Chalakudy

Chalakudy is a municipal town situated on the banks of Chalakudy River in Thrissur district of the Kerala state in India. It is the headquarters of Chalakudy taluk. It is the base camp for travellers to Athirappilly Falls and Vazhachal Falls. Chalakudy lies on National Highway 544 and located about 47 km (23 mi) north of the city of Kochi, and 30 km (19 mi) south of Thrissur.

Chalakudy
Town
Chalakudy
Chalakudy South Junction
Chalakudy Location in Kerala, India Show map of Kerala Chalakudy Chalakudy (India) Show map of India
Coordinates: 10.30°N 76.33°E / 10.30; 76.33
Country	India
State	Kerala
District	Thrissur
Government
• Type	Taluk
• Body	Chalakkudy Municipality
• MLA	T J Saneesh Kumar Joseph
Area
• Total	25.23 km2 (9.74 sq mi)
Elevation	16 m (52 ft)
Population  (2011)[1]
• Total	49,525
• Density	2,000/km2 (5,100/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN	680307
Telephone code	0480
Vehicle registration	KL-64, KL-8, KL-45

Etymology

History says during the second Chera dynasty, people outside Kerala visited Chalakudy to learn vedas and Kalaripayattu from Chukkikulam Shala. These people lived in the banks of Chalakudy River and this accommodation is called Kudi. The combination of these two words Shalakudi is later modified into Chalakudy.^[2]

Administration

Chalakudy Municipality came into existence in the year 1970. The municipality covering an area of 25.23 km² is divided into 36 electoral wards. Chalakudy is a Grade-II municipality.^[3] Chalakudy is an assembly constituency & Lok Sabha constituency.^[4] Benny Behanan (INC) is the current MP of the Parliamentary constituency and T J Saneesh Kumar Joseph (INC) is the current M.L.A. of Legislative Assembly Constituency.^[5][6]

Transport

Railways

The main rail transport system in Chalakudy is operated by the Southern Railway zone of Indian Railways, and comes under Trivandrum railway division.^[7][8]

Airport

The nearest airport is Cochin International Airport in Nedumbassery which is 19 km from Chalakudy. All the major domestic and international flights are available here. Direct flights are available to New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Pune, Goa, Mangaluru, Kozhikode, Thiruvananthapuram, London, Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Bahrain, Kuwait, Muscat, Malé, Colombo, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Salalah, Jeddah and Riyadh.

Education

Schools

• Carmel Higher Secondary School, Chalakudy  
• CMI Public School Chalakudy^[9]
• Crescent Public School^[10]
• Vyasa Vidyanikethan^[11]
• Government Boys' Higher Secondary School, Chalakudy
• Government Higher Secondary School, V R Puram  
• Sacred Heart Convent Girls' Higher Secondary School, Chalakudy

Colleges

• Panampilly Memorial Government College
• Sacred Heart College Chalakudy
• Southern College of Engineering & Technology

Notable persons

• B. D. Devassy
• A K Lohithadas
• Kalabhavan Mani
• Jose Pellissery
• Lijo Jose Pellissery
• R. L. V. Ramakrishnan
• Vishnu Sarma
• Antony Thachuparambil
• Raghavan Thirumulpad
• Porinju Veliyath
• C. S. Venkiteswaran

References

1. "Kerala (India): Districts, Cities and Towns - Population Statistics, Charts and Map".
2. "ചരിത്രം | Chalakudy Municipality". www.chalakudymunicipality.lsgkerala.gov.in. Archived from the original on 15 June 2022. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
3. "Profile". Janasevana Kendram. Archived from the original on 24 March 2011. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
4. "Assembly Constituencies — Corresponding Districts and Parliamentary Constituencies" (PDF). Kerala. Election Commission of India. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 October 2008. Retrieved 19 October 2008.
5. "Members : Lok Sabha". 164.100.47.194. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
6. "Members - Kerala Legislature". www.niyamasabha.org. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
7. "Categorization of Stations" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 February 2022. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
8. "Southern Railway Welcomes You". sr.indianrailways.gov.in. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
9. "CMI Public School". cmipublicschool.comaccessdate=28 July 2024.
10. "Crescent Public School Chalakkudy, Thrissur – Crescent Public School". Retrieved 27 June 2019.
11. "Vyasa Vidyanikethan Central School Chalakudy". Retrieved 27 June 2019.

External links

Media related to Chalakudy at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website Archived 19 December 2014 at the Wayback Machine.