Unnuneelisandesham is among the oldest works in the Malayalam language. It is a sandesa kavyam (message poem), written on the lines of the famous Meghadūta by Kalidasa. In this work, a lover sends a message to his beloved who lives in a distant place, conveyed through a messenger. The work is believed to have been written in the 14th century AD.

Narrating the travel route, Unnuneelisandesham describes how Aditya Varman, the protagonist, begins his journey after crossing the southern border of Venad (Thovala). He travels through Thiruvananthapuram to Kaduthuruthy. The journey begins from Sanyanthapuram at the Padmanabhaswamy Temple, after which he visits the Palkulangara Temple. From Shangummukham, he sets sail towards the Thrippapoor Temple. After offering prayers, he continues his journey by palanquin to Mutalappozhi (Perumathura), located at the mouth of Kadinamkulam Lake.

From there, he crosses the river using a ferry and continues his journey over three days, passing through several rivers and waterways. The poem provides detailed geographical and cultural descriptions of the places along the route. He travels through the Parvathy–Puthanar canal and reaches Puthidam (Poothura), which was a prominent market during that period.

According to History of Travancore from the Earliest Times by P. Shungoonny Menon (1998), an old palm-leaf record from the Padmanabhapuram Palace mentions that Perumathura held strategic military importance during the 1742–1743 war between Travancore and the combined forces of Kayamkulam and the Dutch. As Maharaja Marthanda Varma prepared for war and laid siege to Kilimanoor Fort, several military encampments were established around Attingal. Perumathura served as one of the key garrison points, housing a division of the Travancore army, alongside other locations such as Vamanapuram, Nagaroor, and Kadinenkulam. Though not a direct battlefield, its role in military logistics highlights its strategic significance.

In the 1970s, Perumathura was popularly known as “Mini Persia” among neighboring villages. Migration from Perumathura to the Gulf region began as a post-Independence phenomenon. The earliest emigrants included an army officer and a few locals. By the early 1950s, their families began receiving occasional remittances from abroad.

Initially, migration occurred in small numbers, but over time, the “call of the Gulf” drove many residents to take significant risks to migrate. Kozhikode and Bombay became major transit points, from where people often attempted unauthorized travel in Arab boats. These journeys were dangerous, and Perumathura has many tragic stories of failed attempts, loss of life, imprisonment, and financial hardship.

What began as a trickle in the 1950s grew into a steady flow by the late 1960s. Following the oil boom in the early 1970s and the rise of construction activities in Gulf countries, migration from Perumathura increased significantly, becoming a defining social and economic phenomenon of the region.