Alathur is a town, taluk and gram panchayat in Palakkad District, Kerala, India. It is the administrative headquarters of the Alathur

Taluk A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluk, or taluka () is a local unit of administrative division in India and Pakistan. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administrative ...

and is situated about 24 km from the district headquarters

Palakkad Palakkad (), Renaming of cities in India, also known as Palghat, historically known as Palakkattussery, is a city and a municipality in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kerala. It is the administrative headquarters of P ...

through

National Highway 544 National Highway 544, commonly referred to as NH 544, is a National Highway in South India connecting Salem in Tamil Nadu to Kochi in Kerala. It is a spur of National Highway 44 and forms part of the North–South corridor of the National H ...

Gayathripuzha River Gayathripuzha River is one of the main tributaries of the Bharathapuzha River, the second-longest river in Kerala, South India. It originates from Nelliyampathi hills, passes through Kollengode, Nenmara (Nemmara), Alathur, Padur and Pazhayann ...

, one of the tributary of

Bharathapuzha The Bharathappuzha ("River of Bhārata"), also known as the Nila River, is a river in the Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. With a length of 209 km, it is the second longest river that flows through Kerala after the Periyar. It fl ...

, flows through Alathur. Alathur is one among the 20 Parliamentary Constituencies in

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, 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 ...

. A Mini Civil Station is also located here which provides government related services. Alathur Police Station

Economy

The main occupation in this area is agriculture. Rubber is grown on hilly land and

rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

paddies are located on the plains. Coconut,

Ginger Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice and a folk medicine. It is an herbaceous perennial that grows annual pseudostems (false stems made of the rolled bases of l ...

banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large treelike herbaceous flowering plants in the genus '' Musa''. In some countries, cooking bananas are called plantains, distinguishing the ...

pumpkin A pumpkin is a cultivar, cultivated winter squash in the genus ''Cucurbita''. The term is most commonly applied to round, orange-colored squash varieties, but does not possess a scientific definition. It may be used in reference to many dif ...

bitter gourd ''Momordica charantia'' (commonly called bitter melon, cerassee, goya, bitter apple, bitter gourd, bitter squash, balsam-pear, karela, karavila and many more names listed below) is a tropical and subtropical vine of the family Cucurbitaceae, w ...

and

eggplant Eggplant (American English, US, Canadian English, CA, Australian English, AU, Philippine English, PH), aubergine (British English, UK, Hiberno English, IE, New Zealand English, NZ), brinjal (Indian English, IN, Singapore English, SG, Malays ...

are also grown. There is very little industry in Alathur Taluk. Alathur town was once well known for its

beedi A beedi (also spelled bidi or biri) is a thin cigarette or cigar, mini-cigar filled with tobacco flake and commonly wrapped in a tendu (''Diospyros melanoxylon'') or ''Piliostigma racemosum'' leaf tied with a string or adhesive at one end. It ...

cottage industry The putting-out system is a means of subcontracting work, like a tailor. Historically, it was also known as the workshop system and the domestic system. In putting-out, work is contracted by a central agent to subcontractors who complete the p ...

but production has declined due to anti-smoking efforts.

Agarbatti India is the world's main incense producing country, and is also a major exporter to other countries. In India, incense sticks are called Agarbatti (''Agarwood, Agar-wood'': from Dravidian Tamil agil, agir, Sanskrit , meaning "stick". An older te ...

is also produced by the cottage industry. Recently some industrial development such as steel smelting has arisen near

Manjalur Manjalur is a village with a lot of tradition in the district of Palakkad in Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of ...

in Erimayur Panchayat. Historically there were a number of rice mills in the area but their numbers have declined.

Demographics

As of 2011 Census, Alathur had a population of 26,720 with 12,808 males and 13,912 females. Alathur census town has an area of with 6,096 families residing in it. 11% of the population was under 6 years of age. Alathur had an average literacy of 89.95% higher than the national average of 74.04% and lower than state average of 94.00%; male literacy was 95.14% and female literacy was 85.27%.

Educational institutions

There are a number of schools up to the higher secondary level within Alathur Taluk. There are two colleges for arts and science and one engineering college. * Sree Narayana College, Alathur * BSS B.Ed College, Alathur A S Mohammed Kutty Sahib Memorial High Secondary School (A S M M H S S) is a public institution that has been operating in the area for over a century. The school also houses a very old Gandhiji statue which has become a landmark. The school was established by the Nellikkalidam Family (Swaroopm), and the School used to be called

N.E. High School NE, Ne or ne may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Neutral Evil, an alignment in the American role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons'' * New Edition, an American vocal group * Nicomachean Ethics, a collection of ten books by Greek philosopher Ar ...

(NEHS), until being bought by Mr.

Mohammad Kutty Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monotheistic teachings of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, ...

