Muvattupuzha is a municipality in Ernakulam district in the Indian state of Kerala. It is a medium sized town situated 42 km north-east of Ernakulam City, Kerala state, India. The town is located at 9.9670N, 76.5830E. It is an important town in central Kerala. It lies between Thrissur and Kottayam on the Main Central Road (MC Road) which runs along the length of the old Travancore, from Trivandrum to Angamaly.
The first and second longest state highways of Kerala viz Main Central Road (Angamali - Trivandrum / SH-01 / 240 km) and Main Eastern Highway (Muvattupuzha - Punalur / SH-08 / 154 km) meet here. Also, the Kundannor (Kochi) - Madurai NH 49 passes through here.

Muvattupuzha River
The town is named after the Muvattupuzha river (Muvattupuzha Aar) which flows through it. The name is made up of three Malayalam words: 'Moo', which stands for 'three', 'aaru' - small river, and 'puzha', which also means a river. 'Aaru' is a word that is usually used to rivers in the southern half of Kerala, while 'puzha's are northern rivers. The three rivers in this case are the Kothamangalam river or Kothayaar, Kaliyar and Thodupuzhayaar, which merge to form a single river. Thus it is called Thriveni Sangamam or Centre Point in Malayalam.
Muvattupuzha Aar (Malayalam: മൂവാറ്റുപുഴയാര്‍, Muvattupuzha River) which starts and flows through Muvattupuzha town runs for 121 km. The major source of water is the Thodupuzha River which starts in the Idukki district and provides a good supply of water troughout the year, enabled by the supply of water from Idukki Arch Dam. Idukki Dam is the largest Arch Dam in India and it is used for hydro-electric power generation. Muvattupuzhayar is the prime victim of river pollution nowadays. Municipalities, hospitals, hotels, commercial shops .. all are dumping tonnes of waste in the river without any resistance whatsoever. Green People, people for socio-environmental works, an environmental organisation is now leading a campaign to save the Muvattupuzhayar.

The Nirmala College in Muvattupuzha

History
It was part of the Vadakkumkoor Kingdom until it was captured by Travancore kingdom, now merged into the state of Kerala. Old documents show that the lands of Muvattupuzha belonged to ‘Edappally Swaroopam’, but were later transferred to ‘Manas’ (Brahmin Families)."Source". http://www.muvattupuzha.com/religion.htm. The ‘Perandoor’ Temple at Edappally is still considered as the root temple of many Nair families of Kadathy, Velloorkunnam, Paipra and Vazhappilli.
After Indian Independence, Muvattupuzha, as a village union, came under the control of a council of three members nominated by the government. V. P. Govindan Nair was the first president of the village union. A. P. Makkar and Penthitta Gopalan Pillai were the other two members of the council. This council was short-lived. By 1953, Muvattupuzha was declared a Panchayat. Kunnappillil Varkey Vaidyan was the first president of the elected Panchayat Committee. Muvattupuzha was raised to the status of a Municipality in the year 1958. N. Parameshwaran Nair became the first Municipal Chairman. Muvattupuzha made history as the first Municipality where the Communist Party came to power in a general election.
N.P. Varghese was the first elected MLA from Muvattupuzha Assembly Constituency. Later, K. M. George represented Muvattupuzha. The first MP of Muvattupuzha Lok Sabha Constituency was George Thomas Kottukapally. Of all the Municipal Chairmen of the town, P. P. Esthose deserves special mention. He was simultaneously an MLA and the Municipal Chairman of Muvattupuzha. He got state-level recognition as the Chairman of Chamber of Chairmen. In its entire history, he is the only Communist member elected to the Parliament from the constituency.
Muvattupuzha has a rich cultural tradition too. Shatkala Govinda Marar - the Prodigy Saint who with his singing captured the mind of Thyagaraja Swamigal and Swathi Thirunal was born on the banks of the river - muvattupuzhayar. In the new era, the formation of Mela (Muvattupuzha Enlightened Lovers of Arts) - a registered fine arts society which was establised in the year 1968 plays the lead role in the Cultural Sector in this Town.

Politics
The place falls under Muvattupuzha assembly constituency, which is part of Idukki (Lok Sabha constituency).[1] The municipality is headed by the Muncipal Chairman.

