Municipality in Kerala, India
Kanhangad
(
Malayalam:
[kaː?ː?ŋːaː???]
ⓘ
) is a major town, located in the
Kasaragod District
,
state
of
Kerala
, India.
Location
[
edit
]
The area contains villages around Kanhangad town with
Kasaragod
as the northern border,
Nileshwar
, popularly known as the 'cultural town' of
Kasaragod
district with its rich rivers and lakes; as the southern boundary. The eastern part of Kanhangad is categorized as
Panathur
area with the difference in terrain mainly because of the hilly terrain and
hill stations
and to the West lies the
Arabian Sea
.
The importance of Kanhangad is that it lies in the exact centre between the two major cities
Mangalore
and
Kannur
, equidistant from their respective district headquarters.
Geography
[
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]
Kanhangad
lies at 12°18′0″N 75°5.4′0″E in the geographic map of
Kasaragod
. It is a coastal town which has a varied topography with plain areas in the centre of the city. The landscape is dominated by the characteristic coconut palms accompanying rolling hills and streams flowing into the sea. In the East, there are hilly areas of
Madikai
. The western region has powdered sand and a mix of laterite and alluvial soil in the areas between. The hilly areas typically consists of red sand.
The
Arabian Sea
lies in the west and
Western Ghats
in the east. The
Neeleshwaram River
originates from the
Kinanoor hills
, passes south through Arangadi and drains into the
Nileshwar
.
[1]
Etymology
[
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]
As cited in the
Vadakkan Paattu
or the
North Malabar
folklore songs, there was a temple in the name of
Kanjiram Kaattappan
and through this the name Kanjangad was derived. Another popular belief is that it was derived out of
K?njiramk?d
which means a forest of
Strychnine tree
. As per historic records, the place was ruled by
Kanjan
, a tribal representative of
Kolathiri
which later came to be known as
Kanjante naad
which means 'land of Kanjan' in Malayalam; later constricted as Kanhangad. There is also another legend that the name was derived from a
Sanskrit
word
Kanchanaghatta
.
[2]
History
[
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]
It was cited in old folklore that the area of Kanhangad was under the reign of king Nanda Raja of
Mushaka Rajya
, headquartered in
Ezhimala
Kannur region during the
Sangam period
. The historic region was known as
Poozhinadu
and later
Paduvanadu
. However, the history of Kanhangad can be clearly understood only by the 8th century. During this period the area was a part of the 2nd
Chera Dynasty
. The illustrations of a Chera King, Bhaskaran Ravi Varman II obtained from
Pullur
shows the political sovereignty of the Chera Kingdom in this region.
Later, when
Kolathunadu
of
Kolathiri
dynasty from Kannur administered the region,
Kolathiri
appointed Kanhan as the baron of the region. So the name
Kanhante Naadu
, meaning 'Kanhan's Province' contracted to Kanhangad.
Due to the collapse of the Kolathiri Dynasty, the reign of
Elamkoor
came to an end and the powerful elite barons renowned as
Ettadukkal lords
gained the strength. Among them, the mightiest was Allohalan, whose reign was concentrated around
Madiyan Kovilakam
. With the help of the
Zamorin
, Kolathiri has assassinated him and established a new dynasty at Neeleswaram headquarters. Earlier Kanhangad was a crucial port in all sense. Hence the
Vijayanagara
kings attacked Kanhangad too during their conquest of
Tulu Nadu
. After the fall of the Vijayanagara dynasty, the Ikkeri Kings have been attacking this area since the 1630s.
[3]
Since Kanhangad became a part of
Nileshwaram
kingdom following the reign of the
Kolathunadu
, the land witnessed frequent conflicts between Nileshwaram kingdom and
Ikkeri Nayaks of Bednore
. When the Ikkeri Nayaks defeated the Nileshwaram kingdom, the region came under the Keladi Nayaka Kingdom. In 1713 Somashekara Nayaka constructed a new fort to resist further attacks from Nileshwaram kingdom. The fort is now known as
Puthiyakotta or Hosdurg
, meaning 'New Fort' in
Malayalam
and
Kannada
respectively.
In the 1760s
Haidar Ali
captured the land from Ikkeri Nayaks and the region came under the
Mysore Kingdom
which was later merged with the south
Kanara
district. In 1799, soon after the death of
Tipu Sultan
the entire region came under the control of
East India Company
. Till 1862, Kanhangad was in Bekal Taluk under
Bombay Presidency
. On 15 April 1862 when the
Dakshina Kannada
region shifted to
Madras Presidency
, the region came under
Kasaragod taluk
. After the formation of
Kerala State
, Kasaragod taluk was divided and Kanhangad came under
Hosdurg taluk
on 1 January 1957.
