Kavvayi Backwaters located near

Payyanur Payyanur, , is a municipal town and a taluk, a sub-district administrative unit, in the Kannur district of Kerala, India. On 10 March 2018, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated Payyanur as the fifth taluk in the district. Payyan ...

is the third largest backwater in

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

and the largest one in north Kerala. The Kavvayi Kayal (backwaters) is dotted with several small and large islands. Valiyaparamba island is the largest among them and stretches over 16 km²..

Islands of Kavvayi backwaters

* Kavvayi * Valiyaparamba * Padannakkadappuram * Vadakkekkadu * Kokkal * Edayilakkad * Madakkal * Kannuveed * Kavvayikkadappuram * Udumbanthala * Kochen * Vadakkumbad

Geography

The Kavvayi Backwater, located near Payyannur, is the third largest backwaters in

and the largest one in north Kerala. Locally called as Kavvayi Kayal or the backwaters of Kavvayi, this lesser known lake of northern Kerala is fed by five rivers viz. River Kavvayi and its tributary streams Kankol, Vannathichal, Kuppithodu, and Kuniyan. Kavvayi backwaters is named after the Kavvayi Islands close to Payyannur. Kavvayi used to be an inland port and a major administrative center during the past centuries and during

British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...

rule. The northern portion of Kavvayi lake is also known as Valiyaparamba backwaters. This Island has a population of 10,000. The island's main source of income come from agriculture and fishing. A secluded beach named Valiparamba beach runs parallel to the backwaters on its western side. From an ecological point of view the backwater of Kavvayi and its surrounding region is considered to be of significance. The Kavvayi backwater is the biggest wetland ecosystem in north Kerala with an area of 37 km². The backwater and the wetlands are home to a variety of fauna and flora. It is used for watership man training by Indian Naval Academy, Ezhimala.http://enchantingkerala.org/kerala-backwaters/kavvayi-kayal.php Valiyaparamba is one of the main tourist spots of the

Kasaragod district Kasaragod ( and Malayalam: , English: ''Kassergode'', Tulu: ''Kasrod'', Arabic: ''Harkwillia'') is one of the 14 districts in the southern Indian state of Kerala. Its northern border Thalappady is located just 10 km south to Ullal, whi ...

and is also a fishing centre. * Kavvayi 3 km from Payyanur * Ramanthali 6 km from Payyanur * Trikarpur 7 km from Payyanur * Kunhimangalam Village 8 km from Payyanur * Karivellur 10 km from Payyanur *

Ezhimala Ezhimala, a hill reaching a height of , is located near Payyanur, in Kannur district of Kerala, south India. It is a part of a conspicuous and isolated cluster of hills, forming a promontory, north of Kannur (Cannanore). The Indian Naval Acad ...

12 km from Payyanur * Peringome 20 km from Payyanur

Transportation

There is bus and jeep service to Payyanur town. The national highway passes through Perumba junction.

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...

and

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

can be accessed on the northern side and

Cochin Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of K ...

and

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populati ...

can be accessed on the southern side. The road to the east of

Iritty Iritty is a Municipality and a Taluk of Kannur district in Kerala State, India. The town is the main market place for the farmer communities in the surrounding regions. Iritty is known as The Coorg Valley in God's Own Country. Iritty is one of ...

connects to

Mysore Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...

and

Bangalore Bangalore (), List of renamed places in India, officially Bengaluru (), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan area, metropolitan population of a ...

. The nearest railway station is

Mangalore Mangalore (), officially known as Mangaluru, is a major port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats about west of Bangalore, the state capital, 20 km north of Karnataka–Ke ...

Palakkad Palakkad (), formerly known as Palghat, historically known as Palakkattussery is a city and municipality in the Indian state of Kerala. It is the administrative headquarters of the Palakkad District. Palakkad is most densely populated municipal ...

line. Trains are available to almost all parts of India subject to advance booking over the internet. There are airports at

Kannur Kannur (), formerly known in English as Cannanore, is a city and a municipal corporation in the state of Kerala, India. It is the administrative headquarters of the Kannur district and situated north of the major port city and commercial hu ...

and

Calicut Kozhikode (), also known in English as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. It has a corporation limit population of 609,224 and a metropolitan population of more than 2 million, making it the second l ...

. All of them are international airports but direct flights are available only to Middle Eastern countries.

References

{{Tourism in Kerala Islands of the Indian Ocean Islands of Kerala Lakes of Kerala Villages near Payyanur

Islands of Kavvayi backwaters

Geography

Transportation

See also

References