GEOGRAPHY

Kottayam is located at [show location on an interactive map] 9.58° N 76.52° E. It has an average elevation of 3 metres (9 feet).Kottayam town is flanked by the Meenachil river and Kodoor river and Vembanad lake. Kottayam is considered to be part of the Midlands of Kerala, and the climate is also pretty moderate. Kottayam is in the south-central half of Kerala state. With Ernakulam/Aleppey to the North. Kollam/Trivandrum to the south. And Idukki/Pathananthitta to the east. Historically Kottayam was part of Travancore state, which one among three main princely states in Kerala, prior to independence. Others states where headquartered in Cochin state(Central kerala) and Malabar(North Kerala).

RIVERS

The important rivers of the district are the Meenachil River and the Muvattupuzha River . The Meenachil river flows through the heart of Kottayam district of Kerala state, India. The river, 78 km long, flows through Erattupetta, Palai, Ettumanoor and Kottayam before emptying itself into the Vembanad Lake.The Meenachil river is formed by several streams originating from the Western Ghats. The general elevation ranges from 77 m to 1156 m in the high lands and less than 2 m in the lowlands and 8 to 68 m in the midlands. The Meenachil has a watershed area of 1208.11 sq km. The river has a total annual yield of 2349 million cubic metre and an annual utilizable yield of 1110 million cubic metre. The river has 38 tributaries including major and minor ones. The river has 47 sub watersheds and 114 micro watersheds.

Muvattupuzha River ,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.