Kasaragod | |
|---|---|
Town | |
| Kasaragod | |
        Clockwise from top: Bekal beach,Chandragiri River,Chandragiri Fort,Ranipuram,Bekal Fort,Kavvayi Backwaters atNileshwaram,Malik Dinar Mosque, andArikady fort | |
| Nicknames: The Land of Seven Languages, The Land of God[1] | |
 Kasaragod in Kerala | |
| Coordinates:12°30′N75°00′E / 12.5°N 75.0°E /12.5; 75.0 | |
| Country |  India |
| State |  Kerala |
| District | Kasaragod |
| Municipality Established | 1966 |
| Government | |
| • Type | District |
| • Body | Kasaragod Municipality |
| • Municipal Chairman | Abbas Beegum (UDF) |
| • District Collector | K Inbasekar IAS |
| • Superintendent of Police | P B Rajeev IPS |
| • MP | Rajmohan Unnithan |
| • MLA | N. A. Nellikkunnu |
| Area | |
• Town | 16.7 km2 (6.4 sq mi) |
| • Metro | 93.3 km2 (36.0 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 19 m (62 ft) |
| Population | |
• Town | 54,172 |
| • Density | 3,240/km2 (8,400/sq mi) |
| • Metro | 192,856 |
| Time zone | UTC+5:30 (IST) |
| PIN | 671121 |
| Telephone | +91 4994 |
| Vehicle registration | KL-14 |
| Official language | |
| Website | kasargod.nic.in |
Kasaragod (Malayalam:[kaːsɐrɐɡoːɖɨ̆]ⓘ) is a municipal town and the administrative headquarters of theKasaragod district in the state ofKerala, India. Established in 1966, Kasaragod was the first municipal town in the district.[4] It is the northernmost district of Kerala and is also known asSapta Bhasha Sangama Bhumi ('The Land of Seven Languages').[1]
Situated in the richbiodiversity ofWestern Ghats, it is known for theChandragiri andBekal Fort,[5]Chandragiri River, historicKolathiri Rajas, natural environment ofRanipuram andKottancheri Hills, historical and religious sites like theMadiyan Kulom temple,Madhur Temple,Ananthapuram Lake Temple andMalik Deenar Mosque. The historic hill ofEzhimala is located on the southern portion ofKavvayi Backwaters ofNileshwaram.
Kasaragod is located 90 km north ofKannur city corporation and 50 km south ofMangalore.Kasaragod district has the maximum number of rivers in Kerala - 12.[6] The town is located on the estuary where theChandragiri River, which is also the longest river in the district, empties into theArabian Sea. Kasaragod is home to several forts, includingArikady fort,Bekal Fort,Chandragiri Fort, andHosdurg Fort. Bekal Fort is the largest and best preserved fort in Kerala.[7]Talakaveri, which is home toTalakaveri Wildlife Sanctuary where the 805 km longKaveri river originates, is located closer toRanipuram on the Kerala-Karnataka border.
Robert Caldwell describes the extent of Malayalam in the 19th century as extending from Chandragiri (fort andriver) in the north toNeyyar river beyondThiruvananthapuram in the south and fromMalabar Coast in the west toWestern Ghats in the east besides the inhabited islands ofLakshadweep in theArabian Sea.[8][note 1]
Said to be from Kannadakāsara "Strychnos nux-vomica" andgōḍe "rampart". In Malayalam Kasaragod was known askāññirakkōṭŭ (The land ofkāññiram trees).kāññiram is Malayalam for Kasaraka trees (Kannada name) found in abundance here.[10][11]
Kasaragod was under the Kumbla dynasty until the 16th century, which was vassal to the kingdom ofKolathunadu based atKannur.[12]Kannada kingdoms focused on the port and surroundings in the 16th century CE.[13][14][15][16]
The ancient Tamil works of the Sangam Age record that the area covering the district was part ofPuzhinadu which consists of the coastal belt fromKozhikode toMangalore. Politically the area was part of theEzhimala Kingdom with its capital atEzhimala in present-dayKannur district. The most famous king of Ezhimala was Nannan whose kingdom extended up to Gudalur and northern parts of Coimbatore. Poozhinad, along with Karkanad which included the eastern regions ofEzhimala dynasty (Wayanad-Gudalur region with some portions ofKodagu), had its capital atEzhimala. The Mooshaka kings were considered descendants of Nannan. By the 14th century,Mooshaka Kingdom was known as Kolathirinad and the rulers as Kolathiris. The Kolathunad Kingdom at the peak of its power reportedly extended fromNetravati River (Mangalore) in the north[17] toKorapuzha (Kozhikode) in the south with Arabian Sea on the west andKodagu hills on the eastern boundary, also including the isolated islands ofLakshadweep inArabian Sea.[18]
Kasaragod, about 50 km south ofMangalore city, was an important centre of trade in earlier times.Ramacharitam, probably the oldest literary work written inOld Malayalam, which dates back to the 12th century CE, is thought to have written in Kasaragod district as its manuscripts were discovered fromNileshwaram and the poem mentions aboutAnanthapura Lake Temple inKumbla in detail.[19] Kasaragod was known to theArabs by the nameHarkwillia.[13] TheMalik Dinar Mosque in Kasaragod town is one of the oldestMasjids in theIndian subcontinent.[20] According toQissat Shakarwati Farmad, theMasjids atKodungallur,Kollam,Madayi,Barkur,Mangalore, Kasaragod,Kannur,Dharmadam,Panthalayini, andChaliyam, were built during the era ofMalik Dinar, and they are among the oldestMasjids in theIndian subcontinent.[21] It is believed thatMalik Dinar died atThalangara in Kasaragod town.[20] ManyArab travelers visiting Kerala between the 9th and the 14th centuries visited Kasaragod, being an important trade centre then.Duarte Barbosa, a Portuguese traveler who visitedKumbla, near Kasaragod Town in 1514 recorded that rice being exported for coir toMaldives.[13] According to Barbosa, the people in the southwestern Malabar coast of India fromChandragiri in the north toKanyakumari in the south spoke a unique language, which they called as "Maliama" (Malayalam).[22][23]
