As of 2011 India census, Thrissur (Trichur) city had a population of 325,474. Males constitute 48.6% and females constitute 51.4% of the total population. The density of population is 3,130/km2. The sex ratio is 1,092/1,000 male. The total number of the households in the city is 66,827. The average family size in the city is 4.27 members. The city has a slum population equivalent to 0.30% of the total city population and 0.37% of the Kerala’s slum population. The city has an average literacy rate of 95.5%: male literacy rate is 97% whereas female literacy rate is 94.6%. Thrissur (Trichur) Municipal Corporation has a population of 317,474 (2001) spread over an area of 101.42 km2. The city alone accounts for 38% of the urban population in the Thrissur (Trichur) District. Thrissur (Trichur) Development Authority area encompasses the Municipal Corporation area and adjoining gram (village) Panchayats. The total area under Municipal Corporation jurisdiction is 101.42 km2, and the area under the Panchayats is 18.83 km2 Together, these constitute an area covering 120.25 km2. According to the 2011 census, the total population in the TDA is 344,933 i.e., 317,474 persons in the municipal corporation area and 27,459 persons in the Panchayat area. Thrissur (Trichur) city alone accounts for 38% of the urban population in the Thrissur (Trichur) District.
With universities like Kerala Kalamandalam, Kerala Police Academy, Kerala Agricultural University, Kerala University of Medical and Allied Sciences and Kerala Institute of Local Administration (KILA), the City would add another feather in its crown by having ‘World Class University’ and a ‘Science City’. With the three medical colleges, Government Medical College, Thrissur (Trichur), Jubilee Mission Medical College and Research Institute, Amala Institute of Medical Sciences and a medical university Kerala University of Medical and Allied Sciences, the city has become synonymous with medical education in Kerala. Colleges for engineering, law, veterinary, ayurveda, science, arts and commerce degrees are typically affiliated with the University of Calicut like Government Engineering College, Thrissur (Trichur), Vidya Academy of Science and Technology, IES College of Engineering, St. Mary’s College, Thrissur (Trichur), St. Thomas College, Thrissur (Trichur), Sree Kerala Varma College, Sri C. Achutha Menon Government College, St. Aloysius College, Thrissur (Trichur), Kerala Veterinary College, Mannuthy, Vaidyaratnam Ayurveda College, Vimala College, Government Law College, Thrissur (Trichur), College of Fine Arts, Thrissur (Trichur) and College of Horticulture.
The City is the headquarters of Thrissur (Trichur) City Police and Thrissur (Trichur) Rural Police. The Thrissur (Trichur) City Police is headed by a Police Commissioner, an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer. The City is divided into two sub divisions, Thrissur (Trichur) and Guruvayur. It also operates 12 police stations, including a woman police station and a traffic police station. The Thrissur (Trichur) City Police Commissionarate operates out of the erst-while District Armed Police Head Quarters at Ramavarmapuram. The Thrissur (Trichur) Rural Police has its HQ at the District Collectorate complex (Civil Station) at Ayyanthole. Thrissur (Trichur) is also the headquarters of Inspector General of Police, Thrissur (Trichur) Range, which looks after the law and order of Thrissur (Trichur) District, Palakkad District and Malappuram district. All the Superintendent of Police of these three districts come under his jurisdiction. The City also houses Kerala Police Academy, Central Prison, Viyyur, Police Dog Training Center and Excise Academy and Research Centre. India Reserve Battalion, new commando unit of Kerala Police is headquartered in Ramavarmapuram. Border Security Force (148 battalion) have its first centre in Kerala in Thrissur (Trichur) only.
