Irikkur is a town and

grama panchayat Gram Panchayat () is a basic village-governing institute in Indian villages. It is a democratic structure at the grass-roots level in India. It is a political institute, acting as cabinet of the village. The Gram Sabha work as the general bod ...

in Kannur District of

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 Ca ...

state, India.

Location

Irikkur is located on

SH 36 The following highways are numbered 36: International * European route E36 Australia * City Road, Sydney * Domain Highway, Tasmania * Arnhem Highway Canada *Alberta Highway 36 * Ontario Highway 36 * Saskatchewan Highway 36 China * G36 Exp ...

between the towns of

Taliparamba Taliparamba (also known as Perinchelloor and Lakshmipuram) is a Municipality in Taliparamba taluk of Kannur district, Kerala, India. The municipal town spreads over an area of and is inhabited by 44,247 number of people. Etymology Th ...

and

Iritty Iritty is a Municipality and a Taluk of Kannur district in Kerala State, India. The town is the main market place for the farmer communities in the surrounding regions. Iritty is known as The Coorg Valley in God's Own Country. Iritty is one of ...

and directly accessible from

Kannur Kannur (), formerly known in English as Cannanore, is a city and a municipal corporation in the state of Kerala, India. It is the administrative headquarters of the Kannur district and situated north of the major port city and commercial hu ...

, Mattanur and

Thalassery Thalassery (), formerly Tellicherry, is a municipality, Commercial City on the Malabar Coast in Kannur district, in the state of Kerala, India, bordered by the districts of Mahé (Pondicherry), Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kasaragod and Kodagu (K ...

. It is equidistant from Kannur and Taliparamba of about , away from Thalassery and from Iritty.

History

Irikkur has historic and commercial importance, and is one of the largest

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

majority towns (76%) in Kannur district and lies on the banks of the Irikkur River, locally known as the "Ayippuzha". This river was the geographical border of the former Kottayam Kingdom ruled by

Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja Pazhassi Raja () (3 January 1753 – 30 November 1805) was known as Kerala Varma and was also known as Cotiote Rajah and Pychy Rajah. He was a warrior Hindu prince and de facto head of the kingdom of Kottayam, otherwise known as Cotiote, in ...

Demography

As of 2011 Census, Irikkur had a population of 13,820 of which 6,690 are males while 7,130 are females. Irikkur census town has an area of which houses 2,327 families to which it supplies basic amenities like water and sewerage. It is also authorized to build roads within Census Town limits and impose taxes on properties coming under its jurisdiction. In Irikkur, Female Sex Ratio is of 1066 against state average of 1084. Moreover, Child Sex Ratio is around 991 compared to Kerala state average of 964. Literacy rate of Irikkur is 92.03 % lower than state average of 94.00 %. In Irikkur, Male literacy is around 96.30 % while female literacy rate is 88.08 %.

Transportation

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 long busy National Highway that runs roughly north–south along the western coast of India, parallel to the Western Ghats. It con ...

) passes through

town.

Mangalore Mangalore (), officially known as Mangaluru, is a major port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats about west of Bangalore, the state capital, 20 km north of Karnataka– ...

and

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...

can be accessed on the northern side and

Cochin Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of ...

and

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populati ...

can be accessed on the southern side. State Highway (

) passes through Irikkur town connects with

and

. The road towards the east of Iritty connects to

Mysore Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude o ...

and

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

. The nearest railway station is

on Shoranur-Mangalore Section line. There are airports at

and

. The

Kannur International Airport Kannur International Airport is an airport serving the North Malabar region of Kerala, Kodagu and Mysore districts of Karnataka and Mahé district of Puducherry in India. It is located east of Kannur, and east of Thalassery, near the muni ...

(KIAL) located at

Mattannur Mattanur, also spelled Mattannur, is a town, municipality, and an aerotropolis in Kannur district, Kerala, India. Mattanur is about 27 km east of Kannur and Thalassery, two major towns of the district. Mattanur lies between Kannur ...

is the nearest airport which is away.

Geography

Irikkur is located at . It has an average elevation of .

Tourism

Irikkur Assembly constituency has a major role in tourism in Kannur district as it covers mainly hilly regions bordering Western ghats with serene environment.

Paithalmala Paithalmala is a hill station in the Kannur district of Kerala in India, located near Pottenplave. At a height of 1372 m above sea level, it is the highest geographic peak in Kannur. It is located 40 km from Taliparamba and 65 km from ...

, Palakkayam thattu, Kanjirakolli and Kappimala are the main tourist destinations in Irikkur constituency that enhances huge inflow of tourists. Irikkur is being promoted as the tourism hub of Malabar providing adequate infrastructure and accommodation facilities which lacks currently being planned in the region through investors global meet and tourism meet to be held here.

Educational Institutions

* SIBGA Institute of Advanced Studies, Irikkur * Govt HSS, Irikkur * Rahmaniya Orphanage HSS, Irikkur

Religion

Approximately 76% of the population consists of

s * Mamanikkunn temple, one of the famous

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

temples of Kerala. * 20

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

s, out of which allow to pray * A

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

seminary

Politics

Irikkur assembly constituency is part of Kannur Lok Sabha constituency. The current MLA of Irikkur is

Sajeev Joseph Sajeev Joseph is an Indian politician born and brought up in Kerala and a member of the Indian National Congress. He is a member of the Kerala Legislative Assembly from Irikkur. Presently, he is also working as All India Congress Committee Fore ...

from INC who won in the

2021 Kerala Legislative Assembly election The 2021 Kerala Legislative Assembly election was held in Kerala on 6 April 2021 to elect 140 members to the 15th Kerala Legislative Assembly. The results were declared on 2 May. The election saw the incumbent Left Democratic Front (LDF) reta ...

with a vote share of 50.33%.

References

{{Malabar Cities and towns in Kannur district Villages near Irikkur