Demographics


Muvattupuzha residents practice Hinduism, Christianity and Islam, with the majority being Hindus.
As of 2001[update] India census[2], Muvattupuzha had a population of 29,230. Males constitute 49% of the population and females 51%. Muvattupuzha has an average literacy rate of 84%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 85%, and female literacy is 82%. In Muvattupuzha, 11% of the population is under 6 years of age.
Many important roads pass through Muvattupuzha.
The Muvattupuzha - Theni Highway'[SH43] starts at the Chali Bridge and goes through Randattinkara, Kotta Road, Udumbannoor, Nedumkandam and Cumbum before ending at Theni. This is a shorter route to Madurai in neighbouring Tamil Nadu.
The town has wider roads compared to the neighboring towns. Although the traffic is lesser than towns like Perumbavoor, sometimes traffic-jams occur as the MC road passes through the center of the town. A bypass has been planned from Kadathy to Puthuppady in NH 49 to avoid traffic from the Kochi - Madurai NH 49 highway which is also the route to Munnar, a popular hill station. A Bypass to Thodupuzha Road and MC Road is planned from kadathi via a proposed new bridge a murikkallu.later the road will join MC Road towards Kottayam at Maradi.
Chali Bridge across the Kaali aar river, a bypass has been constructed and inaugurated by Chief Minister Mr. Achyuthaanandan. This bridge helps long distance travelers from being caught up in traffic, particularly during the rush hour. The bypass will pass through Kizhakkekara to Marady to link the SH-8 (state highway) to Thodupuzha and also to MC Road.

Suburbs
The town consists of two parts separated by the Muvattupuzha bridge. Velloorkunnam, Vazhappilly and Kadathy are south west of the bridge. Kavumkara is the market which lies northeast of the town after the bridge on the Muvattupuzha - Kothamangalam road.
The Thodupuzha bridge is over the Thodupuzha river.
Kizhakkekara and Randaattinkara (Randarkara or Randar) lies on the eastern part of the town on the banks of the Muvattupuzha river. After Thodupuzha bridge comes Adooparambu, Anikkad and Avoly. This area has a large pineapple cultivation and has pineapple based agro industries. Adooparambu is also known for its timber industries. Avoly is abutting Muvattupuzha municipality. Anikkadu Thiruvamplavil Mahadeva Temple and Anikkattillam are notable, as is the lake 'Anikkattu Chira'.
From the olden times, south of Marady (മാറാടി) panchayat towards Kottayam, MC Road was sparsely occupied and still has rubber plantations and a hilly terrain until Koothattukulam. Aaroor (ആറൂര്‍) was a forest until 5-6 decades ago. While every direction from Muvattupuzha is populated and almost urbanized, the southern direction towards Kottayam via MC Road offers clean greenery and the hilly terrain adds to the fun during a drive.
The old Muvattupuzha bridge built over the Muvattupuzha river is the very first concrete bridge in India. It was completed in 1914. Now this serves as the important connection between Nehru Park and Kacherithazham, two main town centres.
The Puzhakkara Kavu, one of the most important temples dedicated to Bhagawati, is situated on the banks of the Muvattupuzha. The area near the temple is called Kavumpady. The Tamil Brahmin Iyers are concentrated in this area of Muvattupuzha town.
A new Mini civil station for Muvattupuzha has been set up at Vazhapilly.
Pezhakkappilly and Vazhakulam are two satellite towns of Muvattupuzha. The nearby panchayats are mostly into agriculture and small scale and medium scale industries. Pineapple and Rubber plantations are the common agrarian efforts. Match box industries, saw mills, paper, plastic and wood carton making are the main industries in this area.

Education
Muvattupuzha has been a seat of learning for a long time and it has very good educational facilities. Mr.K.M.Pareeth the founder chairman of ILAHIYA TRUST, is veteran in the education field. His vision was instrumental in making Muvattupuzha and Kothamangalam (Indira Gandhi Group of Institutions) excel in the field of education.Ilahia Trust, a prominent educational trust runs the first ever engineering and technology college of Muvattupuzha (Ilahia College of Engineering and Technology) besides its renowned Ilahia Public School, Ilahia Arts and Science College and Kavaumkara LP School.Nirmala College, founded in 1953 by Mar Augustine Kandathil, is one of the oldest schools in town. The Nirmala schools, such as Nirmala Public School, Nirmala Junior School, Nirmala High School, Nirmala Sadan and Nirmala School of Nursing under the Catholic Diocese of Kothamangalam serve in almost all fields of imparting education.
Government institutes such as the Teachers Training College and B.Ed College are run in a very commendable manner.
Vishwajyothi College Of Engineering And Technology is another notable professional institution in this area.

Health
The town has a very good health record. There are many hospitals in Muvattupuzha. Nirmala Medical Centre located here is one of the best hospitals in the region.There is also a Govt. Hospital too

Nearby Towns
The nearby towns are Kothamangalam, Thodupuzha, Kolenchery, Koothattukulam, Perumbavoor and Piravom. The majority of the population makes a living through agriculture and small scale industries. Muvattupuzha was an important commercial centre and prominent town till about 1980. After the development of small towns near by, Muvattupuzha lost its importance almost completely now as a market as well. Due to the stagnant nature of agriculture income and due to the high importance that the eastern towns got from the government for development during the last 2 decades, the situation has been made worse for Muvattupuzha.
Today, Muvattupuzha town hopes to become a residential hub for the centred distribution happening around Kakkanad as a IT Hub. The town is around 27 km from Kakkanad.