Trivandrum

Trivandrum is an ancient city with tradition dating back to 1000 BC. Trivandrum became the capital of Raja of Travancore in 1750.
The city gets its name from the word, Thiru-anantha-puram, meaning the city of Anantha or the abode of the sacred Serpent Anantha on which Lord Vishnu, the preserver of the Hindu trinity, reclines.
Trivandrum, the capital of the state of Kerala is a beautiful seaside city built on seven hills. It is located on the west coast of India near the extreme south of the mainland spreading over a total of 2,192sq.km.


The urban agglomeration area of Trivandrum is the second largest UA in the state of Kerala, India This UA consists of Trivandrum city, the capital and largest city of Kerala, and the suburbs of the city.Trivandrum city comprises the majority of this metropolitan area. Adjacent urban areas of Kazhakkoottam, Vattiyoorkavu, Kovalam, Kudappanakkunnu, and Sreekaryam are joined with Trivandrum city to form this UA.


The Trivandrum Capital Region or TCR is the area proposed by TRIDA (Trivandrum Development Authority) by joining adjacent municipalities of Neyyattinkara, Varkala and Attingal withTrivandrum city. This was proposed for planning the development of the capital region of Kerala more effectively. The TCR covers most part of the Trivandrum UA and eyes to develop the surrounding municipalities as satellite towns to the main city.


The economy of Trivandrum district mostly consists of Tourism and Leisure, Information Technology, Agriculture and Education.


The modern economy of Trivandrum is depended on the media and IT sector. India's first animation park, The Kinfra Animation Park, is situated in the district. IT companies having global fame like NeST Software, Infosys, TCS, McKinsey & Company, Ernst & Young, Allianz Cornhill, Tata Elxsi, UST Global etc., have campus in Trivandrum Technopark. The present day economy of the district is growing with the contributions from more professionals in the fields Information Technology, Medical and Biotechnology. The district contributes 80% of software exports from Kerala


At present the economy is growing with the contributions from more professionals in the fields of Information Technology, and Medical/Biotechnology. Technopark was established for the development of electronics and information technology in the state. It is India's first industrial park dedicated to electronics, software, and IT ventures. Started 1990, the campus at Trivandrum city covers an area the 300 acres (728,000 m²) campus with 1.5 million ft² (140,000 m²) of built-up space available currently and another 600,000 ft² (55,000 m²) more of built up space coming up, is now home to over 100 companies from numerous countries. Over 12,500 IT professionals are working here. The companies include one CMMI level 5 and PCMM level 5 company, four CMM Level 5, two CMM Level 3 and several ISO 9001 certified companies.


Trivandrum was rated as the best 2nd tier metro with IT/ITES infrastructure, and second in terms of availability of human talent. The district contributes 80% of software exports from the state.

An Ayurvedic Centre

Veli Lake

Tourism has also contributed heavily to the economy of Trivandrum. Foreign tourists generally use Trivandrum as a hub to explore the highly promoted tourism industry of the state of Kerala. Trivandrum is ranked first in the number of foreign tourists visiting Kerala. It is also a major destination for chartered flights to India for medical tourism, as there are more than fifty recognised Ayurveda centres in and around the city. This is primarily due to Ayurveda's immense popularity in the West. Medical tourism is further promoted by the recuperation facilities available at the beach resorts and hill stations nearby. There are around 20 government owned and 60 privately owned medium and large scale industrial units in Trivandrum. The major employers are the KSIDC, Milma, Keltron, Travancore Titanium and Hindustan Latex, all government owned. There are also about 30,000 small scale industrial units employing around 115,000 people. Traditional industries include handloom and coir.