Thrissur (Trichur) City functioned as a municipality since 1921 under the Cochin Municipal Regulations. In 1932, the new corporation building was constructed, and in 1972 new areas from other Panchayats were added to the municipality. On October 1, 2000, the Municipal town was upgraded to the level of a Municipal Corporation with the Panchayats of Ayyanthole, Koorkkenchery, Nadathara, Vilvattom (part), Ollur and Ollukkara. The Corporation comprises three legislative assemblies Thrissur (Trichur), Ollur and Cherpu. The City is administered by the Thrissur (Trichur) Municipal Corporation, headed by a Mayor. Thrissur (Trichur) Municipal Corporation is the second-largest City corporation in the state of Kerala in India. The City is the only local body in Kerala which directly controls power, water supply and solid waste management system in the City. For administrative purposes, the City is divided into 52 wards, from which the members of the Corporation Council are elected for five years. The Corporation has its headquarters in Thrissur (Trichur) City. The Thrissur (Trichur) Urban Development Authority and Town and Country Planning Department (TCPD) are the agencies that prepare development plan for the City.
Known as the Cultural Capital of Kerala, Thrissur (Trichur) enjoys a thriving cultural tradition dating back to centuries, and being the centre of Kerala’s cultural activities. Thrissur (Trichur) Pooram also called as ‘the pooram of all poorams’ is celebrated in every year in the month of Medam (mid-April to mid-may) as per the malayalam calendar. It is the biggest of all poorams held in Kerala. The city plays host, for 36 hours from the wee hours of the pooram day, to one of the most largest collection of people and elephants. Puli Kali also known as Kavakali is another festival, which attracts thousands of people to the city. It is performed by trained artists to entertain people on the occasion of Onam, an annual harvest festival, celebrated mainly in Kerala. The most important festivals celebrated in the City include Christmas, Onam, Easter, Eid and Vishu. The City is widely acclaimed as the land of elephant lovers. Aanayoottu (feeding of elephants), is the world largest elephant feeding ceremony held in Vadakkunnathan Temple in the City annually. The ceremony is conducted on the first day of the Malayalam month of Karkidakam.
Modern retailing is a big business and revenue earner for the city. Jewellery and textile retailing occupies a major part of the retailing business in Thrissur (Trichur). The city is considered as hub of jewellery and textile business in Kerala. Most of the jewellery groups have outlets in Thrissur (Trichur) and provide jobs to thousands of people. Kalyan Group, Jos Alukka & Sons, Joyalukkas, Josco Group, Jayalakshmi Silks, Seemas Wedding Collections, Pulimoottil Silks, Emmanuval Silks, Sree Lakshmi Silks, Fashion Fabrics, Elite Fabrics, Elite Sareee House, Modern Silks, Manshire, Lakshmi Silks, Kalima Collections and Chakola Silkhouse are the few to name. InfoPark Thrissur (Trichur), the fourth technology park in Kerala after Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi and Kozhikode is situated in Thrissur (Trichur) District. Tourism has also contributed heavily to the economy of Thrissur (Trichur). Domestic tourists generally use the city as a hub to explore the highly promoted tourism industry of the state of Kerala. The city with its temples, old churches and its culture, is ranked first in the number of domestic tourists visiting Kerala.
Football is the most popular sport in the city of Thrissur (Trichur). When the first International Football Tournament was held at Ernakulam in 1949 with the participation of other countries such as Iran, Iraq and Pakistan, the main organiser of this tournament was Late Mannathazhath Balakrishna Menon (1893-1975) hailing from this city. The N.I. David Memorial Trophy, an annual inter-club football tournament is held at Thrissur (Trichur) Municipal Corporation Stadium. The football championship was started in 1996 by the then Superintendent of Police, Thrissur (Trichur). The city has a floodlit stadium, known as Thrissur (Trichur) Municipal Corporation Stadium. It also has two indoor stadiums (V.K.N. Menon Indoor Stadium and Thope Stadium) and a Sports Authority of India (SAI) maintained swimming pool with international facilities. The veteran footballers and former Indian captains C. V. Pappachan, I. M. Vijayan and Jo Paul Ancheri hail from this City. City of Thrissur (Trichur) has contributed many national and international bodybuilding stars to India, such as TV Poly and VM Basheer.
