| Kottarakkara | |
| Native Name Lang: | ml |
| Settlement Type: | Municipal Town |
| Pushpin Map: | India Kerala#India |
| Pushpin Label Position: | right |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in Kerala, India |
| Coordinates: | 8.9833°N 76.7667°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: |  India |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Type2: | District |
| Subdivision Name1: | Kerala |
| Subdivision Name2: | Kollam |
| Government Type: | Council |
| Governing Body: | Kottarakkara Municipality |
| Unit Pref: | Metric |
| Area Total Km2: | 17.39 |
| Population Total: | 29,788 |
| Population Footnotes: | [1] |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Demographics Type1: | Languages |
| Demographics1 Title1: | Official |
| Timezone1: | IST |
| Utc Offset1: | +5:30 |
| Postal Code Type: | PINCODE |
| Postal Code: | 691506 |
| Registration Plate: | KL-24 |
| Blank1 Name Sec1: | Nearest city |
| Demographics1 Info1: | Malayalam, English |
| Leader Title1: | MP |
| Leader Name1: | Kodikunnil Suresh |
| Leader Title2: | MLA |
| Leader Name2: | K.N.Balagopal |
| Blank3 Name Sec1: | Civic Agency |
| Blank3 Info Sec1: | Kottarakara Municipality |
Kottarakkara (IAST: Koṭṭārakkara), also transliterated as Kottarakara, is a town and municipality in the Kollam district of the Kerala, India.[2] Kottarakkara lies to the east of Kollam city centre.[3]
See main article: History and Culture of Kottarakkara. Kottarakkara, also known in the ancient days of the kings as the Elayadathu Swarupam, was a principality ruled by a branch of the Travancore Royal Family. It is the home of Kathakali, a well known dance drama which originated initially as Ramanattam created in the 17th century by Prince Kottarakkara Thampuran and later patronized by the Raja of Kottarakkara in the early 19th century absorbing other dance forms of Krishnanattam with further innovations.
Kottarakkara, a compound word made up of the words Kottaram, meaning "palace", and kara meaning "land", literally means "land of palaces". The area which had several palaces was thus named "Kottarakkara."[4]
Kottarakkara is a small municipality and taluk headquarters, close to Kollam. The taluk has six panchayats and other small towns. It is surrounded by several other towns.
See also: Kottarakkara (Assembly constituency). Kottarakara Assembly Constituency is one among the 11 assembly constituencies in Kollam district. K. N. Balagopal is the present MLA from Kottarakkara constituency. Kottarakkara comes under Mavelikkara (Lok Sabha constituency)(previously it was in Adoor Loksabha constituency) that represents a large area including Kottarakkara, Mavelikkara, Changanasseri, spread in Kollam, Alappuzha and Kottayam districts.[6]
E Chandrasekaran Nair (CPI), D.Damodaran Potti (PSP), R.Balakrishna Pillai (Kerala Congress), E.Chandrasekaran Nair (CPI), C.Achutha Menon (CPI), Kottara Gopalakrishnan (INC) and R.Balakrishna Pillai (Kerala Congress - B),P. Aisha Potty (CPM) are the former elected members represented Kottarakara Assembly Constituency in the past.[7] [8]
NH 744 earlier known as NH 208 (Kollam to Thirumangalam) meets the MC road (Thiruvananthapuram to Angamaly) at Kottarakkara.Kottarakkara is linked with Kollam (the district headquarters), both by road and rail, at a distance of 27 km. It is 66 km to the north of Thiruvananthapuram (the capital of Kerala) and 80 km to the south of Kottayam.[9]
Kottarakara has one of the Kerala's well connected KSRTC Hub, consist of various services across almost all the parts of kerala and interstate services.Local routes are connected by private bus services as well as State Transport. It is well connected to the capital city of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram by KSRTC Fast Passenger, super fast, super deluxe, a/c low floor buses. Buses are also ply to the district headquarters of Kollam and Pathanamthitta and to towns in Tamil Nadu like Coimbatore, Tenkasi and Sengottai and Daily trips to Mookambika, Sullia Munnar, Chennai, Hosur Bangalore, Velankanni, Madurai, Kumily, Mysore, Kanyakumari, Coimbatore, Nagercoil, Thirunelveli, Tuticorin, Palani, Trichy, Ernakulam, Kannur, Palakkad, Thrissur, Mangalore, Sultan Bathery, Kasaragod. Kottarakara depot of ksrtc is one of the top revenue earning depots of the state.
Kottarakara railway station is located on the Kollam-Sengottai railway line. Kottarakara railway station, which currently connects to Kollam, Trivandrum, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Palakkad, Madurai, Chennai, Kanyakumari, Tirunelveli, Guruvayur, Varkala and Punalur through the direct passenger, fast passenger and express train services. There are eight pairs of services right now and heard that many more services would be inducted in this route since the Punalur-Schengotta ghat section has been closed for Broad Gauge conversion. Further, a new line from Chengannur to Thiruvananthapuram via Adoor and Pandalam is awaiting survey. Kottarakkara will become a junction once the new line materializes.
The nearest airport is Trivandrum International Airport, .
See main article: Education in Kollam district.