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Alappuzha () or Alleppey is a municipality and town on the Laccadive Sea in the southern Indian state of Kerala. It is the district headquarters of the Alappuzha District, and is located about north of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. As per the 2011 Indian census, Alappuzha has a population of 240,991 people, and a population density of .
Alappuzha dates back to the Sangam era, and was mentioned by Pliny the Elder as far back as the 1st century AD as Baraces. Later in the 16th and 17th centuries, the town flourished as an important hub for trading spices with various European powers including the Dutch Malabar and the Portuguese India. Under the rule of Raja Kesavadas, a port was constructed and canals for transport were laid throughout the city, and the town experienced rapid development. However, by the late 18th century, the region had come under British Raj and experienced a decline in its status as a centre for commerce and culture.
Today, Alappuzha is a prominent tourist destination in Kerala. The town is famous for its waterways and backwaters. It's known as the Tarshish land of Kerala It plays a role as one of the primary access points for the annual Nehru Trophy Boat Race during the festival of Onam."Nehru Trophy Boat Race." Alappuzha is also a hub for coir manufacturing, and has a thriving coir industry."coir industry "
The district is bounded on the north by Kochi and Kanayannur taluks of Ernakulam district, on the east by Vaikom, Kottayam and Changanassery taluks of Kottayam district and Thiruvalla, Kozhencherry and Adoor taluks of Pathanamthitta district, on the south by Kunnathur and Karunagappally taluks of Kollam district and on the west by Laccadive Sea.
The Alappuzha district comprises six taluks, namely Cherthala, Ambalappuzha, Kuttanad, Karthikappally, Chengannur and Mavelikkara. The area of the district is .
Literary works such as Unnuneeli Sandesam give some insight into the ancient period of this district. Archaeological antiquities, such as the stone inscriptions, historical monuments found in the temples, churches, and rock-cut caves, also emphasise the historic importance of Alappuzha District.
Christianity had a foothold in this district, even from the 1st century AD. The church located at Kokkamangalam was one of the seven churches founded by St Thomas, one of the twelve disciples of Jesus Christ. It is generally believed that he landed at Maliankara in Muziris Port, presently known as Cranganore or Kodungallur, in 52 AD and preached Christianity in South India.
The district flourished in religion and culture under the second Chera Empire, during 9th to 12th centuries AD. The literary work `Ascharya Choodamani`, a Sanskrit drama written by Sakthibhadran, a scholar of Chengannur, enables us to know many pertinent facts. Further, the temple on Lord Ayyappan, in Mukkal vattam near Muhamma in Alappuzha District, is called Cheerappanchira, for the Kalari from which Lord Ayyappa learnt his martial arts. A recent album by P. Unni Krishnan on Lord Ayyappa, titled 'Sabarimalai Va Charanam Solli Va', has songs illustrating the history of this temple and Lord Ayyappa's stay here before he went to conquer the Mahishi Demon.
Since landing in Kozhikode in 1498, the Portugal started playing an influential role in Alappuzha. They began by spreading Catholicism and converting already existing Christians into Catholics. St Andrew's Basilica was built during this period.
In the 17th century, as the Portuguese power declined, the Dutch people gained a predominant position in the principalities of this district. They built many factories and warehouses for storing Black pepper and ginger, relying on several treaties signed between the Dutch and the Rajas of Purakkad, Kayamkulam and Karappuram. In course of time they also delved into the political and cultural affairs of the district. At that time Maharaja Marthanda Varma (1706–1758), who was the 'Maker of modern Travancore', intervened in the political affairs of those princedoms.
Travancore Dewan Ramayyan Dalawa (d. 1756) resided in Mavelikkara where he had a palace built by Marthanda Varma. After the death of his wife, Ramayyan consorted with a Nair lady from Mavelikkara of the Edassery family (PGN Unnithan, a member of this family, later became the last Dewan of Travancore in 1947). After his death Ramayyan's descendants left Travancore to settle in Pudukkottai in Tamil Nadu. His Nair consort was given gifts and presents and special allowances from the Travancore government in recognition of his services to the state while his own descendants were bestowed with the honorific title of Dalawa.
