A reminder of Indus Valley civilisation

The temple at Peyad is actually a reminder of Indus Valley. Some of them migrated and brought with them their culture of worshipping the divine feminine or Kali. In Kerala, it came via Tamil Nadu, where the mother goddess began to be called 'amman'

- - Vellanad Ramachandran

ON the outskirts of Thiruvananthapuram lies a small hamlet that is of late picking up pace as a residential settlement cut away from the din of the city yet at an arm's length from its facilities.

Known as Peyad, the place has for long been relegated as a suburb yet a prominent one due to the natives of the place who have made it to the creative and literary fields of the state.

But long before it was known as Peyad, the place had a unique name, says historian Vellanad Ramachandran.

"In literature found during the reign of the Ay king Karinthanadakkan in 866 AD, the place has reference as Talaivilappil in a land deed drawn. And quite notably, the place is at the tip of Vilappilsala, which is quite close to the area," he says.

According to him, Talaivilappil was the place where the workers of the university at Parthivapuram were given accommodation or even ownership of land as remuneration for the work they did at the ancient learning centre.