It is relevant to explore the prominent personalities of Mala who were involved in social and political work. The history of modern Mala started counting from around 1850.
Prominent Personalities of Modern Mala Thrissur Kerala
It was Chakkalmattath Kanichai Thomman Ittoop who gave the huge plot known "Padanayar Kottaparampu" and paddy field to the amount of 300 measures to the Carmelite Congregation to start their Monastery. Thus in 1868 the present St. Theresas Monastery was started at Kottackal. In the past the land property was fully under the control of the land lords like Kodassery Kartha, Pampumekkattu Mana, Karingapilly Swaroopam, Sree Kurumba Bhagavathi Devaswam. They, in turn gave the land for "Paattam" and collected the yield from them.
First Strike in Mala Panchayat
The agricultural workers and farmers of Scheduled caste and backward community of Mala conducted a strike against the head of the Pambummekkattu Mana under the leadership of P.K. Chathan Master and M.P. Velayudhan. It was the first strike in Mala Panchayath against feudalism.
First Trade Union in Mala Panchayat
The Toddy workers union was the first Trade Union in Mala Panchayath and they led a march to Paliyam when the strike against Paliyam was taken place.
Prajamandalam in Mala, Thrissur
In connection with Prajamandalam, K. Karunakaran and Panambilly Govinda Menon had visited Mala, Thrissur frequently in those days.
Nationalist Movement in Mala, Thrissur
There were many notable personalities who were in the front line of Nationalist Movement. K.A. Thomas, M.T. Lazar, I.K. Ayyappan, A.P. Shankaran, A.K. Raman, Kumaran Vaidyar, K.K. Pappumaster, Kariattu Paily, Davis Pereppadan, A.D. Joseph were some among them.
Film Actor Mala Aravindan
Mala Aravindan, a famous Malayalam movie actor and comedian born in Thrissur, Kerala as the eldest son of Ayyappan, an Excise department employee and Ponnamma, a school teacher. Later, Mala Aravindan, migrated his location to Mala and started using the place name along with his name.
Aravindan started his career as a Tabala artist. He joined stage plays and started playing Tabala as a background artist. Later, he moved into acting and started acting in professional stage plays of Kottayam National Theaters, Nadakashala, Sooryasoma, etc. He has won Kerala State Nadaka Academy's Best Actor award for his role in Sooryasoma's play Nidhi.
Aravindan started his film career with the 1968 movie Sindhooram, directed by Balakrishnan. Since then he has acted in over 100 films and established his own style which became his trademark.