In the 19th century the district saw progress in many spheres. One of the five subordinate courts opened in the state in connection with the reorganization of the judicial system by Colonel George Monro was located at Mavelikkara. The first post office and first telegraph office in the former Travancore state were established in this district. The first manufacturing factory for the coir mats was established in 1859. In 1894 the city Improvement Committee was set up.
The district played a role in the freedom struggle of the country. The struggles of Punnapra and Vayalar in 1946 arrayed the people against Sir C. P. Ramaswami Iyer, who was Dewan of Travancore. This led to Ramaswami Iyer's exit from the political scene of Travancore. A popular Ministry was formed in Travancore on 24 March 1948 after India's independence. Travancore and Cochin states were integrated on 1 July 1949. This arrangement continued until the formation of Kerala State on 1 November 1956, under the States Reorganisation Act 1956. The district came into existence as a separate administrative unit on 1 August 1957.
He found Alappuzha as an ideal location and began constructing a well planned port city in Travancore. Alappuzha was most suitable, because of the geographical and oceanic reasons. He constructed two parallel canals for bringing goods to port from backwaters and offered infrastructural facilities to merchants and traders from Surat, Mumbai and Kutch to start industrial enterprises, trading, and cargo centres. Alappuzha attained progress and became the financial nerve centre of Travancore during his time. The port was opened in 1762, mainly for the export of coir-matting and coir-yarn. Kesavadas built three ships for trade with Calcutta and Bombay, and alleppey afforded a convenient depot for the storage and disposal of goods produce in the east.
The district is a sandy strip of land intercepted by lagoons, rivers and canals. There are no mountains or hills in the district except some scattered hillocks lying between Bharanikkavu and Chengannur blocks in the eastern portion of the district. There are no forest area in this district.
Alappuzha is bounded by the Laccadive Sea on its west. The town has a network of lakes, lagoons and fresh water rivers. The richness of the coastal Alappuzha waters is expressed annually in the blooming and consequent deposit of a huge quantity of fishes and prawns on the Alappuzha coast called ‘Chakara’. This annual shifting of sandbank appears during the post-monsoon period and contributes to the local economy and is a festive season for the people of Kerala. The annual floods rejuvenate and cleanse the soil and water due to which there is abundance of marine life like prawns, , fishes, turtles and other flora in the sea.
The backwaters and wetlands host thousands of migrant common teal, and every year who reach here from long distances. A major feature of the area is the region called Kuttanad, the 'granary of Kerala'. Kuttanad is also known as the rice bowl of Kerala and is one of the few places in the world where farming is done below sea level. The paddy fields lie about 0.6 to 2 m below mean sea level.
The population is predominantly Hindus, and there are sizeable numbers of Christians and Muslims. The most widely spoken language is Malayalam, although many people speak Konkani language.
Malankara Orthodox Christians in the town of Alappuzha are covered by the Diocese of Niranam of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. The largest Orthodox Church in the town currently is Saint Thomas Orthodox Church, Alappuzha which also runs Mar Gregorios Karunya Theeram Guidance Centre in Alappuzha.
The standard dialect of Malayalam spoken is Central Travancore dialect. Konkani is a language that is spoken in the Konkan region. During the Portuguese and Dutch invasions of the 16th and 18th centuries, many Konkanis migrated southwards to Thuravoor, Cherthala and Alappuzha in the state of Travancore as well as other places in Kerala like Cochin, Kodungalloor, and Kollam. A majority of these people got settled in Alappuzha."migration of konkanis
The Coir Board was established by the Central Government under the provisions of the Coir Industry Act in 1955. A coir research institute functions at Kalavoor."coir research " The National Coir Training and Designing Centre was established at Alappuzha in 1965.
