been founded by Bhaskara Ravi Varma-II (1019–1021). Initial Capital - Vennimala and Manikandapuram Vennimala was established as the headquarters of Thekkumkur kingdom. Vennimala was the most secure place for the enemy. The forests were cut down and developed into habitable areas and the administration is strengthened by the capital city of Manikandapuram. The Manikandapuram Krishna temple is believed to have been built by King Iravi Manikandan in 1152 AD. Manikandapuram and adjoining areas flourished with the administrative and populace necessary for capital. During the rule of the Thekkumkur kings, Manikandapuram was a very flourishing town. There is evidence that the fort and the tunnels were at Manikandapuram, as were the later headquarters of the Thekkumkur monarchy at Changanassery and Thaliyanthanapuram (Kottayam). Changanassery and Thaliyanthanapuram As part of the growth of the market hubs in idanadu (medieval places), it was an intellectual move to have good interventions in the kingdom, the capital shifted to Puzhavathu in Changanassery at the beginning of 15th century. Apart from trade, Thekkumkur has promoted Changanassery as the best town for transportation in the southern neighboring princely states of Kerala. The administrative center remained in the Neerazhi Palace of Changanassery for the next three and a half centuries. The relocation of the headquarters to Neerazhikettu Kottaram at Changanassery made it easier for them to ease the commodities that frequent the Vembanadu lagoon and to combat the encroachments of the backwaters of Chempakassery. By the end of the 15th century, the Thekkumur kings had built a palace and fort near the Thaliyil temple and established another capital on the banks of the river Meenachil at Thalianthanapuram (Kottayam). Thali Temple was one of the eighteen and a half Thali shrines () of Kerala. An additional capital city establishment was by the trade developments in the Thazhathangadi river (Meenachil River) and the collapse of the ancient thali () as a center of Brahmanism. The fort, which was about a kilometer in circumference and was about 12 feet high, was made of heavy red sandstone and had six bastions (the tower of view) and five-meters (seven Kol) wide trenches. Geography An earthen fort along the border of Vadakkumkoor and Thekkumkoor, it beginning from Athirampuzha, it extended to Kondur (east of Palai). Initially, the Thekkumkur boundary was the Western Ghats (Sahyadri Mountains) to the Vembanadu Lake (Vembanadu Kayal) and the Kanakkary to Kaipattoor (Kadavu) in Achankovil River. In the late 18th century,