Administrative History
This region was held and enjoyed by the Sree Padmanabhadasas. The periphery of the Attingal Royal Palace included seven villages, among which were Idacode, Ilamba, Mudakkal, and Avanavancheri. A special land tax collection system was in place. The lands belonged to Sreepadam, Sreebhandaram, Devaswom, and Brahmaswom categories. The farmers who toiled the land under tenancy, share-cropping, and possession did not have true ownership of the land.
Although the Panchayat was once part of the Attingal Assembly Constituency, it was later included in the Kilimanoor Assembly Constituency. Mudakkal Panchayat falls under the Attingal Parliamentary Constituency. A century ago, the area was perceived as a forest. During the time of the Attingal Royal Family and the British trade operations centered at the Anjengo Fort, spices including pepper and dried ginger were produced here and traded.
The Old Royal Highway passed through the western part of this Panchayat. Velu Thampi Dalawa's final journey to Kilimanoor and then to Mannadi, to escape the British, was along this highway. Elders recount that he rested at the way-side inn (vazhiyambalam) in Anuppara, in the western part of the Panchayat, during this journey.
The Pottis of Ilamba are historically significant among the external powers that controlled the Venad rulers. Over the last century and the early decades of this century, several large and small Brahmin families living in royal splendor established dominance here. It is a historical fact that the last head of the Kallara Mathom in Mudakkal was elected as the first President of Mudakkal Panchayat.
These Brahmin monasteries (Mathoms) held large tracts of land, mainly as landowners in the Attingal and Avanavancheri Agrahars. They employed serfs (adiyalanmar) to work these lands. The Mathoms had associated temples. The Palliyara Temple and the Vasudevapuram Temple, along with their lands, belonged to the Chengannur, Thazhmon Brahmin family. In addition to an associated temple at Kallara Mathom, the Mathom controlled the Mudakkal Amunthirathu Devi Temple and the Chempur Ayiravalli Temple.