Mal: അയ്മനം aymanaṁ

‘Five Forests’  Village,  Kerala

From Mal: ai(y)m ‘five’ (in word compounds)’; and vanam ‘forest’, ‘jungle’

Aymanam  is like a small village with classic backwater scenery: coconut trees, paddy fields and canals.

Its name recalls the five jungles areas that once covered  this region:  Vattakkadu, Thuruthikkadu,
Vallyakadu, Moolakkadu and Mekkadu.

It is vividly described in Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things (see Kottayam).

For related place names see Indian Place names and Kerala place names.