Ulikkal is a small town 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 state 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. It is the HQ of Ulikkal Grama Panchayat in Iritty taluk. Kerala State Hill highway SH 59 passes through Ulikkal town. Ulikkal Panchayat borders

Kodagu district Kodagu district () (also known by its former name Coorg) is an administrative List of districts of Karnataka, district in the Karnataka state of India. Before 1956, it was an administratively separate Coorg State at which point it was merged ...

of Karnataka in the east, adjacent to Kalanki hill station.

Location

Ulikkal is situated 7 km north of Taluk HQ

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 ...

, 46 km from District HQ

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 11 km away from Kootupuzha (Kerala-Karnataka border).

Demographics

As of 2011 Census, Ulikkal Grama Panchayat had total population of 35,429, of which 17,457 are males and 17,952 are females. The sex ratio of Ulikkal was 1,028 lower than state average of 1,084. Population of children in the age group 0-6 was 3,648 (10.3%) where 1,895 are males and 1,753 are females. Ulikkal had an overall literacy of 94.8% higher than state average of 94%. The male literacy stands at 96.6% and female literacy was 93.1%. Ulikkal Grama Panchayat consists of two revenue villages like Nuchiyad and Vayathur under its administration limits.

History

This village is near Vayathur village panchayat area and contains the Bythoor or Baithur (Vayathur) temple. ''Bythoorappa (Vayathoorappan)'' Vayathur Kaliyar Shiva Kshethra dating back to more than 300 years is one of the temples in the panchayat, situated on the banks of Valapattanam river 3 km from the town. This river starts from

Kodagu Kodagu district () (also known by its former name Coorg) is an administrative List of districts of Karnataka, district in the Karnataka state of India. Before 1956, it was an administratively separate Coorg State at which point it was merged ...

and flows through Parikkalam and Nuchyad villages. This Eshwara (

Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...

or Mahadeva) temple is in Kodagu (which is nearby) and is a major pilgrimage temple for the

Kodavas The Kodavas (Codavas or Kodagas) also called Coorgs are an endogamous Dravidian peoples, Dravidian ethnolinguistic group from the region of Kodagu district, Kodagu in the southern Indian state of Karnataka, who natively speak the Kodava langu ...

(natives of Kodagu). The Kodavas and the Malayalis celebrate the annual temple festival together As per tradition. The temple priests of Kodagu were Namboothiri. Kodagu is the district neighbouring Kannur district of which Ulikkal forms a part. The temple Gods of

are of Kerala origin. Folklore says that the Gods entered Kodagu from Kerala, thousands of years ago, via Vayathur (Bythoor) in Kerala and near the Kodagu border. Formerly Ulikkal formed a part of Vayathur.

Places of worship

* St Mary's church, Thermala, near parikkalam * Vayathur Kaliyar Shiva (Bythoorappa) temple of Ulikkal *Church of God in India, Ulikkal *Assemblies of God church(Pentecostal church), Ulickal *India Pentecostal Church of God, Kolithattu *Assemblies of God church, Arabi * St. Joseph's Latin Church, Infant Jesus Church * Kodaparambu maqam, 6 kilometers from Ulickal (Ulikkal) and two Mosques (Sunni and Mujahid) within Ulickal Panchayath. * Infant Jesus Church Ulikkal * St Joseph's Church Arabi * St. George's Church Puravayal * St Thomas' Church Manikkadavu * St Mary's Church Manippara * St Antony's Church Anara * St Joseph's shrine Korayenga * St Jude Chapel&Shrine Vengalode * St Alphonsa Church Vatiamthode * St Mary's shrine Vatiamthode * St Mary's Church Mattara * A mosque Nuchiayad * A mosque Karimakayam * St Sebastian's Forana Church Nellicampoil *Arohanam marathoma church Arabi

Geography

Ulikkal is a hilly village on the eastern side of Kannur district. The terrain is undulating in nature and the extreme eastern side has forests bordering Karnataka state.

Economy

Ulikkal Panchayat is mainly an agrarian economy. The major crops are Rubber, Cashew, Coconut and Areca nut here. Ulikkal was one of the Panchayats in Kannur district that were severely affected by

2018 Kerala floods On 16 August 2018, severe floods affected the south Indian state Kerala, due to unusually heavy rainfall during the monsoon season. It was the worst flood in Kerala in nearly a century. Over 483 people died, and about one million people were e ...

which caused heavy economic loss for the farmers. 12 hectares of cropped area (mostly rubber and cashew) was destroyed by strong winds. The main affected areas in the Panchayat were in the side slope of midlands (43 m) and mid-highlands (178 m) like Kalanki, Kolithatt, Vayathur, Arabikulam and Kokkad.

Educational institutions

* Government Higher Secondary school, Ulikkal * Floweret English Medium School, 1 km from Ulikkal at AKG Nagar * St. Thomas High School, Manikkadavu * St. Joseph High School, Arabi * There are many primary schools nearby Ulikkal, mainly the ones at Vayathur, Arabi, Mattara, Nuchiyad, Nellickampoyil and Perumballi, as well as the GLPS Puravayal and Sharada Vilasam AUP School Parikkalam.

Transportation

Kerala State Highway SH 59 passes through Ulikkal town which connects nearby towns and villages in the hilly terrains of

. Taluk HQ

is away. The road to the east of Ulikkal 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 ...

. 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

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 ...

town of 43 km away.

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

on Shoranur-Mangalore section 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. ...

27 km away.

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 ...

and

are equidistant from Ulikkal.

References

{{Kannur district Villages near Iritty