ottappalam) is a town, taluk, and municipality in the Palakkad District of Kerala, India. It is the administrative headquarters of Ottapalam taluk and is located approximately 34 km (21 mi) from the Palakkad (district HQ), along the banks of the Bharathapuzha River, the second-longest river in the state.
It is one of the major commercial centres in the district. It is also one of the major filming locations in Kerala, including the 2010 feature film Pokkiri Raja.
Etymology
History
The area was formerly known as Ayirur Thekkummuri Desam. The present-day Ottapalam, Pattambi and Cherpulassery areas were part of the medieval Nedunganad kingdom. Nedunganathiripad (Nedungadi) was the main ruler of Nedunganad. The headquarters was at Makovilakam near Kodikunnu, Chembulangad. Nedunaganad was ruled by the Nairs of Kavalappara, Thrikkadeeri, Kannambra, Vattakkavil Perumbada under the leadership of Nedunganathiripad. Ottappalam was the administrative area of Thrikkadeeri Nair.
“Ottapalam” enters the record as town in Palakkad district, Kerala, India. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Ottapalam, Town and Palakkad can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Ottapalam” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Ottapalam, Town and Palakkad provides the most credible route into that argument.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 13, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2568304. Authority coordinates are 10.770, 76.380. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2010.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Ottapalam”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Ottapalam primary sources, Ottapalam archive and Ottapalam research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Ottapalam”?
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- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Ottapalam” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.