Kottayam, India's first town to achieve 100% literacy, is home to Kerala's first printing press and first college

Background

The Kottayam district administration records that Kottayam Town is the first town in India to have achieved 100% literacy, a feat achieved as early as in 1989.
English education in South India started at the Old Seminary at Kottayam in 1813.
The first printing press in Kerala, the CMS Press, was established there in 1821 by Rev. Benjamin Baily, and the first college in the state, CMS College, was started at Kottayam in 1840.
The maiden printed Malayalam-English and English-Malayalam dictionaries were published from Kottayam in 1846 and 1847 respectively.
The first and only cooperative society of writers, authors and publishers (SPCS) was set up there in 1945, and the district is known as “Akshara Nagari”, the city of letters.
Most of India's natural rubber originates from Kottayam's plantations, and the district is home to the Rubber Board; it was also the first town in India selected by the Ministry of Environment and Forests to be transformed as an Eco City. Former President K. R. Narayanan hailed from Kottayam district.