Politics
[
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]
Kanhangad was an important centre of the
Indian National movement
. The Congress Working Committee joined at Kanhangad on 1 January 1925 and decided to launch a massive
Khadi
centre. It has given good direction to the freedom struggle in addition to the increase in the enthusiasm which the promotion of Khaadi had. In January 1925, the Hosdurg unit of the Indian National Congress was formed. AC Kannan Nair was the first President and KT Kunhiraman Nambiar was the first Secretary.
Many members of the
Janmis
or Noblemen and ordinary people from this region attended the
Simon Commission
for boycotting and
Civil Disobedience
movement. In April 1926, Vidwan P. Kelu Nair setup the Vighyanadayini National
Sanskrit
School in Vellikoth (Bellikoth) to promote National education. Later the school became the main centre of the National Movement in the region. The prominent Congress leaders like AC Kannan Nair, KT Kunhiraman Nambiar, Damodara Bhaktan, Vidwan P Kelunayar and E Raghava Panikkar were the teachers in this school. Keralite
K. Madhavan
and Gandhi Krishnan Nair were students here.
They attended the State Congress Conference held at
Payyannur
on 26 and 27 May in 1928 and K. Madhavan participated in it as a volunteer. In 1930, five people participated in the
Salt Satyagraha
protest under the leadership of
K. Kelappan
. There was active participation of people from Kanhangad in the 1921
Guruvayoor Satyagraha
and the 1942
Quit India Movement
.
AC. Kannan Nair who was the Congress president of Hosdurg Thaluk in 1925 has fought against untouchability. He also started the Vallabhai Library in Kottacherry which helped the National movement a lot in the region. The prominent leaders who participated in the Indian freedom struggle from Kanhangad include Vidwan P. Kelu Nair, who has a high graduation in Sanskrit language, Gandhi Krishnan Nair, who lost his eyes during Toddy shop picketing, H. Vasudev who has worked in National Movement since a young age, Damodara Shenoy, K. Madhavan, who participated in the Salt Satyagraha, Achyutha Shenoy who was tortured by Police for participating in the Quit India Movement, editors of Shakti Magazine, and K.T Kunhiraman Nambiyar who was famous as a person who was the volunteer captain of the
Kerala Congress
Conference in 1926.
[4]
Post Independence
[
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]
Hosdurg area was a sub-taluk of Kasaragod taluk. This information was recorded in the first censorship after independence in 1951. Following the linguistic
state reorganization
, Kasaragod taluk was split from the southern Karnataka region and was merged with
Malabar district
and the state of Kerala was formed on 1 November 1956. On 1 November 1957, Malabar was divided into 3 districts of Kannur, Kozhikode and Palakkad. The division of Kasaragod and Hosdurg Taluk were under Kannur district.
The Kasaragod district came into being on 24 May 1984 and Kanhangad municipality was formed in June 1984. On 28 May 2013, Kasaragod Taluk was divided into Kasaragod and Manjeswaram taluks and Hosdurg taluk were split into Hosdurg and Vellarikundu taluks.
[5]
Assembly
[
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]
Loksabha
[
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]
Kanhangad is a part of the
Kasaragod constituency
which extends from
Manjeshwaram
in Kasaragod district to
Kalliasseri
in Kannur district.
Rajmohan Unnithan
of the
Indian National Congress
party is currently representing the Kasaragod constituency since May, 2019.
State Assembly
[
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]
Kanhangad's assembly constituency (Number 4) is a part of the Kasaragod (Lok Sabha constituency).
E. Chandrasekharan
of Left Democratic Front is the current MLA and also the former Revenue Minister of Kerala.
Administration
[
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]
Kanhangad which was initially a special grade panchayat was upgraded to a Municipality on 1 June 1984. Kanhangad is a
subdistrict
in Kasaragod district and the
Kanhangad Municipality
is in charge of the civic and infrastructural assets of the city. The Kasargod district is divided into two Revenue divisions, Kasargod division in the north and Kanhangad division is the south respectively. It has two
Taluks
under it namely
Hosdurg
and
Vellarikundu
. The two municipalities Kanhangad and Nileshwar, out of the three in the district comes under the Hosdurg Taluk which has a total of 29 villages under it. After the inauguration of Mini Civil Station, the old Taluk office building which was constructed during the time of British was renovated as a historic monument. Under the local self-government, Kanhangad
block
has a total of 5
Panchayats
.