Vizhinjam Sea Port Proposed Site

Commercial activity is quite low mainly due to the under-development of ports. However, this is expected to change with the construction of the Deep Water Container Transshipment Port at Vizhinjam Situated close to the city, Vizhinjam is very close to international shipping routes and the East-West shipping axis and hardly require maintenance dredgingOther major organizations of economic interest are the Chithranjali Film Complex, Kinfra Apparel Park, Kinfra Film and Video Park, Kerala Hitech Industries (KELTECH), Kerala Automobiles Limited and the English Indian Clays Ltd.

Malayalam is the mother tongue. Thiruvananthapuram city is more cosmopolitan with people speaking various languages like Malayalam, English, Tamil, Hindi, Tulu, and a minor percentage speak Gujarati.


Trivandrum district is a major academic hub. The University of Kerala is located in Trivandrum City in the district. The number of Arts and Science colleges in the district is 20 and the strength of students is estimated to be 15,926. The University of Kerala has its research and higher education centres at Kariavattom. Trivandrum Medical College, the premier health institute of the state is also one of the finest in the country. It is being upgraded to the status of an All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). The College of Engineering, Trivandrum and Sree Chitra Thirunal College of Engineering are the main engineering colleges in Trivandrum .


The schools in the district are classified as Aided, Unaided and Government schools. There are currently 1129 schools are in the district. The government schools are run directly by the state government and follow the syllabus prescribed by the state government. The aided schools also follow the state syllabus. In addition to this, there are four Kendriya Vidyalayas run directly by the Central government, which follow the CBSE syllabus, and private schools run by educational trusts or boards which follow CBSE and/or ICSE syllabus and/or NIOS syllabus and/or state syllabus. The first International school in Kerala, the Trivandrum International School, was started in August 2003


Trivandrum has long been a center of media in India. Kerala Chandrika, the first newspaper of the State, was published from Trivandrum in the year 1789. Now, more than 30 newspapers are being published from the district. The Hindu, The New Indian Express, Malayala Manorama, Mathrubhoomi, Kerala Kaumudi, Desabhimani, Deepika, Madhyamam and Janmabhoomi are a few of the newspapers that from Trivandrum. Several weeklies, fortnightlies, monthlies, bi-monthlies and quarterlies are published from various parts of the district. The Information and Public Relations Department is the main agency of the Government to disseminate information to the public and to provide feedback.


Most Malayalam TV channels are based in Trivandrum. The government owned Doordarshan began broadcasting from here in 1981. Asianet, the first private Malayalam channel, began its telecasts in 1991 from Trivandrum.


There are so many radio stations in the district.Most of them broadcasts from Trivandrum City. All India Radio has an AM (1161 MHz) and an FM (Ananthapuri FM; 101.9 MHz) station in the city. FM radio channels broadcast from Thiruvananthapuram are Ananthapuri FM (AIR) 101.9 MHz, Big FM 92.7 MHz, Club FM 94.3 MHz , Radio Mirchi 98.3 MHz, Red FM 93.5 MHz and Radio DC 90.4 MHz. The Radio DC broadcasts at Low power CRS. So the is channel only available at 15 km radius of the broadcasting station.


The wireline telephone services are provided by BSNL, Reliance and Tata Indicom. The main GSM networks operating in the district are BSNL CellOne, Airtel, Aircel, Tata Docomo, Uninor, Idea Cellular, Vodafone, Reliance, Videocon and Virgin Mobile. The main CDMA providers are Reliance, MTS and Tata Indicom. Major broadband internet services are provided by BSNL DataOne, Asianet Dataline and Siti Cable.


The most popular games in the district are football and cricket. Basketball, badminton and volleyball are also popular, mostly in schools. The Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) is headquartered in Trivandrum City. The Chandrasekharan Nair Stadium, in the heart of Trivandrum, is a prominent football stadium and has hosted both national and international level matches. The University Stadium has hosted two international cricket matches. This stadium is under the University of Kerala and is equipped with synthetic tracks for athletics games. The Central Stadium, which has facilities for athletics, football, basketball, volleyball and cricket practice nets.The Jimmy George Sports Complex, is another major sports establishment in the district.