VANDANMEDU POST OFFICE

The first post office in the district was set up in 1892 in Devikulam estate mainly to deliver official communication to the British officers. The anchal office in Vandanmedu was set up not more than two decades later in the same period. It was once a unique post office buzzing with activity in the once famous cardamom village of Vandanmedu. Along with it, a few other old buildings now unoccupied also stand testimony to time. These were the offices for administering cardamom plantations of the erstwhile Travancore state. According to the official records available at the village office, which was earlier the administrative office of the erstwhile Travancore state, there are references to the post office. The settlement register mentions it in the 1920-21 period. It says that the post office was functioning well and delivering messages to officials and letters to the workers of the cardamom plantation. Even now, a road is known as ‘anchalvazhy’ that connected the former post office. “The anchalvazhy through the forest was also used to move timber, but fell into disuse after the development of the Kumili-Munnar state highway. “ says a source. Though the village office records state the anchalvazhy has a 15 km distance, the postman did not have to traverse its entire length as it was uninhabited. Around the buildings, there still remains a trench that prevented wild tuskers and other wild animals from straying into the area. At present, the post office is being used as the staff quarters of the postal department while the post office has shifted to the main town.