[6]
A part of northern Kanhangad,
Ajanur
is a bureaucratic nicety and a
Census town
. Some parts of Kanhangad town is put under an administrative unit called Ajanur Panchayath. The suburb continues to be part and parcel of Kanhangad city.
The entire administrative area of Kanhangad lies in
Hosdurg
or Puthiyakotta. It includes all administrative units and offices like
Municipality
office,
Taluk
Office, Judicial Magistrate
Court
, Mini
Civil Station
, Police station, Fire station,
District Educational Office
, District Medical Office,
Regional Transport Office
, Revenue Divisional Office, District
Homeopathy
Hospital, Government
Veterinary
clinic and so on.
Demographics
[
edit
]
As of
2011 Census
, Kanhangad
Municipality
and
Outgrowths
had a total population of 125,564. Males constitute 46.6% of the population and females 53.4%. Kanhangad Municipality+Outgrowth spreads over an area of 70.47 km
2
(27.21 sq mi) with 27,579 families residing in it. Kanhangad had an average literacy rate of 92.6%, higher than the national average of 74.04% and lower than state average of 94.00%; male literacy was 96.17%, and female literacy was 89.56%. In Kanhangad, 11.5% of the population was under 6 years of age. There are 7,425 male children and 7,063 female children between the age 0?6 years. Thus, the child sex ratio of Kanhangad is 951 which is less than the state average sex ratio (1,144).
[7]
Economy
[
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]
Agriculture and fishing are the primary sources of income for residents of the region. The soil and topography allow for a diverse selection of crops:
Rubber
,
pepper
,
cashew
and
ginger
are the important crops that are grown in the eastern part of the region, which comprises forests and hilly areas. In the coastal areas are grown:
coconut
,
rice
and
tobacco
.
Since the oil boom of the ’80s, young people have migrated to the oil-producing Gulf countries in pursuit of lucrative job opportunities. This has considerably changed the economic situation and lifestyle of the residents. Many families depend on money sent home by family members working in the Gulf and other regions. Kanhangad had a larger diaspora in the Gulf countries.
The remittance from these countries supported the economic activities a lot. (
See
Kerala Gulf diaspora
).
[8]
The laterite (
Cheadi
) and red soil which is found in the Kanhangad and the surrounding areas are excavated and processed for export. The best quality
cashews
in Kerala are cultivated in Kanhangad. This industry has been able to secure a lot of foreign exchange by exporting it. One of the largest public sector enterprise in Kanhangad is the China Clay Factory in Vazhunnoradi.
[9]
Now the government has plans to start a Cashew liquor factory
[10]
and the first ever meat processing plant and college in India here.
[11]
Climate
[
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]
Kanhangad experiences a
Tropical monsoon climate
under the
Koppen climate classification
.
The southwest
monsoon
begins towards the end of May, or the beginning of June, brought about by the monsoon clouds from the
Arabian Sea
heralded by thunderstorms, and lasts till September. October brings in the northeast monsoon typically begins with drizzling and later with heavy rainfall. Dry weather sets in by the end of December which brings the
Winter
. January and February are the coolest months of the year. March marks the beginning of
Summer
apparently April and May being very hot.
Climate data for Kanhangad, Kerala
|
Month
|
Jan
|
Feb
|
Mar
|
Apr
|
May
|
Jun
|
Jul
|
Aug
|
Sep
|
Oct
|
Nov
|
Dec
|
Year
|
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)
|
31.5
(88.7)
|
31.7
(89.1)
|
32.5
(90.5)
|
32.9
(91.2)
|
32.4
(90.3)
|
29.4
(84.9)
|
28.2
(82.8)
|
28.5
(83.3)
|
29.1
(84.4)
|
30.2
(86.4)
|
31.1
(88.0)
|
31.5
(88.7)
|
30.8
(87.4)
|
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)
|
21.8
(71.2)
|
22.9
(73.2)
|
24.4
(75.9)
|
25.8
(78.4)
|
25.8
(78.4)
|
23.9
(75.0)
|
23.5
(74.3)
|
23.7
(74.7)
|
23.7
(74.7)
|
23.8
(74.8)
|
23.3
(73.9)
|
22.0
(71.6)
|
23.7
(74.7)
|
Average
precipitation
mm (inches)
|
2
(0.1)
|
3
(0.1)
|
5
(0.2)
|
59
(2.3)
|
285
(11.2)
|
984
(38.7)
|
1,203
(47.4)
|
606
(23.9)
|
323
(12.7)
|
237
(9.3)
|
81
(3.2)
|
16
(0.6)
|
3,804
(149.7)
|
Source: Climate-Data.org
[12]
|
Notable people
[
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]
Media
[
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]
A local news channel called "City channel" that covers local events and news from Kanhangad and nearby places is operating from Kanhangad. It also has news bureaus of major Malayalam news papers namely
Mathrubhumi
and
Malayala Manorama
operating from the city and also channels like Kasargod vision, a unit of Kerala Vision.
