Joseph Murickan

Joseph Murickan also known as Murickan Auta or Murikkum Moottil Authaman was a farmer and landowner from Kerala, India, who played an important role in the expansion of paddy cultivation in Kuttanad. He started farming by filling up the backwaters of Kuttanad. He is popularly referred as Kayal Raja literally meaning 'King of Lake'. The king had only said that the land could be exempted from tax for five years. Regardless of that, he studied the nature of the lake with the help of experts. Realizing that there were shallow parts in the lake, he dug a ridge with mud and pumped out the water. Following the Land Reforms Act passed by the Kerala Legislative Assembly, in 1972, when C. Achutha Menon was the Chief Minister, the Government acquired these lands from the Murikan family.

Churches Chithira church, the first Christian shrine in Kuttanad was built by Murickan. In addition to Chithira Church, Murickan who was a devout Catholic, built six large churches and a small church in Malabar and Thiruvananthapuram region. He implemented a natural purification system in the pond. His successful efforts to cultivate land below sea level have been praised internationally. The chapter 'Joseph Murickan' was from the autobiography of journalist T. J. S. George. CPI (M) demanded that the chapter be withdrawn on the grounds that it mocks Land Reforms Act of Kerala. Former Kerala chief minister V. S. Achuthanandan said that praising the feudal landlord and mocking land reform is an insult to history. George strongly denied the allegations, saying he did not mock land reform or glorify feudalism.