History
Kottarakara is served as a place of residence for the King. Thus, it is named 'Kottarakara', or "the land of the palace".Kottaram means Palace and Kara means Land. The 'Elayidath Swaroopam' was the last ruling family of the area. The last queen of the dynasty voluntarily surrendered to King MarthandaVarma of Travancore in the 18th century.

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Demographics
The region is primarily agrarian. It has grown in population as well as economically. The Kottarakara Taluk has a population of 5.77 lakhs as per the 2001 census. There are lots of educational institutions including the 'St. Gregorious College' and the 'Engineering College'. The Engineering College is run by IHRD, a State Government organisation and is affiliated to the Cochin University of Science and Technology. The College offers B.Tech degree courses in Electronics & Communication and in Computer Science & Engineering, with an intake of 60 students in each stream. The town is well-connected, with a good network of roads and frequent bus services to all places. The Kollam - Chennai railway passes through Kottarakara and there is a railway station here.
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Governance
Kottarakara, like other parts of India, is governed by different levels of government such as the three tiers of 'Panchayatraj', namely Village, Block and Jilla and, of course, the state and central governments. The revenue and land administration has the village as the basic unit. The Kottarakara Taluk consists of a number of villages. The Taluk is part of the Kollam Revenue Sub-Division, which is coterminous with the Kollam District.

The 'State Institute of Rural Development', which trains the senior officers of the Rural Development Department, is at Kottarakara. One of the three Extension Training Centers in the State is also here. The ETC conducts training programmes for Village Extension Officers. There are also training programmes for self-employment. The important Government institutions include the Irrigation Chief Engineer's (Kallada) office, Electricity Superintending Engineer's office, Transport Corporation's District office, Taluk Office, Taluk Supply Office, Block Development Office and Taluk Hospital.

The Kottarakara Assembly seat has been held by the Kerala Congress leader 'R. Balakrishna Pillai' for decades. He holds the record for the highest margin of victory for any candidate to the Kerala Assembly. He has been responsible for most of the developmental activities here. However he lost the elections in May 2006. Other prominent political leaders from the area are 'E. Chandrasekharan Nair' and the late 'D. Damodaran Potti'.
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Prides- Kathakali
Kottarakara is the place where the classical art form of Kathakali was conceived. It was developed by Kottarakkara Thampuran the King of Kottarakkara in competition with Krishnanattom which had its origin in Kozhikode.Malayalam novelists Lalithambika Antharjanam and Kakkanadan hail from here. The late Kottarakara Sreedharan Nair was one of India's best movie actors. He gave memorable portrayal of the historical heroes like Pazhassi Raja, Velu Thampi Dalawa and Kunhali Marakkar. He will also be remembered for his roles in 'Chemmeen' and 'Ara Nazhika Neram'. His son 'Saikumar' and daughter 'Sobha' are Malayalam film actors. Veteran actor 'Bharat' Murali, who is now the Chairman of the Kerala Chalachitra Academy, hails from Odanavattom near Kottarakara. 'Ganesh Kumar', MLA and former Minister, son of' R. Balakrishna Pillai' is also a renowned actor. 'K.P. Kottarakara' died on 2006. He was a leading Malayalam film producer in the seventies.
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Places of Worship- Ganapati Temple
Kottarakkara is a famous pilgrim centre for the Hindus as the seat of the famous Ganapati Temple. It is believed that the idol was sculptured by Perumthachan from the root of the jack tree. This temple is famous for its 'Unniappom'. There are lots of churches in the area, mostly of the 'Malankara Orthodox Church '(St. George Orthodox Valiya Pally Kizheketheruvu) and the 'Marthomma Church'. Kottarakara also has a good number of Muslims with their mosque at market junction.
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