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. Payyanur is the first municipality in Kerala to establish libraries in all its wards. On 10 March 2018, Kerala Chief Min ...

, is the third largest backwater in

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 ...

and the largest one in north Kerala. The Kavvayi Kayal (backwaters) is dotted with several

islands This is a list of the lists of islands in the world grouped by country, by continent, by body of water, and by other classifications. For rank-order lists, see the #Other lists of islands, other lists of islands below. Lists of islands by count ...

of various size.

Valiyaparamba 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. ...

is the largest among them at over .

Islands of Kavvayi Backwaters

* Kavvayi Islands *

* Padannakkadappuram * Vadakkekkadu * Kokkal *

Edayilakkad Edayilakkad (also spelled Edayilakkadu or Edayilekkadu, is a marshy island situated in Valiyaparamba Panchayath, Kasaragod district, Kerala, India. It is located in the Kavvayi Backwaters, a long, almost isolated, arm of the Arabian Sea. Edayila ...

* Madakkal * Kannuveed * Kavvayikkadappuram * Udumbanthala * Kochen * Vadakkumbad

Geography

The Kavvayi Backwaters, located near Payyannur, are 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 the River Kavvayi and its tributary streams: Kankol, Vannathichal, Kuppithodu, and Kuniyan. The Kavvayi Backwaters are 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 that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

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. Ecologically, 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 Biodiversity is the variability of life on Earth. It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability, species diversity, ecosystem diversity and phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distributed evenly on Earth. ...

. Valiyaparamba is one of the main tourist spots of the

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 ...

and is also a fishing centre. *

Kavvayi 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 ...

3 km from Payyanur *

Ramanthali Ramanthali is a village in Kannur district in the Indian state of Kerala. It contains the gateway for the Indian Naval Academy in Ezhiamala. Demographics India census, Ramanthali had a population of 21,937, with 10,173 males and 11,764 femal ...

6 km from Payyanur *

Trikarpur Thrikaripur a small town located in south part of Kasaragod District in the state of Kerala, India. Its southernmost end Olavara touches Payyannur, Kannur District. Demographics The 2001 Census of India determined that the population of Trik ...

7 km from Payyanur *

Kunhimangalam Kunhimangalam is a census town situated in the northern coastal part of Kannur District in Kerala state on the outskirt of Payyanur. The population in 2011 was around 19,000 including Hindus, Christians and Muslim residents. The village lies in ...

Village 8 km from Payyanur *

Karivellur Karivellur is a census town and a Gram Panchayat in the Kannur district of Kerala state, India. Location Karivellur is located 47 km north of the district headquarters, Kannur; 10 km from the taluk headquarters, Payyanur; and 535 km from the ...

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 Peringome is a town in Kannur district in the Indian state of Kerala. It is 60 km north-east of Kannur town. Demographics India census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, reco ...

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 bound by the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north, and Karnataka to the ...

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 road to the east 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 ...

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

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 ...

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. 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 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 ...

and

Calicut Kozhikode (), also known as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. Known as the City of Spices, Kozhikode is listed among the City of Literature, UNESCO's Cities of Literature. It is the nineteenth large ...

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

References

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