Until the 16th century CE, Kasaragod town was known by the nameKanhirakode (may be by the meaning, 'the land ofKanhira trees') inMalayalam.[10] TheKumbla dynasty, who swayed over the land of southernTulu Nadu wedged betweenChandragiri River andNetravati River (including present-day taluks ofManjeshwar and Kasaragod) fromMaipady Palace atKumbla, had also been vassals to theKolathunadu kingdom ofNorth Malabar, before theCarnatic conquests ofVijayanagara Empire.[24] The Kumbla dynasty had a mixed lineage ofMalayaliNairs andTuluva Brahmins.[12] They also claimed their origin fromCheraman Perumals of Kerala.[12]Francis Buchanan-Hamilton states that the customs of Kumbla dynasty were similar to those of the contemporaryMalayali kings.[12]
TheKolathiri Dominion emerged into ten independent principalities, i.e.Kadathanadu (Vadakara),Randathara or Poyanad (Dharmadom),Kottayam (Thalassery),Nileshwaram, Iruvazhinadu (Panoor),Kurumbranad etc., under separate royal chieftains due to the outcome of internal dissensions.[25] Many portions of the present-dayHosdurg taluk (Kanhangad) andVellarikundu were parts of theNileshwaram dynasty, who were relatives to bothKolathunadu as well asZamorin ofCalicut, in the early medieval period.[26] The areas north to theChandragiri river (present-day Taluks of Manjeshwaram and Kasaragod) were ruled by the Kumbala dynasty.[12]
TheChandragiri Fort is built on the southern bank of the estuary ofChandragiri River, just opposite to Kasaragod town. TheBekal Fort atBekal,Pallikkara, which is situated midway between Kasaragod andKanhangad, and which is largest fort in Kerala, was built in 1650 byShivappa Nayaka ofKeladi.[27]
Francis Buchanan, the family doctor ofArthur Wellesley, visited Kasaragod in 1800.[13] In his travelogue, he recorded information on places like Athiraparambu,Kavvayi,Nileshwaram,Bekal,Chandragiri andManjeshwar.[13]
Hosdurg and Vellarikundu was part of Kolathunadu (south of Chandragiri river) and Kasaragod and Manjeshwaram was in theTulu Nadu region (north of Chandragiri river).[28][29]
In 1763,Hyder Ali raided Bedanoor (Bidnur), the capital of the Ikkery Naiks. His sonTippu Sultan raided much ofMalabar region in Kerala. As per theTreaty of Seringapatam of 1792, Tippu surrendered Malabar, exceptKanara to theBritish. The British occupied Kanara only after the death of Tippu Sultan.[13] it is said thatKinavoor Molom (Sree Dharma Shashtha Temple) is belonging toKarinthalam (one of 64 Brahmin villages in old Kerala). InitiallySouth Canara was placed under theBombay presidency.[30] Later on 16 April 1862, South Canara was transferred toMadras Presidency and Kasaragod taluk was formed by replacing the erstwhileBekal taluk.[30] Kasaragod was the second-most populated Taluk inSouth Canara only after toMangalore taluk, and also the second-largest Taluk.[31]
Before the formation of Kerala, Kasaragod was a part ofSouth Canara district of erstwhileMadras Presidency.[32] However, in the 19th century CE, Kasaragod Taluk witnessed many struggles to separate the region from South Canara and to merge it with theMalabar District as it was the only Malayalam-majority region in South Canara. Kasaragod became a part ofKannur district ofKerala following the reorganization of states and the formation of Kerala on 1 November 1956.[33] Later Kasaragod was divided into two taluks for the ease of administration - Kasaragod and Hosdurg. Kasaragod was declared a district in 1984.[32] The inclusion of Kasaragod with Kerala has been a contentious issue as there is a sizeable population that speaks Tulu and Kannada. At the time of 1951 Census of India, only 72.0% of the district's population chose their mother tongue asMalayalam.[34] 14.2% choseTulu and 6.3% chose Kannada.[34] But it is noted that as per the 2011 census report only 8.8% and 4.2% of the total population in the district speak Tulu and Kannada respectively as their mother tongue. In 2012, theSecond Oommen Chandy ministry appointed a commission under the leadership the former Chief Secretary P. Prabhakaran to study about the backwardness and issues faced by this northernmost district of Kerala and to draw up special package for the district.[35] In 2013, two more Taluks, namelyManjeshwaram andVellarikundu were formed in the district.[36]
Kasaragod experiences atropical monsoon climate under theKöppen climate classification. It receives a generous 3,825 mm (150.6 in) of rain annually.
