Edayilakkad (also spelled Edayilakkadu or Edayilekkadu, is a marshy island situated in Valiyaparamba Panchayath,

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, ...

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 C ...

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

. It is located in the Kavvayi Backwaters, a long, almost isolated, arm of the Arabian Sea. Edayilakkad is noted for its biodiversity and local conservation efforts. The island is three to four meters above sea level on average. To the east of Edayilakkad lies the mainland of India.

History

Historic knowledge of the remote area dates to the 2nd century A.D.. Although it wasn't inhabited until the early 1900s, feudal

Lingayat Lingayatism or Veera Saivism is a Hindu denomination based on Shaivism. Initially known as ''Veerashaivas'', since the 12th-century adherents of this faith are known as ''Lingayats''. The terms ''Lingayatism'' and '' Veerashaivism'' have been ...

s of the

Vijayanagara Empire The Vijayanagara Empire, also called the Karnata Kingdom, was a Hindu empire based in the region of South India, which consisted the modern states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Goa and some parts of Telangana and Mahar ...

once controlled the region. Before the formation of the Kerala state, the area was part of

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Tamil Nadu, the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and territories of India, Indian state. The largest city ...

. An emigration of a mainly

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

n labour force onto the island occurred in the 1930s.

Location

To the south of Edayilakkad lies the island of Madakkal, while the village of Trikkarippur is located on the mainland east of Edayilakkad. The village of Ayitti is due north of the island. The island lies on the

Malabar coast The Malabar Coast is the southwestern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Geographically, it comprises the wettest regions of southern India, as the Western Ghats intercept the moisture-laden monsoon rains, especially on their westward-facing ...

. According to India's revenue department, the island has an area of . Due to its width, Edayilakkad is one of the largest islands in the northern parts of Kerala.

Geography

Lake Kavvayi, in which Edayilakkad is situated, is separated from the

Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea ( ar, اَلْبَحرْ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Bahr al-ˁArabī) is a region of the northern Indian Ocean bounded on the north by Pakistan, Iran and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channel ...

on the west by a thin strip of land, which was probably formed due to ''

embayment A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a ...

'' (a gradual separation of the lake from the sea). This strip is called ''Valiyavaramba'' (meaning "Big Border"). The area of Lake Kavvayi is approximately . Haliaeetus leucogaster -Gippsland, Victoria, Australia-8 (2)

Haliaeetus leucogaster -Gippsland, Victoria, Australia-8 (2)

Backwaters

Located from

Bekal Bekal is a small town in the Kasaragod district on the West coast of the state of Kerala, India. Location Bekal is a town located south of Kasaragod town and north of Kanhangad on the State Highway 57. Bekal Fort is the largest fort in Ker ...

, the Kavvayi Backwaters is one of the most picturesque backwater boroughs in Kerala. The Valiyaparamba Backwaters of Edayilakkad are approximately long, and long; and are formed from the confluence of seven rivers. The backwaters are at the southern end of the Tejeswini River.

Population

There are 1,305 people living in 250 houses on the island.

Fauna and flora

Edayilakkad is biodiverse, including being a nesting area for the state endangered

white-bellied sea eagle The white-bellied sea eagle (''Haliaeetus leucogaster''), also known as the white-breasted sea eagle, is a large diurnal bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. Originally described by Johann Friedrich Gmelin in 1788, it is closely relate ...

, and home to ''

Nervilia ''Nervilia'', commonly known as shield orchids, is a genus of orchids with about 80 species widely distributed across most of sub-Saharan Africa, southern Asia (Saudi Arabia, India, China, Japan, Indochina, Indonesia, etc.), Australia, and vari ...

'' orchids. The island is a home to a large

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evolution in several ...

forest

biome A biome () is a biogeographical unit consisting of a biological community that has formed in response to the physical environment in which they are found and a shared regional climate. Biomes may span more than one continent. Biome is a broader ...

Shelter for Monkeys

A small forest ( it is called "Kaavu") is there in Edayilakkad. It is the shelter for many monkeys. There are so many monkeys there. It is an attraction for visitors. They will feed the monkeys. More over , an old lady, living nearby, feeds the monkeys regularly. On special occasions like the festival, Onam, special feast is given to the monkeys. File:Feast for Monkeys.jpg, Feast for Monkeys as a part of ONAM Festival. File:Feast for monkeys.jpg

References

Islands of Kerala Geography of Kasaragod district {{Kasaragod-geo-stub