Sreekandapuram

The town is situated on the banks of the Sreekandapuram River, a major tributary of the Valapattanam River which flows into the Arabian sea. Sreekandapuram is located 33 kilometres (21 mi) northeast of Kannur, 20 kilometres (12 mi) east of Taliparamba and 27 kilometres (17 mi) northwest of Iritty.^[7]

Sreekandapuram was historically ruled by the Mushika Kingdom. During the 9th century, Ad Malik Ibndinar founded mosques at Kodungallur and Madayi and came to Pazhayangadi (Sreekandapuram), travelling by the river, and founded the third mosque here.

The travels of Abraham Ben Yiju, a Jewish merchant who lived in Mangalore in the 1130s and 1140s, included a visit to Sreekandapuram, which he knew as Jurbattan.^[8]

Since the mid-20th century, people from Northern Travancore migrated to places such as Chempanthotty, Madampam, Chundaparamba, Alex Nagar, Kotturvayal and Karayathumchal. The migrants belonged to different religions, with Christians forming the majority; churches, roads and schools were established following their settlement. While paddy cultivation existed earlier, the migration brought significant changes to the region. Crops such as rubber, coconut, areca nut, pepper, cashew and tapioca came to be cultivated in the hilly areas, leading to the emergence of small towns and markets.^[9]

Under the Madras Village Panchayat Act of 1955, the former Sreekandapuram Grama Panchayat comprised three villages—Sreekandapuram, Nediyanga and Kanhilery. Abdul Rahiman Sahib, M. C. Ramankutty Nambiar and Kunhabiduka served as presidents of the respective village panchayats.

Following the enactment of the Kerala Panchayat Raj Act in 1960, the village panchayat was reconstituted as Sreekandapuram Grama Panchayat, comprising two revenue villages. The first panchayat election was held in 1962, in which N. C. Varghese was elected as its first president.^[9]

Sreekandapuram was upgraded to a municipality on 1 November 2015, comprising 31 wards. The municipal office is located in the town, on the banks of Valapattanam River. The current municipal chairperson is Adv.E.V. Ramakrishnan (UDF).^[10]

Sreekandapuram Municipality is part of the Irikkur Assembly constituency, which comes under the Kannur Lok Sabha constituency.^[11]

Sreekandapuram Municipality is composed of the following 31 wards:^[12][13]

The municipality comes under the jurisdiction of Sreekandapuram police station, established on 31 January 1978. This police station is part of Taliparamba subdivision under Kannur rural police district.^[14]

Since Sreekandapuram town is a flood plain, the low lying areas in the municipality are often prone to flood during south west monsoon. Sreekandapuram area was severely affected by 2019 Kerala floods and 2020 Kerala floods. Due to a land slide from Coorg hills, Kottur river overflowed and submerged Sreekandapuram town and the areas adjacent to it like Podikkalam,Kayimbacheri, Kottur, Therlayi, Thumbeni, Madambam and Chengalayi. The devastation affected severe loss to merchants and their business activities in the town.^[15][16]

Kerala Lalitakala Academy has constructed an artist village (Kalagramam) at Kakkananpara near Sreekandapuram that facilitates artists to engage in creative works by staying here. The Kalagramam is named after Padma Vibhushan-winning artist K.G. Subramanyan. The facilities include art galleries, studios, auditorium and guest houses in the first phase.^[17][18][19]

As of 2011 Census, Sreekandapuram Panchayat had a total population of 33,489 with 16,186 males and 17,303 females. The sex ratio was 1069 women per 1000 men. The total number of households were 7,960 in the panchayat limits. In Sreekandapuram, 10.7% of the population was under 6 years of age. Sreekandapuram panchayat had overall literacy of 94.2% where male literacy was 96.9% and female literacy was 91.7%.

Sreekandapuram Panchayat has administration over Sreekandapuram and Nediyanga villages.^[20]

The town of Sreekandapuram has a mixed population of Hindus, Muslims and Christians. To begin with its legacy, its noteworthy one of the earliest mosque in Kerala is situated in Sreekandapuram,The Malik Dinar mosque is situated at Pazhayangadi, 2.2 kilometres (1.4 mi) from the town, and the Pazhayangadi Manna is 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) away on the Payyavoor Road.

A popular Hindu temple in the municipality is the historic Ammakoottam Mahadevi temple. The temple was looted and destroyed by Tipu Sultan, and nothing remained of it but earth and stones covered by bushes up until the 1970s. The land on which it stood was owned by the local Muslim community leader, and when people living around the temple claimed to have witnessed the Devi's presence, it was handed over to local Hindu community leaders and a new temple was built.

Another important temple is the Sree Mahavishnu Temple located at Kottoor, 1.2 kilometres (0.75 mi) away from Sreekandapuram near Iritty-Taliparamba state highway. This temple is said to be over 600 years old and is also said to have been destroyed by Tipu Sulthan. It was later rebuilt. It is one among the rare Lord Vishnu temples which face the west direction with 'vatta sreekovil'.'Punarprathishta Mahotsava' is celebrated every year in the first week of March.

Thrikkadamba Shree Mahavishnu temple was also destroyed by Tippu and it is under reconstruction now. It is 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) away from Sreekandapuram town in Taliparamba-Iritty highway. LordShiva and Vishnu are equally worshiped here. Vayakkara KAVUis another important place to visit in Sreekandapuram municipality. It is one of the important ecological places in the area. Vana Sasthav is the idol of the 'kavu' and people pay their offerings there in high devotion.

• S.E.S. College, Sreekandapuram^[21]
• Vimal Jyothi Engineering College
• Vimal Jyothi Institute of Management and Research, Chemperi
• Kottur Private ITI^[22]
• Madampam P.K.M College
• Devamatha Arts And Science College, Paisakary^[23]
• Government Higher Secondary School Nedungome
• Government Higher Secondary School Sreekandapuram
• Marygiri Senior Secondary School, Podikalam; 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) from Sreekandapuram town
• Maryland High School, Madampam
• Sal Sabeel Public School Sreekandapuram (CBSE); 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) from Sreekandapuram town
• Mapila A.L.P School, Sreekandapuram ^[24]

Kerala state highway (SH 36) passes through Sreekandapuram town which connects Taliparamba and Iritty. The road towards the east connects to Mysore and Bangalore and other parts of Karnataka.^[25]

National Highway (NH 66) passes through Taliparamba town. Mangalore and Mumbai can be accessed on the northern side and Cochin and Thiruvananthapuram can be accessed on the southern side.

The nearest railway stations are Kannapuram and Kannur, located 29 kilometres (18 mi) and 34 kilometres (21 mi) away respectively on the Shoranur-Mangalore section of the Southern Railway zone.

The nearest airport is Kannur International Airport, about 23.5 kilometres (14.6 mi) south.