Valapattanam in kerala

 

  

Valapattanam in kerala

Valapattanam is a small town in the Kannur district, located in the Indian state of Kerala. It is also the smallest panchayath in kerala.Its area is 2.04 sqr Km. Valapattanam is an important Muslim settlement area in Kannur.  Valapattanam is known for its communal harmony. On one hand one can see the "Kalarivathukkal temple" and on the other hand you have the "Kakkulangara Mosque" lying in close proximity. The long vision of the social leaders and people on the whole has made Valapattanam a land of communal harmony.

This town is also known as Balyapattanam. This town is in the on the banks of Valapattanam river. This town is well known for its wood-based industries and timber trade. Centuries back Valapattanam River (puzha) was the main ship route for trading and Valapattanam was the main town, because of this the town got this name. "Valya pattanam" means "big town" in Malayalam language though it is the smallest panchayath in Kerala. The port of Azhikkal is located nearby. In the bank of Valapattanam River you see Western India Plywoods Ltd., the largest wood-based industry in the country and which was the biggest plywood factory in Asia till few years back.
The famous Muthappan temple is in the bank of Valapattanam River.
This town is named after its historical founder Vallabha II of the Mooshika dynasty (Kolathiri

family) and was originally known as Vallabha-Pattanam and served as the capital of the Mooshika dynasty during the medieval ages. The fourteenth-century narrative of Ibn Battuta refers to the ruler of Ezhimala as residing at Baliapatanam and offers a clue that by this time, the centre of the political authority had shifted from Ezhimala to Baliapatanam. In the sixteenth century AD, a Portuguese official Duarte Barbosa also mentions Baliapatanam (Baliapatam in European records) as the residence of the ‘king of Cannanore’.

Valapattanam is a strong bastion of the UDF and its ally IUML. It is part the Azhkkodu Legislative assembly constituency where KM Shaji of UDF is likely to win th 2011 assembly elections with a thumping majority.