Kodungallur is a historically significant town situated on the banks of river Periyar on the Malabar Coast in Thrissur district of Kerala, India. It is 29 kilometres (18 mi) north of Kochi (Cochin) by National Highway 66 and 38 km (24 mi) from Thrissur. Kodungallur, being a port city at the northern end of the Kerala lagoons, was a strategic entry point for the naval fleets to the extensive Kerala backwaters.
Dutch East India Company ships in Kodungallur (1708)
A scene from Kodungallur Bharani festival in Kodungallur Bhagavathy Temple
18th-century depiction of the Hindu temple at Kodungallur
Relic of St. Thomas, kept in the sanatorium of a Syrian Church in Kodungallur
Muchiri, commonly anglicized as Muziris was an ancient harbour and an urban centre on the Malabar Coast. Muziris found mention in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, the bardic Tamil poems and a number of classical sources. It was the major ancient port city of Cheras. Core of the city situated in the present day North Paravoor area. The exact location of Muziris has been a matter of dispute among historians and archaeologists. However, excavations since 2004 at Pattanam, near North Paravur and Kodungallur, have led some experts to suggesting the hypothesis that the city was located just there. It was an important trading port for Christian and Muslim merchants arriving from other countries.
Muziris, as shown in the 4th century Tabula Peutingeriana
The Silk Road, a group of ancient trade routes that, linking east and west, carried goods and ideas between the two great civilizations of Rome and China. The land routes are shown in red, the maritime routes in blue.
