Paravur , a place between Thiruvanathapuram and Kollam just north of Varkala is famous for its natural beauty. It holds a very old history and a 1000 years old civilization. It was an important place of trade as the mode of transport at that time were mainly water transport. It was a business hub between Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram.
Paravur has its own historical importance in addition to its natural beauty. It was a part of 'Pennarasu nadu' which laid between 'Venadu' and 'Desiganadu'. It was then under the control of 'Attingal amma thampuran'. An important ancient document revealing paravur's yester importance is 'Pozhikkara sasanam' built in 12 th century at Pozhikkara sivakshetram (later it became a devikshetram ). It was encrypted on a 'sila phalakam' in 'vattazhuthu'. Another mentioning of Paravur is in 'Unnineeli sandesam' which was written above more than 600 years. Some of the temples in Paravur are mentioned with importance in that script. Also some manuscripts holded on Sree Padmanabha Swami Kshethram has mensioning of some incidence held in Paravur-Thekkumbhagom.
The Paravur panchayat was formed on 1936. It was one among the 4 Panchayats sanctioned by Sir C.P.Ramaswamy Iyer (Diwan-Thiruvithancore).The others were Bhoothappandi, Nedumangadu, and Perumbavoor.The so formed Paravur Panchayat included 9 territories-Thekkumbhagom, Kottappuram, Kongal, Pozhikkara, Kurumandal, Koonayil, Kalakkode, Bhoothakkulam and Nellettil. Sree Ramavarma koyi thampuram from Kilimanoor Palace was the first executive officer of the panchayat. The first election for Paravur panchayat was held at 1942 and Sri Achuthan Pillai became the first elected Panchayat president. Later Paravur became a Municipality on 1988 May 1st. For the first 7 years it was ruled by special officers. In 1995 after the first Municipal election Smt. Bhanumati became the first Municipal Chairperson.
First Industrial establishment for the coir industry was opened at Maniyamkulam. The first government school which started during 1889 and is still their in Kongal. The main market was shifted to the present location (Kottappuram) at a later stage. The place was donated by Kottavila Narayana Pillai. In 19th century itself paravur were in the publication industry. Sarawathy vilasam Achadi sala is considered to be the first one in that type and Mangattu Parameswaran Pillai was its founder. Kerala Bhooshanam and Vidyavilasam Press were also started in 19th centuary.'Sujanandini' was the first newspaper printed and published from Paravur(1892). Paravur Keasavanasan was the managing director of it. The initial poems of Kuamaranasan were published in this paper for first time.
Nomenclature:- The name Paravur itself reveals its historical background. The word ‘ Paravur’ is considered to be a derivative of the primitive Dravidian Etimology – ‘Paravii’ which means sea and ‘Oor’ which means place . It was originally named Paravayoor which was subsequently modified to ‘Paravur’ for the sake of convenient pronunciation.