Geography
The river Manimala flows through the heart of the town. The Mallappally bridge is the entrance to town from Pathanamthitta Kozhencherry Ranni side. Two hundred years back, most of the places are hilly forests except the river bed. During the period of Travancore kings, big trees from dense forests were cut down and shipped to Bombay and foreign countries to build multi-storied townships
crop during colonial period. Afterwards, people began to occupy, cultivate and make roads in hilly places, caused large scale soil erosion which filled the river with white sand, and endangered different species of river fish.
[edit]Landmarks
Centuries old Suriyani Church is still seen at eastern bank of the river. Anglican missionaries entered the scene some 200 years back and established an Anglican church and school adjacent to old Suriyani church. Later during the reformation movement started by Palakunnathu Abraham Malpan, a large section of Syrian Christians joined him. Catholicism reached here only after CE 1930 due its interior location. presently, its Syrian christian population standing in different denominations comprising of 70% of its total population. The Rev. George Matthan Mission Hospital,named after the well-known Malayalam writer and priest, serves as a medical center for the area with no other medical institutions within 16 km. 1600 year old Kalloppara church is the oldest Christian shrines in the taluk, close to Kallooppara Bhagavathy temple. Most of the temples in Mallappally Taluk are dedicated to Hindu deity,Lord Shiva. A widely famous Hanuman temple is at Kaviyoor.
[edit]Transportation
Mallappally lies in the SH 9 which connects the district capitals of Pathanamthitta and Kottayam. Both KSRTC and Private buses are available in plenty to link between Kozhencherry and Kottayam. Mallappally has a KSRTC depot which is the main transportation facility in SH 9. Tiruvalla - Mallappally road meets SH 9 at central junction of the town. Both KSRTC and Private buses are available in plenty to link between Tiruvalla and Mallappally. Mallappally is also connected to Ranni, Erumeli Sabarimala. The fourth narrow road goes down to Anikkadu, a small farming village, a couple of kilometers away from town.The nearest railway station is Tiruvalla, 12 km away, Chenganaserry is 15 km away, Chengannur is 20 km away, and Kottayam is 29 km away. The nearest airport is Cochin International Airport (99 km). Upcoming Aranmula International Airport is just 16 km away. Early period, people traveled and transported their goods through river, and people could reach different parts of Alappuzha district and up to Ernakulam by nearby Changanacherry jetty.