; later since the land reforms act, the

swaroopam ''Swaroopam'' is a 1992 Malayalam film Malayalam cinema, also referred to as Mollywood, is a segment of Indian cinema dedicated to producing films in the Malayalam language, primarily spoken in Kerala and the Lakshadweep islands. It e ...

suffered financially and the school was bought by Mr. Mohammad Kutty, who has since then been running a

Beedi A beedi (also spelled bidi or biri) is a thin cigarette or cigar, mini-cigar filled with tobacco flake and commonly wrapped in a tendu (''Diospyros melanoxylon'') or ''Piliostigma racemosum'' leaf tied with a string or adhesive at one end. It ...

rolling business

BSS Gurukulam Higher Secondary School Brahmananda Swami Sivayogi Gurukulam Higher Secondary School is an ISO 9001:2008 certified smart school. It is situated in Alathur in Palakkad district. It is 20 kilometers away from Palakkad on the side of NH-544. The school offers education ...

, is also located here. Located Taluk Hospital at Alathur town, Healthcare Professional Institution in Alathur is established by Crescent Medical Centre Ltd. The Crescent School of Nursing was started in 2001 and Crescent College of Nursing was started in 2005. The Crescent Nursing Institution runs General Nursing & Midwifery (GNM) Diploma course and BSc. Nursing Degree Course.

Transportation

The National Highway No.544 passes through the entire length of Alathur Taluk. Because of this, the region is well connected by road to all parts of Kerala including the state capital. A number of private and government buses ply on this road between

Thrissur Thrissur (, ), Renaming of cities in India, formerly Trichur, also known by its historical name Thrissivaperur, is a city and the headquarters of the Thrissur district in Kerala, India. It is the List of most populous urban agglomerations in Ke ...

and

. Alathur does not have a railway connection due to the presence of the mountainous terrain at Kuthiran towards Trissur. A recent government decision to revive an old plan to construct the Kollengode–

Trissur Thrissur (, ), formerly Trichur, also known by its historical name Thrissivaperur, is a city and the headquarters of the Thrissur district in Kerala, India. It is the third largest urban agglomeration in Kerala after Kochi and Kozhikode, and ...

railway line may come as a blessing to Alathur.

Healthcare

Alathur town has a Government-run Community Health Centre. The major private healthcare facility

Crescent Hospital A crescent shape (, ) is a symbol or emblem used to represent the lunar phase (as it appears in the northern hemisphere) in the first quarter (the "sickle moon"), or by extension a symbol representing the Moon itself. In Hindu Iconography, Shi ...

, which was established in 1997 and is a multi-specialty hospital with all basic medical departments and trauma care. That hospital also has psychiatric and geriatric facilities. Crescent Hospital Alathur

Panchayats in Alathur Taluk

Alathur is one of the six Taluks of Palakkad district. *Alathur * Erimayur *

Kannambra Kannambra is a gram panchayat in the Palakkad district, state of Kerala, India. It is the local government organisation that serves the villages of Kannambra-I and Kannambra-II. According to William Logan in the 1700s, only Kannambra Vela an ...

* Kavasseri * Kizhakkancheri * Kottayi * Kuthanur * Kuzhalmannam * Mathur * Melarcode * Peringottukurissi * Puthucode * Tarur * Thenkurissi *

Vadakkencherry Vadakkencherry () is a town and gram panchayat in the Palakkad district, state of Kerala, India. It is located about 35 km from Palakkad along National Highway 544. Vadakkencherry-Mannuthy section of NH-544 is the Roads in Kerala, first six ...

* Vandazhy (gram panchayat)

Politics

The Alathur assembly constituency is part of the

Alathur Lok Sabha constituency Alathur is one of the 20 Lok Sabha (parliamentary) constituencies in Kerala state in southern India.This constituency came into existence in 2008, following the implementation of delimitation of parliamentary constituencies based on the recommen ...

. Alathur assembly constituency (A.C.) elects one representative to the Kerala state assembly (

Vidhan Sabha The State Legislative Assembly, also known as the Vidhan Sabha or the Saasana Sabha, is a legislative body in each of the states and certain union territories of India. Members of the legislative assembly are often directly elected to serve fiv ...

). It has approximately 150,000 (1.5

lakh A lakh (; abbreviated L; sometimes written lac) is a unit in the Indian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand (100,000; scientific notation: 105). In the Indian 2, 2, 3 convention of digit grouping, it is written as 1,00,000. F ...

) registered voters. Elected members have most often been from the

Communist Party of India (Marxist) The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbreviated as CPI(M)) is a Communism in India, communist List of political parties in India, political party in India. It is the largest communist party in India in terms of membership and electora ...

References

External links

- Koduvayur community website
Koduvayur is 17 km west of Alathur. {{Malabar Gram panchayats in Palakkad district Villages in Palakkad district