Ernakulam (Malayalam:[erɐɳɐːkuɭɐm]ⓘ) is the central business district of the city of Kochi, Kerala, India. It is the namesake of Ernakulam district. The eastern part of Kochi city is mainly known as Ernakulam, while the western part of it after the Venduruthy Bridge is called as Western Kochi.[1] Many major establishments, including the Kerala High Court, the office of the Kochi Municipal Corporation and the Cochin Shipyard are situated in Ernakulam. It is also the most urbanized area in the city of Kochi. The Southern Naval Command (SNC) is in Kochi, Ernakulam district, Kerala. Established in 1958, it is the largest naval command of the Indian Navy, focusing on training and maritime security operations in the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean.
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 Eranakulam after that. There are also other opinions about the origin of the name, saying that Rishinagakulam became Eranakulam after losing it, but that the word Ernakulam came from Eranakulathappan Temple, and that it came from the word Kulam (Pond) for a long time because it was full of water bodies.[2]
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.[3] 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).[4]
Under the Köppen climate classification, the city of Ernakulam features a Tropical monsoon climate. Since the region lies in the south western coastal state of Kerala, the climate is tropical, with only minor differences in temperatures between day and night, as well as over the year. Summer lasts from March to May, and is followed by the South-west monsoon from June to September. October and November form the post monsoon or retreating monsoon season. Winter from December through February is slightly cooler, and windy, due to winds from the Western Ghats.
The city is drenched in the monsoonal season by heavy showers. The average annual rainfall is 3,000 mm (120 in). The South-west monsoon generally sets in during the last week of May. After July the rainfall decreases. On an average, there are 124 rainy days in a year. The maximum average temperature of the city in the summer season is 33 °C (91 °F) while the minimum temperature recorded is 22.5 °C (72.5 °F). The winter season records a maximum average of 29 °C (84 °F) and a minimum average of 20 °C (68 °F).[9]
Climate data
Below is the climate data for Kochi Naval Base, which is situated nearby to Ernakulam.
Climate data for Kochi (Kochi Naval Base) 1981–2010, extremes 1951–2012
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.[12]
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.[13]
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.[14]
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.[16]
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$610 million),[18] and has a length of over 28 kilometres stretching from Aluva in the north to Tripunithura railway station in the southeast, 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.[19]
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.[20][21]Kochi Water Metro is an integrated water metro system serving the Greater Kochi region.[22]
SWTD (Govt. of Kerala Department) offers cheap ferry service on the following routes:
Ferry services in the vicinity of Ernakulam
Source
Destination
Route via
Comments
Ernakulam
Fort Kochi
Fort Kochi
Embarkation (Willingdon Island)
Fort Kochi (Kamalakadavu Jetty)
Embarkation (Willingdon Island)
SuperFast with AC & non-AC seating
Mattancherry
Fort Kochi, Terminals (Willingdon Island)
Services temporarily suspended between Terminals and Mattancherry
Mattancherry
Embarkation (Willingdon Island), Fort Kochi, Terminals (Willingdon Island)
Services temporarily suspended between Terminals and Mattancherry
^Maloni, Ruby (2021). "Indian Maritime Centres: Foreland and Hinterland". The Route to European Hegemony: India's Intra-Asian Trade in the Early Modern Period (Sixteenth to Eighteenth Centuries). Abingdon, England: Routledge. pp. 41–105, page 77. ISBN978-0-367-75642-0.
