Kunnamkulam, Kerala (India)

 

-By breaking down the words in Malayalam, it means "a pond at a foot of a hill" or "pond (near a) hill" 

-Kunnamkulam is a town with buildings and houses so closely packed and with a rich history that some say that it is the oldest gated community in Kerala.

-It is also a very diverse place with many communities residing in it due to the many old religious places of worship, including many old churches and temples.

For example, there was an old temple which was given to the local Christians by the king of the Cochin state (Shakthan Thampuran) to be used as a church. It was thus named "Ambala palli" which means "Temple church", in Malayalam- because it still incorporates the temple architecture.
Now, it is called St. Mathias Church or South Bazar Church and comes under the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. 

-Years ago, this town was once attacked by Tipu Sultan's soldiers (who, some say, could be commanded by a general and not him personally) and during the raid, many churches were damaged and even burnt. 
Why would he do something like that, like attacking Kerala, I meant?

Well, local sources state that it's because they wanted to defeat the king of Cochin and maybe conquer the Cochin state. (Find out in a later post about an amazing story about how they stopped the military from doing that)