How to read a Lakshadweep land record extract
Survey numbers, Tharavad holdings, Pandaram land and mutation: what a Lakshadweep land record tells you and what to check before relying on it.
The land record extract is the revenue record for a survey number on an island. It names the holder, gives the extent and says how the land is classified. It does not draw the land; that is the plot sketch. Most of what matters is in who the holder is and what kind of land it is.
Numbers first
Check the island and the survey and subdivision numbers against your deed or family papers. A number like 45/2 is a subdivision of 45, created when the parcel was split. If your papers give a number that the current record no longer shows, ask the revenue office what it became before you ask for any map.
Who holds it
- Tharavad
- A matrilineal joint family holding the land as a whole. Separating out one member's share is a partition, and the record changes only when it is entered.
- Pandaram land
- Land that historically belonged to the ruler and later the government, held by islanders under long-standing arrangements. Its status differs from family-held land.
- Individual holding
- Land recorded in one person's name, usually after a partition or a transfer.
Mutation
When land changes hands by transfer, inheritance or partition, the record is updated by a mutation. Until that is done, the extract still names the previous holder, so ask the revenue office about any pending mutation before relying on the extract.
From the record to the map
The extract lists survey numbers and stops there. Which of them adjoin, and what the holding looks like as one shape, comes from the plot sketches. Joining them is usually the last step before a partition, a mutation or a boundary question.
🔗 Lakshadweep land and survey glossary →Frequently asked questions
Why does the record name a family instead of a person?+
Because much island land is Tharavad property, held by a matrilineal joint family as a whole. It is recorded against one person only after a share is separated out and entered.
What is Pandaram land?+
Land that historically belonged to the islands' ruler and later to the government, occupied and cultivated by islanders under long-standing arrangements. Check how a survey number is classified before relying on it.
Why does the record still show the old holder?+
Because the mutation that records the change has not been made yet. Ask the revenue office for your island about its status.