Lakkidi is a village and rain forest located in a gateway of the

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

district of the

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

n state of

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 ...

. During

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

, a horse track in Wayanad attracted European investors and traders. They cultivated

Malabar pepper Malabar pepper is a variety of black pepper from the Malabar region of the present day of the Indian state of Kerala. It originated as a chance seedling in the region and was one of the spices traded with Roman and Arab traders, and later with ...

, spices, tea, and coffee. National Highway 766 connects

Kozhikode Kozhikode (), also known as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. Known as the City of Spices, Kozhikode is listed among the City of Literature, UNESCO's Cities of Literature. It is the nineteenth large ...

in Kerala with

Kollegal Kollegal (or Kollegala) is the Major taluk in the Chamarajanagara District of Karnataka State in the south of India. Kollegala is well known for its silk industry which attracts traders from all over the state. History Until 1956, Kollegala ...

in Karnataka via

Mysore Mysore ( ), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of Mysore district and Mysore division. As the traditional seat of the Wadiyar dynasty, the city functioned as the capital of the ...

, creating business opportunities in tourism and agriculture. Lakkidi is surrounded by a

biodiverse Biodiversity is the variability of life on Earth. It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability, species diversity, ecosystem diversity and phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distributed evenly on Earth ...

environment and unspoiled nature which attracts visitors interested in bird-watching, trekking, and

off-roading Off-roading is the act of driving or riding in a vehicle on unpaved surfaces such as sand, dirt, gravel, riverbeds, mud, snow, rocks, or other natural terrain. Off-roading ranges from casual drives with regular vehicles to competitive events w ...

Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya (JNV) is a system of central schools for students predominantly from rural areas in India, targeting socially and economically backward students who lack access to accelerated learning due to financial, social and rura ...

is situated there.

Geography

Lakkidi is situated at one of the highest locations in Wayanad, above mean sea level, above

Thamarassery Thamarassery, formerly known as Thazhmalachery, is one of the taluks and a major hill town in the Kozhikode district of Kerala, India, 30 km north-east of Kozhikode, Kozhikode city and 29 km east of Koyilandy. The town lies on National H ...

ghat pass.

Vythiri Vythiri is a town located in Wayanad district in the Indian state of Kerala. Along with Mananthavady and Sulthan Bathery, it is one of the three taluks in the district. 2.084 sq. km is the total area of vythiri. Etymology Administration Th ...

is the nearest town, 5 km from Lakkidi. Chain tree, Pookot Lake and a mile-long viewing side-walk are within five km. Pookot Lake is 3 km away from Lakkidi. It is a rain-fed lake spread across 15 acres. It is one of the few fresh-water reservoirs in Wayanad. It is surrounded by meadows and hills, and is a picnic spot. Annual rainfall here averages up to 600–650 cm causing seasonal floods downstream of rivers flowing east. Many species are found in this bio-reserve park including lion-tailed macaques,

flying squirrels Flying squirrels (scientifically known as Pteromyini or Petauristini) are a tribe (biology), tribe of 50 species of squirrels in the family (biology), family Squirrel, Sciuridae. Despite their name, they are not in fact capable of full flight i ...

, buffalo, babblers, and rare water-birds like Indian Shag (''Phalacrocorase fuscicollis''), Little Cormorant ('' Phalacrocorax niger''), Little Green Heron (''Ardeola striatus''), and Pond Heron ( ''Ardeola grayii''). Lakkidi has rich soil that supports the farming of coffee, tea, orange and pepper,

cardamom Cardamom (), sometimes cardamon or cardamum, is a spice made from the seeds of several plants in the genus (biology), genera ''Elettaria'' and ''Amomum'' in the family Zingiberaceae. Both genera are native to the Indian subcontinent and Indon ...

and

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 ...

. It receives the highest mean annual rainfall in excess of 3000 mm in Wayanad and

laterite Laterite is a soil type rich in iron and aluminium and is commonly considered to have formed in hot and wet tropical areas. Nearly all laterites are of rusty-red coloration, because of high iron oxide content. They develop by intensive and prolo ...

, forest loamy and brown hydromorphic soil here retains moisture around the year.

Karinthandan ''yatra''

Karinthandan, the local chieftain of Paniyas, one of the tribes of Wayanad district, lived in the foothills of Lakkidi between 1700 and 1750 AD. A British engineer observed him waling uphill along a secret forest path, The engineer approached him to show the way through the thick forest towards the

Kingdom of Mysore The Kingdom of Mysore was a geopolitical realm in southern India founded in around 1399 in the vicinity of the modern-day city of Mysore and prevailed until 1950. The territorial boundaries and the form of government transmuted substantially ...

. This came to be known as the Thamarassery-Wayanad Ghat route. Once the engineer found his way, he killed the chieftain so that he could claim the recognition for finding this route. Years later, Karinthandan's ghost started haunting every passer-by appearing as a phantom figure and screaming threats, travellers were scared and met with fatal accidents and the whole region was haunted by the troubled spirit. Scared and desperate, the tribal people and traders asked a

witch doctor A witch doctor (also spelled witch-doctor), or witchcraft doctor, is a kind of magical healer who treats ailments believed to be caused by witchcraft. The term is often misunderstood, and they could more accurately be called "anti-witch doctors ...

to help them. He exorcised the spirit and cast a spell to get rid of its evil powers. He tied the imprisoned soul within a huge tree using an iron chain. This tree and chain are near the highway at Lakkidi, and have become a pilgrim spot and tourist attraction. PEEP Wayanad, an NGO working there since 2005, organises an annual ''yatra'' (walkathon) to commemorate Karinthandan's martyrdom on the second Sunday of March. As a part of this ''yatra'', essay competitions and sports events are held to encourage tribal youth to join the mainstream. PEEP is promoted by Kerala Vanavasi Vikasa Kendram. Its founders are Shri S. Ramanunni, Sri.M P Padmanabhan, Sri. E K Soman, Dr P Rajesh and Sri. T V Raghavan. PEEP, along with Paniya folk, has urged the government to install a statue of Karinthandan near the 'chain tree' and name the ghat road as Karinthandan memorial ghat road.

Climate

Rains start in May and end in December. Due to the rainfall and beauty, it is often called "Chirapunjee of Kerala". Average rainfall ranges from 600 to 650 cm or above. It experiences chilly climate throughout the year with mist and fog. It is said to be the coldest place in

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

as well as one of the coldest in Kerala. It enjoys koppen highland climate. Generally,

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in Atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annu ...

comes with torrential rainfall and windy weather. Lakkidi experiences warm climate from March–May and cold climate from October to January.

Transport

From

–Lakkidi Ghat road, part of NH 212, connects Kozhikkode and the rest of Kerala, south of Kozhikkode with Wayanad.

References

{{Malabar Villages in Wayanad district