Sreekandapuram is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

Kannur district Kannur () is one of the 14 Districts of Kerala, districts along the west coast in the state of Kerala, India. The city of Kannur is the district headquarters and gives the district its name. The old name, Cannanore, is the anglicized form of th ...

of the Indian

state of 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 Can ...

Location

The town is located on the bank of the

Valapattanam River The Valapattanam River is a 110 km long river which flows through the Kannur district in North Kerala. It is the longest river in the Kannur district. Course The Valapattanam River originates from the Brahmagiri hills of Western Ghats in ...

which flows into the Arabian sea. It is situated northeast of

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

, east of

Taliparamba Taliparamba (also known as Perinchelloor and Lakshmipuram) is a Municipalities of Kerala, Municipality and List of taluks of Kerala, Taluk of Kannur district in Kerala state, India. The municipal town spreads over an area of and is inha ...

and northwest of

Iritty Iritty is a municipality and taluk in Kannur district of Kerala state, India. The town is the main market place for the farmer communities in the surrounding regions. Iritty is at a distance of from Kannur International Airport and one among ...

History

Sreekandapuram was historically ruled by the

Mushika Kingdom Mushika dynasty, also spelled Mushaka, also Eli or Ezhi, was a minor dynastic power that held sway over the region in and around Mount Ezhi (Ezhimala (hill, Kannur), Ezhimala) in present-day Kannur district, Kannur, North Malabar, Kerala, north ...

. During the 9th century, Ad Malik Ibndinar founded mosques at Kodungallur and Madayi and came to Pazhayangadi (Sreekandapuram), travelling by the river, and founded the third mosque here. Since the middle of 20th century, people from

Northern Travancore The Northern Division or Northern Travancore or Kottayam Division was one of the three (or four) administrative subdivisions of the princely state of Travancore in British India. It was established in 1856 and covered north and central parts Ko ...

migrated here at places like Chempanthotty, Madambam, Chundaparamba, Alex Nagar, Kotturvayal, Karayathumchal etc. They were of different religions but most of them were Christians; churches, roads and schools were established here. Since then paddy fields and other related cultivation were present. But after the migration the face of Sreekandapuram has changed a lot. Different types of cultivation like rubber, coconut, areca nut, pepper, cashew nut, tapioca and can be seen in the hilly places and as a result small towns or markets were formed. The travels of Abraham Ben Yiju, a Jewish merchant who lived in Mangalore in the 1130s and 1140s, included a visit to Sreekandapuram, which he knew as ''Jurbattan''.

Amitav Ghosh Amitav Ghosh (born 11 July 1956)Ghosh, Amitav
, ''

, ''In an Antique Land'' (Gurgaon: Penguin Random House India, 2009) [first publ. Ravi Dayal 1992); , pp. 233-35.

Administration

As per the Madras Village Panchayat Act passed in 1955, there were 3 villages in former Sreekandapuram Grama Panchayat like Sreekandapuram, Nediyenga and Kanhilery. Shree Abdul Rahiman sahib, Shree M C Ramankutty Nambiar, Shree Kunhabiduka were the presidents of the respective village panchayats. In 1960, Kerala Panchayat Raj Act came into existence. As per the act, this village panchayat formed into Sreekandapuram Grama Panchayat. There were 2 revenue villages in this Panchayat. In 1962, first panchayat election was conducted and Shree N C Varghese was elected as first panchayat president. Sreekandapuram established as a Municipality on 1 November 2015 which consist of 30 wards. The municipal office is situated in the town, on the banks of Valapattanam River. The current Municipal chairperson is Dr.K.V. Filomina (United Democratic Front (Kerala), UDF). Sreekandapuram Municipality is politically a part of Irikkur Assembly constituency in Kannur Loksabha constituency.

Municipality wards

Sreekandapuram Municipality is composed of the following 30 wards:

Geography

Since Sreekandapuram town is a

flood plain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river. Floodplains stretch from the banks of a river channel to the base of the enclosing valley, and experience flooding during periods of high Discharge (hydrolog ...

, the low lying areas in the municipality are often prone to flood during south west monsoon. Sreekandapuram area was severely affected by 2019 Kerala floods and 2020 Kerala floods. Due to a land slide from Coorg hills, Kottur river overflowed and submerged Sreekandapuram town and the areas adjacent to it like Podikkalam, Kottur, Therlayi, Thumbeni, Madambam and Chengalayi. The devastation affected severe loss to merchants and their business activities in the town.

Kerala Kalagramam

Kerala Lalitakala Academy Kerala Lalithakala Akademi () is an autonomous cultural organization established in Kerala, India, in 1962. Its primary purpose is to promote and propagate fine arts such as painting, sculpture, and visual arts in the state. The Akademi funct ...

has constructed an artist village (Kalagramam) at Kakkananpara near Sreekandapuram that facilitates artists to engage in creative works by staying here. The Kalagramam is named after Padma Vibhushan-winning artist K.G. Subramanyan. The facilities include art galleries, studios, auditorium and guest houses in the first phase.

Demographics

As of 2011 Census, Sreekandapuram Panchayat had a total population of 33,489 with 16,186 males and 17,303 females. The sex ratio was 1069 women per 1000 men. The total number of households were 7,960 in the panchayat limits. In Sreekandapuram, 10.7% of the population was under 6 years of age. Sreekandapuram panchayat had overall literacy of 94.2% where male literacy was 96.9% and female literacy was 91.7%. Sreekandapuram Panchayat has administration over Sreekandapuram and Nediyanga villages.

