 The term "thattu" is a Malayalam word for "flat surface".Years ago, Elerithattu and surrounding areas used to have a single season (in a year) paddy crop.Since the season for such a paddy cultivation coincided with the pre-monsoon time, the rice produced there came to be known as "elaya ari" referring to "early (to monsoon) rice" ("ari" in Malayalam when translated to English is rice grains and "elaya" stands for young or early).