Irikkur is a town and grama panchayat in

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 ...

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 ...

state, India.

Location

Irikkur is located on SH 36 between the towns 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

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 ...

, and is directly accessible from

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 ...

Mattanur Mattanur, also spelled as Mattannur, is a municipality and an aerotropolis in Kannur district, Kerala, India. Mattanur is about 27 km east of Kannur and Thalassery, two major towns of the district. Mattanur lies between Kannur, Th ...

, and

Thalassery Thalassery () (also called Tellicherry) is a city and municipality on the Malabar Coast in Kannur district in the state of Kerala, India, bordered by the districts of Mahe and Kozhikode. Thalassery municipality has a population of just under ...

. It is equidistant from Kannur and Taliparamba (about ), from Thalassery, and away from Iritty.

History

Irikkur has historic and commercial importance, and is one of the largest

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 ...

-majority towns (76%) in the Kannur district and lies on the banks of the Irikkur River, locally known as the "Ayippuzha". This river was the geographical border of the former Kottayam Kingdom ruled by

Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja () (3 January 1753 – 30 November 1805), also known as Cotiote Rajah and Pychy Rajah, was the '' de facto'' head of the Kottayam Kingdom in the Malabar region of Kerala between 1774 and 1805. His struggles with the ...

Demography

As of 2011 Census, Irikkur had a population of 13,820, of which 6,690 are males and 7,130 are females. Irikkur census town has an area of , housing 2,327 families to which it supplies basic amenities like water and sewerage. It is also authorized to build roads within Census Town limits and impose taxes on properties under its jurisdiction. In Irikkur, the sex ratio is 1.066 females per male, below the state average of 1.084. Moreover, the child sex ratio is 0.991, compared to the Kerala state average of 0.964. The literacy rate of Irikkur is 92.03%, lower than the state average of 94.00%. In Irikkur, male literacy is 96.30% while female literacy rate is 88.08%.

Transportation

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 the town of

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. State Highway ( SH 36) passes through Irikkur town connects with

and

. The road towards the east of Iritty 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 ...

. The nearest railway station is

on Shoranur-Mangalore Section line. There are airports at

and

. The

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. ...

(KIAL) located at Mattannur is the nearest airport, which is away.

Geography

Irikkur is located at . It has an average elevation of .

Tourism

Irikkur Assembly constituency has a major role in tourism in Kannur district as it covers mainly hilly regions bordering Western ghats with a serene environment. Paithalmala, Palakkayam thattu, Kanjirakolli and Kappimala are the main tourist destinations in the Irikkur constituency that enhance the huge inflow of tourists. To transform Irikkur into Malabar's tourism hotspot, infrastructure development and accommodation facilities are being prioritized, driven by investor and tourism conferences aimed at attracting global investment.

Educational Institutions

* SIBGA Institute of Advanced Studies, Irikkur * Govt HSS, Irikkur * Rahmaniya Orphanage HSS, Irikkur

Religion

Approximately 76% of the population consists of

s * Mamanikkunn temple, one of the famous

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 ...

temples of Kerala. * 20

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

s, out of which allow to pray * A

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

seminary

Politics

Irikkur assembly constituency is part of Kannur Lok Sabha constituency. The current MLA of Irikkur is Sajeev Joseph from INC who won in the

2021 Kerala Legislative Assembly election The 2021 Kerala Legislative Assembly election was held in Kerala on 6 April 2021 to elect 140 Member of the Legislative Assembly (India), members to the 15th Kerala Legislative Assembly. The results were declared on 2 May. The election saw the ...

with a vote share of 50.33%.

References

{{Malabar Cities and towns in Kannur district Villages near Irikkur