Ottasekharamangalam
Grama Panchayat

Archaeologists have suggested that the temple ruins excavated from the Pukilanpara Sastha Temple located in the present-day Poothanad ward are over 1000 years old. It is believed that approximately 500 years ago, Mukilan and his army, who attacked Venad, marched through Ambasamudram and camped at this picturesque and vast location.

It is inferred that the place got the name Mukilanpara because Mukilan came and set up camp here. It is likely that this oral tradition changed over time to become Pukilanpara. Such stories must exist for every place name. These facts point to the conclusion that Ottasekharamangalam has been an inhabited area since ancient times.

The Poothanad Muslim Mosque and the Kunnathunad Christian Church are said to be more than two centuries old. The religious tolerance and harmony that have prevailed since very early times are a testament to the cultural richness of the people.

The eastern region of this Panchayat included a Reserve Forest and the Kanippattu area. Attacks by wild animals were a daily occurrence. After the 1950s, this forest land gave way to small-scale rubber plantations.

In the Kollam Era 1108 (around AD 1932–33), malaria spread throughout this area. The road built to bring quinine, the prophylactic medicine for malaria, is still one of the main roads in this Panchayat. Sree Chithira Thirunal, the Maharaja of Travancore, visited the area to oversee relief operations. The Malaria Dispensary established at Alachakonam for this purpose is today's Poothanad Government Hospital.

The week-long flood in 1930 caused significant suffering to this region, which is surrounded by rivers.

Until the 1950s, about 90 percent of the land in this Panchayat was owned by wealthy farmers belonging to the Nair and Namboothiri communities, who comprised about 5 percent of the population. The Land Reforms Act and the division of property according to the Makkathayam (patrilineal inheritance) system accelerated the pace of land decentralization. This resulted in land being distributed to many landless agricultural laborers and other marginalized groups.

The Aruvippuram Shiva Temple, consecrated by Sree Narayana Guru, is located about 11 kilometers from this region. During the period of national awakening in the 1930s, when the storm of the national freedom movement was rising, this land also became a platform for political and social movements. The Congress as a national movement, the Congress Socialist Party that emerged from it, and the subsequently formed Communist movement accelerated the pace of social progress in this area.

The struggle for land by landless farmers, led by the Karshaka Sangham (Farmers' Union) during the 1949–50 period, witnessed a massive public uprising. Many farmers gained ownership of the land.

Due to geographical peculiarities, this Panchayat was educationally backward. The transformation brought about by the Ottasekharamangalam High School (today's Janardhanapuram H.S.), established in 1957, in the educational sphere of the village and the five adjacent Panchayats is indescribable.

The first Anchal Office (Post Office) was established in Ottasekharamangalam in 1948. Velayudhan Pillai was the first Anchal runner.