There are also local news papers that are being printed and published from the city like the "Latest".
The Vision
is a monthly magazine published by the spiritual center Anandashram, in Kanhangad.
TRAI
has announced Kanhangad as one of the cities for expansion of radio stations through the third phase pertaining to the introduction of private FM radio channels in 253 new cities/towns each with a population of more than 1 lakh.
[13]
Education
[
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]
With a good literacy rate, Kanhangad is home to many schools and colleges. It has also produced eminent teachers and scholars like P Kunhiraman Nair. Out of the two Education Divisions in the district, Kanhangad
DEO
has 46
UP
schools and 72
High Schools
under it; apart from the private schools. The rest of the schools in the district comes under the 'Kasargod Education District' division.
Kanhangad has other prominent institutions like
Kendriya Vidyalaya
[14]
and Navodaya Vidyalaya, located at Periya. Periya also has a campus of the Central University of Kerala. One of the oldest colleges in the district, Nehru Arts and Science College
[15]
is a landmark educational institution in the region. The Agricultural University of Kerala at Padannakkad is another notable institution. The
Science park
at Chemmatamvayal is a place of importance for the school children. There is a Sub centre of the Kerala Civil Services Academy adjacent to it.
Some of the major educational institutions include:
Colleges
[
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]
Schools
[
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]
Literature
[
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]
The face of literature in Kanhangad is
P. Kunhiraman Nair
[17]
who was a Malayalam poet and teacher. There is a memorial and public reading room at Kanhangad in remembrance of the poet and also being a native of Kasaragod, he spent a greater part of his life teaching at the Raja's High School at Kollengode, where his memorial was set up as a prominent centre of Kerala's art and culture.
[18]
Kanhangad has also produced other notable authors too like P.V Kunhikkannan who is popularly known with his pen name
P. V. K. Panayal
[19]
who has even won the
Kerala Sahithya Akademi Award
,
Santhosh Echikkanam
[20]
and Dr.
Ambikasuthan Mangad
.
Transportation
[
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]
Road
[
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]
Kanhangad is well connected to
Kannur
,
Kozhikode
,
Kasaragod
,
Madikeri
and
Mangalore
through Road.
NH-66
(previously known as
NH-17
[21]
), which runs from
Panvel
(in
Maharashtra
) to
Kanyakumari
(in
Tamil Nadu
), passes through
Mavungal
which is 3 km east to Kanhangad town in a north?south direction and connects with
Kasaragod
,
Mangalore
,
Udupi
, etc. in north and
Kannur
,
Kochi
,
Thiruvananthapuram
, etc. in the south.
SH 57
, a 29.0 km State Highway connects Kasaragod to Kanhangad via
Bekal
and
Udma
in the north and it merges with the
NH-66
at
Kanhangad south
. Kanhangad is connected to
Madikeri
,
Coorg
,
Mysuru
and
Bangalore
via
Kanhangad
-
Panathur
-
Madikeri
Highway which is planned to be upgraded as National Highway.
[22]
NH-66
meets with Kanhangad-Panathur-Madikeri Highway and forms a junction in
Mavungal
. Kanhangad has one of the
Regional Transport Offices
in the district with KL60 registration. (
See
List of RTO districts in Kerala
)
Rail
[
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]
Kanhangad Railway Station
is one of the railway stations that lies in the
Shoranur - Mangalore Section
of the
Southern Railways
. The station comes under A - category stations of
Palakkad Division
.
The proposed railway line between Kanhangad and
Kaniyuru
which connects
Bangalore
is under review. If implemented, Kanhangad station will be upgraded as a
Railway Junction
and a special train service from Kanhangad to
Bangalore
will be a major push for the station and this will also accelerate the development of the city and entire
North Malabar
region.
[23]
Mangalore International Airport
, Bajpe at a distance of 85.7 km and
Kannur International Airport
at a distance of 89.4 km are the nearest airports from Kanhangad via NH66.
A proposed
Air Strip
at
Periya
is under review which if materialised will ensure a never before domestic air transport that will boost the tourism sector in the region.
[24]
Waterway
[
edit
]
The government has plans to introduce a waterway from
Kovalam
to Bekal. Proximity of Kanhangad with
Nileshwar
too increases the significance of the region.
[25]
See also
[
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]
References
[
edit
]
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for
Kanhangad
.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Kanhangad
.