Thrissur (Trichur) City is connected to the North-South Corridor National Highway System via the four-laned National Highway 47. The highway traverses through the entire length and breadth of the City from different points and provides access to the nearby cities such of Kochi, Palakkad and Coimbatore. NH 47 provides two main exit points at Mannuthy and Thalore to the Thrissur (Trichur) City. The City is largely dependent on private buses, Taxis and auto rickshaws (called autos) for public transport. State-owned Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) runs inter-state, inter-district and city services. Thrissur (Trichur) has three bus stations, the Shaktan Thampuran Private Bus Stand, Thrissur (Trichur) in Sakthan Thampuran Nagar (S.T.Nagar); the Vadakke Stand (Northern Bus Stand) and the Thrissur (Trichur) KSRTC Bus Station near the Thrissur (Trichur) Railway Station. State Highway (SH 69) Thrissur (Trichur)-Kuttippuram Road, SH 22 Kodungallur – Shornur Road, SH 75 Thrissur (Trichur) – Kanjani – Vadanappally Road are the three state highways which connect city with its suburbs and municipalities.
The first newspaper which published from Thrissur (Trichur) was Lokamanyan in 1920. Then came Deenabandhu edited bt V K Krishnan. Ezhuthachan started publishing as a weekly in 1941 from Thrissur (Trichur). It was one of the first periodicals that supported the national movement. As soon as the Quit India movement was started, its editor and staff were sent to jail and publications were banned. The third newspaper in Thrissur (Trichur) was launched by Joseph Mundassery as its editor. The paper did not survive for long. The Express started in 1944 from Thrissur (Trichur) with K Krishanan as the editor is very popular in Central Kerala for its nationalist and socialist views. Major Malayalam newspapers published in Thrissur (Trichur) include Malayala Manorama, Mathrubhumi, Madhyamam, Deepika, Kerala Kaumudi and Deshabhimani. A number of evening papers, like General) in Malayalam and City Journal (Thrissur (Trichur)) in English, are also published from the City. Newspapers in other regional languages like Hindi, Kannada, Tamil and Telugu are also available in City.
Literary lineage of Thrissur (Trichur) dates back to early history of Kerala but it came to prominence after Kerala Government set up Kerala Lalita Kala Akademi, Kerala Sahitya Academy, Kerala Sangeetha Nadaka Academy and College of Fine Arts, Thrissur (Trichur) for promoting literature, music and arts in Kerala. After the Indian Independence, Thrissur (Trichur) became the literary capital of Kerala as turned to the playground of novelist, poets and orators. In 1952 when Current Books set its first shop in Thrissur (Trichur) by former education Minister Professor Joseph Mundassery, it become the abode of writer’s like O V Vijayan, Kovilan, VKN, Uroob, Edassery, M T Vasudevan Nair, K G Sankarapillai and Sarah Joseph. The area was later known as Current Moola (“Current Corner”). Thrissur (Trichur) is home to prominent malayalam literary figures like Kovilan, Kunhunni Mash, Sukumar Azhikode, K. Satchidanandan, Mullanezhi, Sarah Joseph (author), Attoor Ravi Varma, Lalitha Lenin, P. Bhaskaran, Joseph Mundassery.
The Vadakkunnathan temple believed to have been founded by the legendary saint Parasurama, is a classic example of the Kerala style of architecture and houses several sacred shrines and with beautiful murals delineating graphically, various episodes from the Mahabharata. Thiruvambadi Sri Krishna Temple, one of the largest Sree Krishna temples in Kerala and Paramekkavu Bagavathi Temple which is one of the largest Bagavathi temples in Kerala is also situated in the city. Asia’s tallest church, the Our Lady of Dolours Syro-Malabar Catholic Basilica (Puthan Pally), Our Lady of Lourdes Syro-Malabar Catholic Metropolitan Cathedral which has an underground shrine, is a masterpiece of architecture. Mart Mariam Cathedral, the oldest church in the city, which belongs to the Assyrian Church of the East also known as Chaldean Syrian Church of the East, is situated in Thrissur (Trichur). St. Anthony’s Syro-Malabar Catholic Forane Church, also known as Chinna Roma (Small Rome).
