Introduction

Manikkadave is a village in Kannur district, Kerala, India. It is situated among the foothills of Western Ghats, and bordering the Coorge range of Karnataka evergreen forests. As its crown there lies ‘Kurisu Mala’ (mount/hill of the cross) forest in the west beyond which it is Paadan Kavala and other tourism points of Kanjirakolly. Human habitation in Manikkadavu tracea back thousands of years. The Hindus, Muslims and Christians there live in amity. The settlers from Travancore form about 90% of the population and have spent their lives to make this land ever so productive and have in these years - since 1948 when their migration began - struggled with nature and produce spices, rubber, cashew nut, vegetable etc. The village of Manikkadavu is located 60 km from the district headquarters of Kannur. Distance to Manikkadavu from neighboring places in km: Iritty16, Ulickal (village panchayat headquarters) -8, Taliparamba (taluk headquarters) - 45. From Kannur we can reach Manikkadavu via Iritty- Ulikal- Vattiamthode- or Iritty- Ulickal- Nuchiad - Manikkadavu and from Taliparamba via Payyavur- Nuchiad- Manippara.

Name

The name Manikkadavu is also spelt “Manikkadave” or “Manikadavu”. The myth about the name is related to the story of a “durmurthi” (evil spirit or demon) called “Manikkadachokkaali (also known as Manikkadachokkari) most feared by the aborigines, the Karimpalas. It is traditionally believed that Manikkadavu and Manippara- the two neighboring villages - got their old names Manikkada and Manipparambu respectively from ‘Manikkadachokkali’ and ‘Mani Bhagavathi or Goddess Mani. Later the settlers from Travancore modified the names to the present day form.

Transportation

The national highway passes through Kannur town. Mangalore and Mumbai can be accessed on the northern side and Cochin and Thiruvananthapuram can be accessed on the southern side. The road to the east of Iritty connects to Mysore and Bangalore. The nearest railway station is Kannur on Mangalore-Palakkad line. There are airports at Mangalore and Calicut.