Punnayoorkkulam, a village in Chavakkad in Thrissur district, came into the limelight with the emergence of Kamala Suraiyya, the poet and short story writer. Earlier, the land had been made famous by the Nalappat house, that made splendid contributions to the field of Malayalam literature, through the works of Nalappat Narayana Menon and Balamani Amma. The Cherai kalari, the most famous among the training arenas in south Malabar, was established in Punnayoorkkulam.