What dried shrimp & Kochappu have to do with Thoppumpady's Parippu Junction?

A quiet suburban corner in Kochi's Thoppumpady, Parippu Junction invokes curiosity. More specifically - how did this place get the name parippu, the Malayalam word for lentils?

- ARAVIND B

Naturally, one would assume that it has something to do with food. Perhaps a restaurant at the junction is famous for its parippu vadas? Also, given how the region is a bustling trading centre (or was), it is not uncommon to link its etymology to the trade of lentils.

Well, both these assumptions hold weight. "It is believed that, in earlier times, one family here traded in lentils. That's how the place got its name," says Padmanabham, an elderly cobbler in the area.