Kolayad
Grama Panchayat

The Kolayad region was part of the ancient Chola Empire. Malabar's connection with Tulu is a historical fact. The fact that people belonging to the Adi Dravidian tribe who speak primitive Tulu are still in the panchayat is an indication of this. Kolayad was a stopover on the way to the centuries-old Kottiyoor Shiva temple. The remains of ancient temples and houses found in the Peruva areas of this panchayat confirm this. The descendants of the Kurichya warriors who helped the brave Pazhassi in his resistance still live in the panchayat areas. It is said that Kaitheri Ambu, who tried to betray the war strategies of the Pazhassi king to the British, was cunningly killed by the people of Manjapparakaran, the Kurichya elder of Peruva. It is said in history that a Namboodiri, who was hiding in a well in the Edayar area, betrayed Kannavathu Nambiar and his son-in-law to the company army for a reward of Rs. 1000 and tied them to a horse-drawn cart and hanged them at Kannavathu.

Agricultural History

In the early part of this century, about 80% of the area of ​​the panchayat was forested and full of wild elephants and other wild animals. Only the remaining 20% ​​was used for agriculture. The migration that began in 1923 is the reason for all the agricultural and non-agricultural progress of this area. Apart from the migrants from Travancore, other farmers from other parts of this district also started farming on the land they had acquired verbally from the natives and from the Devaswom. Replanting was done in the early days. Paddy varieties like Navara, Koyala, Ukka, and Karuthatakkan were also cultivated. Punam agriculture included other crops such as chama, muthari, tina, varak, thovara, cucumber, and pumpkin. Gradually, along with Punam agriculture, cash crops such as cashew, pepper, coconut, and kavung were also cultivated. Later, rubber cultivation, which started in the 1940s, has become the main crop in the panchayat.

Arts, sports, and cultural history

The Kolayad rural area, which is the legacy of the Kottayam Pazhassi dynasty, the testimony of Tipu's military expedition, and the echoes of the British East India Company's military vehicles and carts, is a combination of Kolayad village, which was part of the Chittariparamba section of the old Malabar Kottayam taluk, and Vekkalam village, which was part of the Manathana section. In ancient times, Hindus who came from western areas like Koothuparamba and Panur to re-cultivate, and Muslims from Panur and Nadapuram, migrated to this village. Almost a century ago, there were cultural activities in this village. The local groups of each area used to organize all the things that affected the life of that area for a year in the presence of the village head. These local groups, which gathered in connection with the harvest, are the origin of the ancient art forms here. Most of these were works of art that took shape from hero worship. The first library in this village was established in 1948. The library in question, which was the second to be registered in the Kerala Library Association in the Thalassery region, is the Grama Seva Sangam Library formed by J.C. Sequera. This same library later evolved into the J.C. Sequera Memorial Library and Reading Room. The place of dramas in the village's ancient cultural history is worth mentioning here. The Purana Drama Group formed under the leadership of Punathil Narayanan Nambiar, the drama group formed under the leadership of the Santosh Recreation Club based in Perumthodi and which grew to an almost professional level, and the drama group formed under the leadership of the J.C. Sequera Memorial Library based in Kolayad were active.