Forest Division, an important Forest Division under Central Forest Circle is headquartered here. The division was established in the year 1914, much before the Ernakulam District came into existence. The jurisdiction of this division covers the greater part of Ernakulam district including the urban-suburban area and adjoining forests unto boundary of Tamil Nadu. People Most people follow Catholic and Hindu beliefs. All the families are known by traditional family names. Christian Catholics Pentecost – Assembly of God church Malayattoor Medical centres The Naturopathy Center is near Neeleeswaram at Palayi.St.Thomas Hospital is the major hospital in malayattoor Festivals Traditional festivals like Christmas and Onam are celebrated with great enthusiasm. Also, Christmas and New Year are celebrated with great pomp and show. Temples and churches celebrate their anniversaries popularly known as ulsavam/perunnal too with great fervour. Education St. Thomas HSS Malayattoor St. Joseph Lp School malayattoor SNDP HSS Neeleeswaram St.Mary LP School Govt. LP School Malayattoor New Man Academy Vimalagiri Industries This region is in the foothills of the western ghats. Spices like nutmeg and crops like tapioca, snake beans, areca nuts are also planted. Also rubber plantations are plenty in number. These spices are then exported and foreign revenue is thus generated. Also various herbs are available in the forests which are used for making ayurvedic medicines. Bamboo corporation, crusher units are the major industries operating in this area. Heavy vehicles like tippers and lorries are a common sight. Nearest Railway Station Angamaly for Kalady Nearest airport Cochin International Airport is about 18 kilometres from Malayattoor. The airport is well connected to all major airports in India and also connected to many foreign cities. Direct flights are available to Chennai, New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Kolkata. Tourism Athirapilly, Vazhachal are some 25 kilometres from this place. This attracts tourists from all over Kerala. Also the international shrine of Malayattoor welcomes a huge number of pilgrims. Kalady famous as the birthplace of Adi Shankaracharya is also popular among the tourists as it is some 10 kilometres from malayattoor. Mahogany Thottam is also a scenic place nearby. Abhayaranyam ( elephants are trained ) is also near and is a place of interest. Pilgrimage St. Thomas is believed to have landed in Kerala at Kodungallur (Cranganore) in AD 52. AD 62 St Thomas returns to Malankara coast via Malayatur where he establishes ‘the half Church’ (a small Christian community dependent on the Church of