City of Thrissur (Trichur) has an ancient tradition of Ayurvedic treatment. From the Ashtavaidya tradition, Oushadhi, Vaidyaratnam Oushadhasala, Sitaram Ayurvedic Pharmacy Ltd, SNA Oushadhasala, Vaidyamadhaom Vaidyasala and Amala Ayurvedic Hospital & Research Centre located in City of Thrissur (Trichur), All these firms have been instrumental in spreading the fame of Kerala Ayurvedic treatment, as thousands of overseas patients visit the Ayurvedic treatment facilities in and around Thrissur (Trichur), every year. Vaidyaratnam runs a medical college and chikitsalayam, with global standards. Sitaram have a 100 bedded eight storied super specialty hospital in the City of Thrissur (Trichur), envisaged as the first of its kind Ayurveda super specialty hospital in the country. SNA Oushadhasala is also planning a 100-bedded modern Ayurvedic hospital with modern cottages near the present SNA Nursing Home. Besides, SNA is also planning to set up a modernized exclusive Ayurvedic manuscript library.
The Indian freedom movement struggle also grew in momentum in Thrissur (Trichur) after a Committee was formed in 1919 of the Indian National Congress. In 1921, the Civil Disobedience Movement also attracted a large number of people into the freedom struggle. In 1927 Mahatma Gandhi visited Vivekodayam School in the city. In 1934, father of the nation, again visited the city for the housewarming of Barrister Krishna Menon. The house afterwards was known “Gandhi Mandiram” in Chembukkavu. In the mean time, R. K. Shanmukham Chetty, the controversial Diwan of Cochin Kingdom from 1935 to 1941, was developing City by constructing Thrissur (Trichur) Town Hall and Ramanilayam. Even now also two monuments remain as the epicenter of Kerala politics. DR M R Menon, a minister in Government of Kochi was instrumental in building the Municipal Corporation Building, Thrissur (Trichur) and the Municipal Office Road. He even concerted Swaraj Round and other peripheries of the city road.
Already known as the Cultural Capital of Kerala, it is also fast developing as an education hub . The City has traditionally been a centre of learning from ancient times. With the decline of Buddhism and Jainism and due to the growing supremacy of Brahminism during the revival of Hinduism, the City became an important centre of Sanskrit learning. Schools in Thrissur (Trichur) City are either run publicly by the Kerala Government or privately, some with financial aid from the Government. The medium of education is either English or Malayalam, with the former being the majority. Most schools are affiliated with the Kerala State Education Board or Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) or the Central Board for Secondary Education (CBSE) or the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) or the Montessori system. There are 93 lower primary schools; 34 upper primary schools; and 78 high schools; and 157 higher secondary schools in the city.
Thrissur (Trichur) is home to many leading Malayali entrepreneurs, and is a major financial and commercial hub of Kerala. Historians say that King Sakthan Thampuran had invited several Syrian Christian families and Brahmins to settle in Thrissur (Trichur) city from their business centers in adjoining areas. Soon, Thrissur (Trichur) became a flourishing centre of internal trade in Kerala. Thrissur (Trichur) is one of the major manufacturing centers of plain gold and rolled gold jewelry in South India; up to 70% of Kerala’s jewellery is manufactured in Thrissur (Trichur). There are around 3,000 gold ornaments manufacturing units in the city and 40,000-odd artisans and others work in these units. The industry provides direct and indirect employment to 200,000 people in Thrissur (Trichur). The artisans based in these units, craft nearly 85 percent of one tonne gold which is used per day in Kerala. About 90 tonnes of gold was being used annually in Kerala for manufacturing of ornaments daily.
Starting from the Stone Age, Thrissur (Trichur) must have been the site of human settlement. This is evidenced by the presence of a megalithic monuments at Ramavarmapuram, Kuttoor, Cherur and Villadam. The Ramavarmapuram monument is in granite and is of Menhir type. The monument in Ramavarmapuram is 15 feet height and 12 feet 4 inches broad. From 1944, it is under the protection of Department of Archaeology. The monument is locally known as ‘Padakkallu’ or ‘Pulachikkallu’. These menhirs are memorials put up at burial sites for the departed souls. They belong to the Megalithic Age of Kerala, which is roughly estimated between 1000 BCE and 500 CE. All such monuments have not been dated exactly. Some experts are of the view that these are the remnants of the Neolithic Age in the development of human technology. The Ramavarmapuram Menhir is also believed to be a monument belonging to the Sangam period in the South Indian history.
