A funny story about the origin of Koottunkal family

Another story about the origin of the name "Koottunkal" is a bit funny. I had heard this story in my childhood as a teaser against Koottunkal Family members ("Koottunkans").

Once upon a time,there was a clever man (an ancestor of Koottunkal) lived near the western branch of Vembanadu lake. He was hard working and mainly depended on farming and fishing for a living. Every morning, he would go for fishing at the nearby Vembanadu lake, where fishes and clams were in abundance. He had developed an ingenious way of fishing. His fishing device consisted of a reed basket ("Kutta" in Malayalam) and some pebbles ("Kallu"). He would dip the "Kutta" (reed basket) tied to a rope, to the bottom of the lake and drop the "Kallu" (pebbles) into the "Kutta" intermittently. The noise from the droppings would invite a lot of fishes in search of food into the basket.

Whenever my ancestor dropped a stone to the immersed basket, the fishes that passed by would visit the basket to enquire it and stay there expectantly. Once the assemblage in the basket is found to be sufficient, he would lift the basket with the bounty of fishes in it. So, the name "Koottunkal" was derived from my ancestor's fishing tools - the "Kotta" and "Kallu" -> Kottem Kallum -> Koottunkal
;)

Koottumkal Family Origin

In Kerala, most syrian christians claim that they are descendants of the Brahmins who were converted to Christianity by St. Thomas, the apostle, when he visited Kerala 2000 years ago. There is no believable evidence to this claim.In fact, there is no historical evidence that St. Thomas had visited Kerala or Brahmins existed in Kerala before 2000 years. The historical texts (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Kerala) say Brahmins inhabited Kerala, much later than Christians.

Even today, almost all syrian christian families in Kerala take pride in their supposedly Brahmin roots. Koottunkal family is no different. Since there is no evidence to this ancestral lore, a more plausible theory is required.

One belief is that, three or four centuries ago one ancenster from "Kallarackal Kadavu" family of Pallippuram founded "Koottunkal" family at its current location. Where the family was founded, there was a large cocunut warehouse ("Thenga Koot") that belonged to a local landlord. The name "Koottunkal" was coined from the words "Koot" and "ankal" which jointly means "the place where the cocunut warehouse stands". I have personally seen such large cocunut warehouses in the vicinity till a few decades ago.

Please comment and contribute your knowledge to this topic.