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.
