Family History

How good and pleasant it is when God's people live together in unity! (Psalm 133:1)

As per documented records, our family has been known as "Koottarazhikathu", since 3 centuries. The meaning of this word has to be deciphered from Malayalam. The word "Koottar" means society, group, family, etc., and "Azhikam" is the old version of "House". Hence we can conclude that the word "Koottarazhikathu" means a house for a large family, or a place for a large family to stay. There is not much information about the family roots beyond three centuries and it is not very clear where exactly our forefathers originated. Deeper studies may require to trace the genealogy beyond 18th Century. The name, by itself, suggests that even 3 centuries ago our family used to be considerably large and had achieved a certain level of visibility within the society. It is believed that the founding fathers of Koottarazhikam family had moved from the shores of Kallada to places like Chathannoor with an intention to prosper by exploring different opportunities other than agriculture. It was indeed a great deal of transformation through conviction and hard work along with the prayerful lives of our forefathers, which helped us achieve the material comforts that we have today.

Some of the forefathers were then attracted towards other fertile soils near to Chathannoor and started exploring in that way, hence identified places like like Chenkulam, Marakulam and Aduthala were their new dwelling place. During 19th and 20th century, these descendants were fully into agriculture, and contributed significantly towards the economic upliftment of the society. A host of cash crops, and food crops were cultivated, resulting in the prosperity of the family descendants since then.

We can trace our family tree beginning with Mr Geevarghese (Senior) who had 2 sons, namely Mr. Chacko and Mr. Mathunni, because the family history prior to Geevarghese is not very clear and not documented anywhere. Mr Chacko had two sons (Geevarghese and Kunchandy) and one daughter (Aleyamma). The descendants of Mr. Chacko later settled in Poongkoodu. Descendants of Mr. Mathunni (7 sons and 1 daughter) settled in different parts of Marakulam, Chenkulam and Vengoor. The descendants of above mentioned (8 children of Mathunni and 3 children of Chacko) are now called the Koottarazhikathu family members.

During the later years, our forefathers marked their presence in socio-religious activities along with their entrepreneurial and agricultural ventures .We are proud to mention here about L.L.H G Mathews Mar Epiphanios, a fourth generation member of our family, became a Bishop of Malankara Orthodox Church who was well known for his affection towards the poor and the marginalised in the society during his life time. People affectionately called him as "Sowmya Thejas of Malankara".

The descendents of our family have migrated to different parts of the globe, especially to areas like Middle East, Europe, The United States of America and other states in India. We are thankful to Lord Almighty for all the enrichment in our present life though there are challenges and struggles. Without the prayers of our forefathers, all these would not have been possible.