With so many Kurisinkal families spread across Kerala without any proven records for lineage, it is very difficult for me to trace the roots of our Kurisinkal family. Whatever I write here about our roots, is what I had heard from my father over the years when he was alive. There could be historical errors in my narration, which I stand to be corrected.
Our Kurisinkal family originated in Changanasserry as Kurisikaparambil. 'Kuris' means Cross, 'kallu' means stone and 'parambil' means land. The legend is that somewhere in the seventeenth Century a Cross made of stone (Kuris Kallu) was erected on a piece of land belonging to my forefathers adjacent to the St. Mary's metropolitan church for worship and later the family was known as 'Kuris Kallu nilkunna paramb' (the land where Stone Cross stands) and slowly the family had been known as Kurisikaparambil. There is no record to show the previous name of the family. My generation used Kurisikaparambil as family name, but the name was shortened for the younger generation as the name was too long to record as a Surname and hence Kurisinkal..