Coir is the most important commodity manufactured in Alappuzha, Kayamkulam, Kokkothamangalam, Komalapuram, Mannancherry, Muhamma and Vayalar. Coir products are available in Cherthala and Mannancherry, lime shell in Arookutty and Kodamthuruth, plywood in Chengannur, Keltron controls in Aroor,"Keltron Controls " potassium chloride in Mavelikkara, and coconuts and coconut oil in Thanneermukkom. Other important commodities manufactured in these towns are copra, glass, mats and ."coir mat "
In recent times, tourism has become a major source of revenue. This is mainly due to the presence of that provide the tourists with a view of the scenic backwaters of the town. Another reason is the proximity to other tourist spots like Munnar, Varkala and Wayanad. Furthermore, as per the Tourist Statistics by Kerala Tourism, there is a 74.55% increase in tourists arriving in Alleppey between 2021 and 2020 while the average for the entire state stands at 51.09%.
There were three stages in the reclamation of lands from the Vembanad Lake. In the first stage it was carried out by private entrepreneurs without any financial support from the part of the government. The Pattom Proclamation, made by the Travancore Kingdom in the year 1865, gave a great boost to the reclamation activities between 1865 and 1890. During this period de-watering of the polders were done manually, using waterwheels, restricting large-scale reclamations. Only about 250 hectares of land were reclaimed during this period. Venadu Lake and Madathil Lake that were reclaimed during this period are considered as the first Kayal Nilam (lake-reclaimed land) which were reclaimed from Vembanad Lake. The pioneering reclamation activity of lake-reclamation and cultivation was made by Pallithanam Luca Matthai.
The second phase was from (1890 to 1903).
Due to the steep decline in the price of rice during 1920 to 1940, the reclamation activities became sluggish, then gained momentum again in the early 1940s. During this period, in order to increase the agricultural output, government initiated a Grow More Food campaign and provided incentives to encourage new reclamations. The advent of electric motors made the reclamation easier, cheaper and less risky as compared to the earlier periods. The last tract of the reclamations namely Q, S and T block were made during this period.
Reconstruction began to build a new four-lane bridge, popularly referred to as Nalpalam. The bridge connects two major canals, Vada Canal and Commercial Canal and has been an integral part of Alappuzha’s road network and identity.
The bridge has featured in over 100 films across various Indian languages Malayalam, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada, highlighting its cinematic appeal.
The Muppalam was dismantled to make way for a more modern, four-lane replacement known locally as Nalpalam. The project led by the Kerala Public Works Department (PWD), while preserving the cultural and visual significance of the location.
Alappuzha has two main bus terminals. The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation bus station (situated near state water transport corporation headquarters, boat jetty road) serves government-run buses and the V K soman memorial municipal bus stand (situated near Vazhicherry) is used by private buses and contract carriage services operating to other states.
KSRTC buses connect Alappuzha with, among other places, Bangalore, Mysore, Kollur, Mangalore, Chennai, Coimbatore, Thiruvananthapuram, and Thiruvalla. Additionally SETC and TNSTC operate several daily services to and from the town. Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation reportedly run two daily services originating from Alappuzha.
A new KSRTC depot and bus station are under construction in Valavanadu along National Highway 66. This development aims to enhance connectivity and improve transportation infrastructure in the region
| District Collector | Alex Varghese IAS |
| Municipal chairperson | Molly Jacob |
| SP & District Police Chief | MP Mohanachandran IPS |
The two administrative systems prevailing in the district are revenue and local self-government. Under the revenue system, the district is divided into two revenue divisions, six taluks and 91 villages. The two revenue divisions are Alappuzha division comprising Cherthala, Ambalappuzha and Kuttanad taluks consisting of 47 villages and Chengannur division comprising Karthikapally, Chengannur and Mavelikkara taluks consisting of 44 villages. For census purposes, Aroor, Arookutty, Kodamthuruth, Thanneermukkom Vadakku, Thaneermukkam Thekku, Vayalar East and Kokkothamangalam village, except the portions included in Cherthala municipality are treated in the 1981 census as census towns based on the threefold criteria adopted for treating a place as census town.
