Pathanapuram is an administrative division situated in the Western Ghats in the Kollam District of Kerala state of India. It is about 13 kms from industrial town Punalur. It covers a mountainous area of 248.32 km2. The area was rich in forest cover and had a roaming elephant population and other tropical wild animals. The name of the place "Pathanapuram"(malayalam language) can be translated as "ten elephants puram". A large part of the rain forests were cut down to create rubber plantations, but there still exists a considerable area of very dense tropical rainforest.