The name Thrissur (Trichur) is a shortened form of Thrishivaperur or Thirushivaperur. Thiru-Shiva-Perur (Malayalam: ????-???-???????) literally translates to ‘The Land, Place, City or Village with the name of the “Lord Siva”‘ means ????? Shambhu (Lord Siva) + ? or ?? (of) + ????? Grama (Community/Village) Shambhala village or Shambal gram. (The Lord Kalki will come from Shambal gram of South India) ?. The name owes itself to the most prominent feature of the city, that is the Vadakkumnathan Kshetram or temple, which has Shiva as its presiding deity. Alternately, Thri-Shiva-Perur (Malayalam: ????-???-???????) means the place with three famous Shiva temples which are said to be — the Vadakkunnathan Temple, Kottapuram Shiva temple and the Poonkunnam Siva Temple. Thrissur (Trichur) was also known as “Vrishabhadripuram” and “Tenkailasam” (? Tamil: ???? ???????) (Kailasam of the South) in ancient days.
Thrissur (Trichur) has played a significant part in the political history of South India. The city of Thrissur (Trichur) is represented in the Kerala State Assembly by two elected members, one from Thrissur (Trichur) Assembly Constituency and another from Ollur Assembly Constituency. Therambil Ramakrishnan is the representative of Thrissur (Trichur) Assembly Constituency and M.P Vincent from Ollur Assembly Constituency. Thrissur (Trichur) is also a part of the Thrissur (Trichur) Lok Sabha constituency and elects a member to the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament of India, once every five years. The current MP is P. C. Chacko. The Lok Sabha seat has been held by the Indian National Congress for six terms (1951–1957, 1984–1989, 1989–1991, 1991–1996, 1999–2004 and 2009–2012) and the Communist Party of India for nine terms (1957–1962, 1962–1967, 1967–1970, 1971–1977, 1977–1979, 1980–1984, 1996–1997, 1998–1999 and 2004–2009).
The Southern Railway Zone of the Indian Railways operates the main rail transport system in Thrissur (Trichur). There are four railway stations in Thrissur (Trichur) City. Thrissur (Trichur) Railway Station, one of the busiest stations in Kerala provides trains to three directions and lies on the busy Shoranur-Cochin Harbour section. It has a satellite station, Poonkunnam Railway Station and two minor stations, Ollur Railway Station and Mulankunnathukavu Railway Station. Thrissur (Trichur) Railway Station also connects to the temple town of Guruvayur by Thrissur (Trichur)-Guruvayur Section. In addition, Southern Railways are planning a suburban railway system connecting Thrissur (Trichur) to Kochi and Palakkad using Mainline Electrical Multiple Unit services (MEMU), with the first services are expected to begin in late 2010 or early 2011 for which works are underway.
However, during 1750-60 Hyder Ali, the Sultan of Mysore, attacked Thrissur (Trichur) and became tributary of the Kingdom of Mysore. Tipu Sultan, his son led another invasion in 1786 to Thrissur (Trichur), where he destroyed the churches of Syrian Malabar Nasrani community and Hindu temples. Tipu Sultan’s Army set fire to the church at Palayoor and attacked the Ollur church. He plundered Thrissur (Trichur)’s economy and even converted Christians and Hindu’s into Muslims. The economy of Thrissur (Trichur) totally collapsed because of this invasion. Later he made a retreat from Thrissur (Trichur), which served as the headquarters of Kerala region, after the Srirangapattanam war. In the meantime, Rama Varma X, the successor of Sakthan Thampuran signed a treaty with East Indian Company, and made Cochin a subsidiary of the British.