Korapuzha, also known as Elathur River, is a short river of , with a drainage area of , flowing through the

Kozhikode district Kozhikode (), or Calicut district, is one of the 14 districts in the Indian state of Kerala, along its Southwestern Malabar Coast. The city of Kozhikode, also known as Calicut, is the district headquarters. The district is 67.15% urbanised. ...

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a 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 regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

state in India. It is formed by the confluence of two streams, Akalapuzha and

Punoor puzha Poonoor puzha (Poonoor River) is a perennial river in the Kozhikode district of Kerala state in India. It meets Korapuzha and ends in Arabian Sea. It is named from the village of Poonoor in Kozhikode district. Even though the length of river flowi ...

which originate in the mountains of

Wayanad Wayanad () is a district in the north-east of Indian state Kerala with administrative headquarters at the municipality of Kalpetta. It is the only plateau in Kerala. The Wayanad Plateau forms a continuation of the Mysore Plateau, the southern ...

district. The Korapuzha empties into the

Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea ( ar, اَلْبَحرْ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Bahr al-ˁArabī) is a region of the northern Indian Ocean bounded on the north by Pakistan, Iran and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channel ...

at Elathur. The river and its main tributaries become tidal as they near the Arabian Sea. There is heavy boat traffic over the last of its course. It forms part of the West Coast Inland Navigation System.

Korappuzha bridge

This 480-metre bridge is the longest bridge in Kozhikode district. Completed in 1940, it has 13 spans. The surroundings are lush green and very photogenic.

HIstory

The river for some times formed the northern border of the

Zamorin The Samoothiri (Anglicised as Zamorin; Malayalam: , Arabic: ''Sāmuri'', Portuguese: ''Samorim'', Dutch: ''Samorijn'', Chinese: ''Shamitihsi''Ma Huan's Ying-yai Sheng-lan: 'The Overall Survey of the Ocean's Shores' 433 Translated and Edited by ...

's kingdom. The Korapuzha is generally considered as the ''

cordon sanitaire ''Cordon sanitaire'' () is French for "sanitary cordon". It may refer to: *Cordon sanitaire (medicine), a cordon that quarantines an area during an infectious disease outbreak *Cordon sanitaire (politics), refusal to cooperate with certain politic ...

'' between the

North Malabar North Malabar refers to the geographic area of southwest India covering the state of Kerala's present day Kasaragod, Kannur, and Wayanad District, Wayanad districts, and the taluks of Vatakara, Koyilandy, and Thamarassery in the Kozhikode Distri ...

and South

Malabar Malabar may refer to the following: People * Malabars, people originating from the Malabar region of India * Malbars or Malabars, people of Tamil origin in Réunion Places * Malabar Coast, or Malabar, a region of the southwestern shoreline o ...

in the erstwhile

Malabar District Malabar District, also known as Malayalam District, was an administrative district on the southwestern Malabar Coast of Bombay Presidency (1792-1800) and Madras Presidency (1800-1947) in British India, and independent India's Madras State (19 ...

. Until the 20th century the

Nair The Nair , also known as Nayar, are a group of Indian Hindu castes, described by anthropologist Kathleen Gough as "not a unitary group but a named category of castes". The Nair include several castes and many subdivisions, not all of whom histor ...

women of North Malabar crossing the Korapuzha and going south or marrying a person from South Malabar was considered a

taboo A taboo or tabu is a social group's ban, prohibition, or avoidance of something (usually an utterance or behavior) based on the group's sense that it is excessively repulsive, sacred, or allowed only for certain persons.''Encyclopædia Britannica ...

and those who violated faced ''Bhrasht'' (Ostracism) and forfeiture of

caste Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultura ...

. Similarly some difference can be seen in Thiyya community as well.

Notes

References

* *''Malabar Manual in two volumes'' by William Logan, first published in 1887, reprinted by Asian Educational Services in 1951. *''Nayars of Malabar Vol III'' by F. Fawcett, first published in 1901. {{coord missing, Kerala Rivers of Kozhikode district Vatakara area