Vallikappen

Vallikappen is an honorific title conferred on members of the prominent land-owning "Valiaveettil" family of Aruvithura (present-day Erattupetta) in Kerala, India, by the Rajas of Poonjar. The title comes from "Valli" (the name of a Hindu goddess) and "kapath" (meaning "to protect" in Tamil). It therefore means the "Protector of Valli". As a title, the name is not very old. It is likely to have been conferred in the late 18th or early 19th centuries, as no earlier records have been found.
Origins
The name is said to originate from a title given to one Mathai Mappillai of the Valiaveettil family who had some property within the Poonjar principality, on which stood a shrine dedicated to 'Valli' a goddess closely connected to Meenakshi, the 'kula devatha' (family deity) of the Poonjar Rajas. The Poonjar Rajas, it must be remembered, originally came from the Tamil provinces and were basically a Tamil-speaking family. As such, Valli was equally venerated by the Rajas, and therefore, the name 'Vallikappen', meaning 'Guardian/Protector of Valli' in Tamil, was given to this gentleman, who, though a Christian, looked after the shrine with great deference. Today, the name Vallikappen is used more or less as a family name by the descendants of Mathai Mappillai.

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