Under the local self-government system, the district is divided into five statutory towns and development blocks consisting of 71 panchayats. The jurisdiction of a Development Block includes the areas falling in census towns also.
There were nine legislative assembly segments in Alappuzha district for the 2011 Assembly elections. They are Aroor, Cherthala, Alappuzha, Kuttanad, Haripad, Kayamkulam, Mavelikkara and Chengannur.
Alappuzha assembly constituency is part of Alappuzha (Lok Sabha constituency). The other Lok Sabha constituency of the district is Mavelikkara.
| P. K. Vasudevan Nair | Alappuzha | 1962–1977 | Communist Party of India (as Ambalappuzha seat) |
| R.Achuthan | Mavelikara | 1962–1967 | Indian National Congress |
| G.P. Mangalathumadom | Mavelikara | 1967–1971 | Samyukta Socialist Party |
| R. Balakrishna Pillai | Mavelikara | 1971–1977 | Kerala Congress |
| B.K. Nair | Mavelikara | 1977–1980 | Indian National Congress |
| Suseela Gopalan | Alappuzha | 1980–1984 | Communist Party of India (Marxist) |
| Prof. P.J. Kurien | Mavelikara | 1980–1984,1989-1998 | Indian National Congress |
| Vakkom Purushotham | Alappuzha | 1984–1991 | Indian National Congress |
| Thampan Thomas | Mavelikara | 1984–1989 | Janata Party |
| T. J. Anjalose | Alappuzha | 1991–1996 | Communist Party of India (Marxist) |
| Ramesh Chennithala | Mavelikara | 1999–2004 | Indian National Congress |
| C.S. Sujatha | Mavelikara | 2004–2009 | Communist Party of India (Marxist) |
| V.M Sudheeran | Alappuzha | 1977–1980, 1996–2004 | Indian National Congress |
| Dr. K.S Manoj | Alappuzha | 2004–2009 | Communist Party Of India (Marxist) |
| K.C Venugopal MP | Alappuzha | 2009- 2014 | Indian National Congress |
| Kodikunnil Suresh MP | Mavelikara | 2009–2014 | Indian National Congress |
| K.C Venugopal MP | Alappuzha | 2009- 2014 | Indian National Congress |
| Kodikunnil Suresh MP | Mavelikara | 2009–2014 | Indian National Congress |
| K.C Venugopal MP | Alappuzha | 2014- 2019 | Indian National Congress |
| Kodikunnil Suresh MP | Mavelikara | 2014–2019 | Indian National Congress |
| A. M. Ariff | Alappuzha | 2019–2024 | Communist Party of India (Marxist) |
| Kodikunnil Suresh MP | Mavelikara | 2019–2024 | Indian National Congress |
| K.C Venugopal MP | Alappuzha | 2024- | Indian National Congress |
| Kodikunnil Suresh MP | Mavelikara | 2024- | Indian National Congress |
The first school in Alappuzha, the Church Missionary Society (CMS) School, was established in 1816. The school was established by the Rev. Thomas Norton, the first CMS missionary to India. The school is run by the CSI Christ Church, Alappuzha. The first higher secondary school in Alappuzha was the Leo XIIIth Higher Secondary School, which was opened on 1 June 1889 by Portuguese Bishop John Gomes Pereira of Cochin. The first polytechnic college in Alappuzha was the Carmel Polytechnic College, established by Fr. Gilbert Palaekunnel, and it is managed by the CMI Congregation. Carmel is still the academically top-ranked polytechnic in the state."Leo 13 school " Colleges in Alappuzha offer both Graduate school and postgraduate courses for their students."colleges in Alappuzha "
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