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

Valiyaparamba Panchayath Valiyaparamba (Malayalam: ''വലിയപറമ്പ'') is a coastal island in Hosdurg taluk, Kasaragod district, Kerala state, India. Location Valiyaparamba is one of the fastest growing tourism destination and longest island of Kerala. ...

Kasaragod district Kasaragod ( (, , ; English: ''Kassergode'') is one of the 14 districts in the southern Indian state of Kerala. Its northern border Thalappady is located just 9 km south to Ullal, which is the southernmost portion of the major port city ...

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, 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 ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. It is located in the

Kavvayi Backwaters Kavvayi Backwaters, located near Payyanur, is the third largest backwater in Kerala and the largest one in north Kerala. The Kavvayi Kayal (backwaters) is dotted with several islands of various size. Valiyaparamba is the largest among them at ...

, 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 AD. Although it wasn't inhabited until the early 1900s,

feudal Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of struc ...

Lingayat The Lingayats are a monotheistic religious denomination of Hinduism. Lingayats are also known as , , , . Lingayats are known for their unique practice of Ishtalinga worship, where adherents carry a personal linga symbolizing a constant, intim ...

s of the

Vijayanagara Empire The Vijayanagara Empire, also known as the Karnata Kingdom, was a late medieval Hinduism, Hindu empire that ruled much of southern India. It was established in 1336 by the brothers Harihara I and Bukka Raya I of the Sangama dynasty, belongi ...

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

Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...

. An emigration of a mainly

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

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 region of the Indian subcontinent. It generally refers to the West Coast of India, western coastline of India stretching from Konkan to Kanyakumari. Geographically, it comprises one of the wettest regio ...

. 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 () is a region of sea in the northern Indian Ocean, bounded on the west by the Arabian Peninsula, Gulf of Aden and Guardafui Channel, on the northwest by Gulf of Oman and Iran, on the north by Pakistan, on the east by India, and ...

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, ci ...

'' (a gradual separation of the lake from the sea). This strip is called ''Valiyavaramba'' (meaning "Big Border"). The area of Lake Kavvayi is approximately .

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 ...

, 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 (''Icthyophaga 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 related ...

, 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 mainly in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. Mangroves grow in an equatorial climate, typically along coastlines and tidal rivers. They have particular adaptations to take in extra oxygen a ...

forest

biome A biome () is a distinct geographical region with specific climate, vegetation, and animal life. It consists of a biological community that has formed in response to its physical environment and regional climate. In 1935, Tansley added the ...

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 Islands of India Populated places in India {{Kasaragod-geo-stub