| Climate data for Kasaragod, Kerala | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 31.4 (88.5) | 31.5 (88.7) | 32.2 (90.0) | 32.7 (90.9) | 32.2 (90.0) | 29.3 (84.7) | 28.2 (82.8) | 28.4 (83.1) | 28.8 (83.8) | 30.0 (86.0) | 31.0 (87.8) | 31.5 (88.7) | 30.6 (87.1) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 21.7 (71.1) | 22.8 (73.0) | 24.3 (75.7) | 25.9 (78.6) | 25.7 (78.3) | 23.9 (75.0) | 23.4 (74.1) | 23.6 (74.5) | 23.5 (74.3) | 23.8 (74.8) | 23.1 (73.6) | 22.0 (71.6) | 23.6 (74.6) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 1 (0.0) | 1 (0.0) | 5 (0.2) | 55 (2.2) | 262 (10.3) | 1,002 (39.4) | 1,190 (46.9) | 647 (25.5) | 338 (13.3) | 229 (9.0) | 77 (3.0) | 18 (0.7) | 3,825 (150.5) |
| Source: Climate-Data.org[37] | |||||||||||||
Kasaragod has the maximum number of rivers in Kerala - 12.[6] All of them are west-flowing rivers.[38] The longest of them isChandragiri River (105 km long).[39] The Kasaragod town is located on the estuary of Chandragiri river. It empties into theArabian Sea atThalangara.[38] TheChandragiri Fort is built on its bank. The river originates at Pattimala inKodagu (Coorg).[38] The smallest river of Kerala is also in the district.
| River | Origin | Length (km) | ||
| Total | Navigable | |||
| 1 | Manjeshwar River | Kadandur hills | 16 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Uppala River | Kudipadi hills,Veerakamba | 50 | N/A |
| 3 | Shiriya River | Kanakad hills, Anegundi Reserve Forest | 61 | 5 |
| 4 | Kumbla River | Yedanad | 11 | 3 |
| 5 | Mogral River | Kanlur,Karadka Reserve Forest | 34 | N/A |
| 6 | Chandragiri River | Patti forest,Talakaveri Wildlife Sanctuary | 105 | 13 |
| 7 | Kalnad River | Chettianchal | 8 | N/A |
| 8 | Bekal River | Kaniyadka | 11 | N/A |
| 9 | Chittari River | Kundiya | 25 | N/A |
| 10 | Neeleshwaram River (Thejaswini River) | Kinanoor,Talakaveri Wildlife Sanctuary | 47 | 11 |
| 11 | Kariangode River | Padinalkad,Coorg hills | 64 | 24 |
| 12 | Kavvayi River | Cheemeni | 23 | 10 |
Kasaragod district comes under the jurisdiction ofKannur University. Kasaragod is home to theCentral Plantation Crops Research Institute, originally established in 1916 as the Coconut Research Station.[40] It is part of India's National Agricultural Research System under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research.[41] According to the institute, Kerala "lies in the heart of the major coconut growing areas of the country." It is also home to the Indian Society for Plantation Crops, which publishes theJournal of Plantation Crops and holds symposiums on the subject.[42] TheCentral University of Kerala is also located in Kasaragod(Periya hills).
