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How did Travancore and Cochin become part of Kerala state in 1956?

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Map of southern India highlighting the state of Keralam in orange along the southwestern coast, with its capital Thiruvananthapuram labeled. Surrounding countries and major bodies of water, including the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean, are also shown for regional context.
Keralam

Following India's independence in 1947, the princely states of Travancore and Cochin were merged in 1949 to form the state of Travancore-Cochin.1

In 1956, the Indian government enacted the States Reorganization Act, which sought to reorganize administrative boundaries along linguistic lines. As part of this process, most of the Travancore-Cochin state was joined with the Malabar region and the Kasaragod taluk of the former South Kanara district to create the new state of Kerala.12

It is important to note that this reorganization was not a simple merger; some Tamil-speaking southern areas of Travancore, including Kanniyakumari, were transferred to the neighboring Madras State (now Tamil Nadu) to ensure the new state reflected the linguistic identity of its population.1