Religion

The town of Sreekandapuram has a mixed population of

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

s and

Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...

. A popular Hindu temple in the municipality is the historic Ammakoottam Mahadevi temple. The temple was looted and destroyed by

Tipu Sultan Tipu Sultan (, , ''Sultan Fateh Ali Sahab Tipu''; 1 December 1751 – 4 May 1799) commonly referred to as Sher-e-Mysore or "Tiger of Mysore", was a ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore based in South India. He was a pioneer of rocket artillery ...

, and nothing remained of it but earth and stones covered by bushes up until the 1970s. The land on which it stood was owned by the local Muslim community leader, and when people living around the temple claimed to have witnessed the

Devi ''Devī'' (; ) is the Sanskrit word for 'goddess'; the masculine form is Deva (Hinduism), ''deva''. ''Devi'' and ''deva'' mean 'heavenly, divine, anything of excellence', and are also gender-specific terms for a deity in Hinduism. The concept ...

's presence, it was handed over to local Hindu community leaders and a new temple was built. Another important temple is the Sree Mahavishnu Temple located at Kottoor, away from Sreekandapuram near Iritty-Taliparamba state highway. This temple is said to be over 600 years old and is also said to have been destroyed by Tipu Sulthan. It was later rebuilt. It is one among the rare Lord Vishnu temples which face the west direction with 'vatta sreekovil'.'Punarprathishta Mahotsava' is celebrated every year in the first week of March. Thrikkadamba Shree Mahavishnu temple was also destroyed by Tippu and it is under reconstruction now. It is away from Sreekandapuram town in Taliparamba-Iritty highway. LordShiva and Vishnu are equally worshiped here. Vayakkara ''KAVU''is another important place to visit in Sreekandapuram municipality. It is one of the important ecological places in the area. Vana Sasthav is the idol of the 'kavu' and people pay their offerings there in high devotion. The

Malik Dinar Malik Dinar (, Malayalam: മാലിക് ദീനാര്‍) (died 748 CE)Al-Hujwiri, "Kashf al-Mahjoob", 89 was a Muslim scholar and traveller. He was one of the first known Muslims to have come to India in order to teach Islam in the I ...

mosque is situated at Pazhayangadi, from the town, and the Pazhayangadi Manna is away on the

Payyavoor Payyavoor is a small town in Kannur district in the Indian state of Kerala. It is the headquarters of Payyavoor Grama Panchayat. Location Payyavoor is located north east of district headquarters Kannur, east of Taluk headquarters Taliparamb ...

Road.

Educational organizations

* Madampam P.K.M College * S.E.S College, Sreekandapuram * Vimal Jyothi Engineering and MBA College, Chemperi * Devamatha Arts And Science College, Paisakary * Government Higher Secondary School Nedungome * Government Higher Secondary School Sreekandapuram * Marygiri Senior Secondary School, Podikalam; from Sreekandapuram town * Maryland High School, Madampam * Sal Sabeel Public School Sreekandapuram (CBSE); from Sreekandapuram town * Mapila A.L.P School, Sreekandapuram

Transportation

Kerala state highway ( SH 36) passes through Sreekandapuram town which connects Taliparamba and Iritty. The road towards the east connects to

Mysore Mysore ( ), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of Mysore district and Mysore division. As the traditional seat of the Wadiyar dynasty, the city functioned as the capital of the ...

and

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

and other parts of Karnataka. National Highway (

NH 66 National Highway 66, commonly referred to as NH 66 (erstwhile NH-17 and a part of NH-47), is a mostly 4 lane 1640 km (1020 miles) long busy National Highway that runs roughly north–south along the western coast of India, parallel to t ...

) passes through

town.

Mangalore Mangaluru (), formerly called Mangalore ( ), is a major industrial port city in the Indian state of Karnataka and on the west coast of India. It is located between the Laccadive Sea and the Western Ghats about west of Bengaluru, the st ...

and

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

can be accessed on the northern side and

Cochin Kochi ( , ), formerly known as Cochin ( ), is a major port city along the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of Kerala. The city is also commonly referred to as Ernaku ...

and

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram ( ), also known as Trivandrum, is the Capital city, capital city of the Indian state of Kerala. As of 2011, the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation had a population of 957,730 over an area of 214.86 sq. km, making it the ...

can be accessed on the southern side. The nearest railway station is away

Kannur railway station Kannur railway station (formerly Cannanore railway station)(station code: CAN) is an NSG–2 category Indian railway station in Palakkad railway division of Southern Railway zone. It is the largest railway station serving the City of Kannur in ...

on the

Palakkad Palakkad (), Renaming of cities in India, also known as Palghat, historically known as Palakkattussery, is a city and a municipality in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kerala. It is the administrative headquarters of P ...

line. The nearest airport is

Kannur International Airport Kannur International Airport is an international airport serving the city of Kannur, the Mahé district, Mahé district of Puducherry and the rest of northern Kerala in India. It is located in Mattanur, east of Kannur and east of Thalassery. ...

, about south.

References

{{Municipalities of Kerala Cities and towns in Kannur district