Cherupuzha
Cherupuzha is a town in Kannur district, Kerala, India. It is the headquarters of the Cherupuzha Panchayat which is a special grade panchayat in Kerala. It is located about 31 km east of taluk HQ Payyanur, 66 km north east of district HQ Kannur, 524 km from Capital city Thiruvananthapuram, 332 km away from Eranakulam, 150 km from Kozhikode, 121 km away from Mangalore and 326 km from Bangalore.
Cherupuzha is a hilly town (part of Western Ghats) on the eastern side of Kannur district. The terrain is undulating in nature and the extreme eastern side has forests bordering Karnataka state.
Source - Wikipedia [May 2021]
Cherupuzha and its surrounding areas was ruled by many royal dynasties in the past, including the Mooshika dynasty of Ezhimala, Chirakkal dynasty of Kolathunadu, Tipu Sultan of the Kingdom of Mysore, before it became a part of the British Raj. The original inhabitants of the area were primarily Hindus. Later on this region gained a sizable Christian and Muslim population. Now the place has Christians as majority. The arrival of Christians from middle Kerala helped in the development of this place, this led to the construction of schools, colleges, hospitals etc. in the area. The economy was agrarian with strong feudal system - Janmi-Kudiyan system - permeating everyday life in past and in the present mainly small and medium farmers.
Air
The nearest airport (70 km) is at Mattanur and Mangalore, Calicut are not far away. All of them are international airports but direct flights are available only to Middle Eastern countries.
Rail
The nearest railway station is 34 km away Payyanur on Shoranur-Mangalore Section. Direct trains are available to Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Mangalore, Ernakulam, Kozhikode, Thiruvananthapuram, Chennai and other parts of the country.
Road
Kerala Hill Highway (SH 59) passes through Cherupuzha town connects it with Iritty and Mysore, Bangalore can be accessed on the eastern side. The National Highway(NH 66) passes through Perumba junction through proposed Ezhimala - Bagamandalam Highway. Goa and Mumbai can be accessed on the northern side and Cochin and Thiruvananthapuram can be accessed on the southern side.
Two main roads are Cherupuzha-Payyanur and Cherupuzha - Alakode. All the other roads in this area were built by the people themselves. The roads, Cherupuzha-Pulingome – Kottathalachi, Edavaramba – Koombankunnu, Kariyakkara – Koombankunnu, Cherupuzha-Pulingome-Rajagiri, Rajagiri-Josegiri, Vazhakkundam – Churappadavu, Chunda – Vilakkuvettam and Umayanchal – Kottathalachi are examples of the collective effort of people of Cherupuzha and Pulingome.Another important road in the area is Cherupuzha-Thirumeni- Muthuvom road which is of a length of 9 kilometers. From Thirumeni, one can reach to its outskirts like Chathamangalam, Thabore, Muthuvom and Korali. Both private and public transport buses are available from Cherupuzha to Kannur, Kozhikode, Cochin and Bangalore.