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TheNational Highway 66 which connects the western coast of India fromMumbai toKanyakumari passes through coastal area of the district connecting the major coastal towns ofManjeshwar,Uppala,Kumbla, Kasaragod,Udma,Bekal,Kanhangad,Nileshwaram, andThrikaripur.[48][49][50] It enters the district atThalappady and goes out throughPayyanur. There areState highways starting/ending at Kasaragod andKanhangad.[51] Total length ofMajor District Road (MDR) of Kasaragod is around 1460 km and it accounts for around 11.2 km of MDR for every 10,000 people in the district.[52] TheKerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) has stations to operate its service in the district.[53] The railway goes through coastal area.Kasaragod railway station lies inPalakkad railway division of southern zone onMangalore-Shoranur line.[54] Kasaragod district is home to three of the 13minor ports in Kerala -Manjeshwar, Kasaragod, andNileshwaram.[55] The nearest international airports are situated atMangalore (65 km away) andKannur (110 km away).
As of2011 Census, Kasaragod municipality had a population of 54,172 which constitutes 26,319 males and 27,853 females. Kasaragod municipality spreads over an area of 16.69 km2 (6.44 sq mi) with 10,202 families residing in it. The municipality is divided into 35 wards for which elections are held every 5 years. The female sex ratio was 1058 against state average of 1084. Population in the age group 0-6 was 7,234 (13.4%) where 3,716 are males and 3,518 are females. The literacy rate of Kasaragod town was 94.76% higher than state average of 94%. Male literacy stands at 96.5% and female literacy was 93.1%.[57]
| Language | Speakers | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Malayalam | 70.5% | |||
| Tulu | 16.2% | |||
| Kannada | 6.4% | |||
| Marathi | 2.7% | |||
| Konkani | 2.3% | |||
| Others | 1.9% | |||
| Distribution of languages Source: 2011 Census | ||||
The current Municipal Chairman of Kasaragod municipality is Adv. V. M. Muneer ofIUML and the deputy chairperson is Shamseeda Feroz.[59]
The major political parties areIndian Union Muslim League,CPI(M),INC,CPI, andBJP. North Kasaragod is dominated byIUML which is followed byBJP, and the south is dominated byCPI(M).N. A. Nellikkunnu is the present Member of Legislative Assembly, fromKasaragod Assembly Constituency. It is a part ofKasaragod (Lok Sabha constituency). Indian National Congress (INC) memberRajmohan Unnithan is the present MP from Kasaragod (2019 elections).[60]
Kannada has linguistic minority status in theManjeshwaram taluk of the district.[61]
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Kasaragod district is the northernmost district of Kerala, which is much away fromThiruvananthapuram, the state headquarters, which is located in the southernmost tip of state.Manjeshwaram town is located about 600 km north of the state headquartersThiruvananthapuram, about 30 km south ofMangalore, about 350 km west ofBangalore, the headquarters of the neighbouring stateKarnataka, and about 950 km south ofMumbai city. In 2012, theSecond Oommen Chandy ministry appointed a commission under the leadership of the former Chief Secretary P. Prabhakaran to study about the backwardness and issues faced by this northernmost district of Kerala and to draw up a special package for the district.[35] In 2013, two more Taluks, namely Manjeshwaram andVellarikundu were formed in the district.[36] Before this, the district had only two taluks. The decision to implement a gas-based power plant atCheemeni was taken by thesecond Chandy government.[62] A government medical college was allowed for Kasaragod district, as a part of the government's new policy to establish at ensure availability of at least one government medical college in all14 districts of the state in 2013.[63][64]
Malayalam is spoken along the Malabar coast, on the western side of the Ghauts, or Malaya range of mountains, from the vicinity of Chandragiri (river and fort) near Mangalore, where it supersedes Canarese and Tuļu, to Trivandrum, where it begins to be superseded by Tamil. The people by whom this language is spoken in the native states of Travancore and Cochin, and in the East India Company's districts of Malabar and Canara, may be estimated at two and a half millions. (Pages 6, 16, 20, 31)
Per Barbosa, Malabar begins at the point where the kingdom of Narasyngua or Vijayanagar ends, that is at Cumbola (Cambola) on the Chandragiri river. But, as he (Barbosa) says, the Malayalam language extends as far north as the Chandragiri, and Malabar may be reckoned as extending south from this point to Cape Comorin.
The Coconut Research Station at Kasaragod in Kerala was initially established in 1916 by the then Government of Madras and subsequently it was taken over by the Indian Central Coconut Committee in 1948
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)The area has rich biodiversity. The sacred grove viz. Edayilakkad island preserves many rare and endemic species.[permanent dead link]
Kasaragod travel guide from Wikivoyage| Cities and subdivisons ofKasaragod district | |
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| Municipalities | |
| Taluks | |
| International | |
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| National | |
