Kanjirakolly - Kannur

KANJIRAKOLLY - A BRIEF HISTORY KANJIRAKOLLY- gods'own highland. Situated among the foot hills of Western Ghats, and bordering the Coorge range of Karnataka evergreen forests, Kanjirakolly is a very beautiful village in Kannur district and can aptly be called “GODS'OWN HIGHLAND”. In a broader sense Kanjirakolly- especially before the arrival of the settlers from Central Travancore- was an extension of Manikadave and shares a common history. As the crown of Manikadave, there lays ‘Kurisu Mala’ (mount / hill of the cross) forest in the west beyond which it is Paadan Kavala and other tourism points of Kanjirakolly. It is a location of exotic beauty of unpolluted ranges of the Western Ghats with friendly people. The history of human habitation in this region trace back thousands of years. The Hindus, Muslims and Christians here live in amity and have joined together to improve themselves. The settlers from Travancore form about 70% 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. Endowed with the bounteous splendor of nature, Manikadave- the foot station of Kanjirakolly- is located 60km from the district headquarters of Kannur. Distance to Manikadave from neighboring places in km: Iritty16, Ulickal (village panchayat headquarters) -8, Taliparamba (taluk headquarters) - 45. From Kannur we can reach Manikadave via Iritty- Ulikal- Vattiamthode- or Iritty- Ulickal- Nuchiad - Manikadave and from Taliparamba via Payyavur- Nuchiad- Manippara. KANJIRAKOLLY DOWN THROUCH THE AGES:- Before the advent of settlers from Travancore, the only inhabitants of the land comprising the present day Nuciyad, Manippara, Manikadave, Kanjirakolly and adjacent places were a tribal people called Karimpalans. The place, a part of the dense private forest owned by an aristocratic ‘Janmi’ (Landlord) family- the "Karkkat Idam" family of "Nayanars"- and shared a common life style and history. THE NAME "MANIKADAVE" - MYTH AND TRUTH:- The name Manikadave is also spelt “Manikkadavu”/ “Manikadavu”. The myth about the name is related to the story of a “durmurthi” (evil spirit / demon)called “Manikkadachokkaali (also known as Manikkadachokkari) most feared by the aborigines- the Karimpalans. It is traditionally believed that Manikadave and Manippara- the two neighboring villages - got their old names Manikkada and Manipparambu respectively from ‘Manikkadachokkali’ and ‘Mani Bhagavathi or Goddess Mani. Later it was the settlers from Travancore who modified the names to their present day form. The Karimpalan tribe of those days found their livelihood through agriculture, fishing and hunting. They spared the huge trees in the jungle and cleared only the bush and creepers and sow paddy and other seasonal crops. Every year, after harvest, they shifted to new parts of the jungle. Through the dense forest they used to go every day in groups for hunting and fishing and anyone missed from the group was sure to be missed for ever and was supposed to be eaten by Manikkadachokkaali, the ‘durmurthi’. Perhaps the poor tribal might have been killed by some wild animal, but it boosted the scare of the evil spirit always. The Karimpalans believe that there existed a temple of Lord Siva at ‘Manipparathattu’, near Manikadave. But, hurt by the ‘durmurthi’ and quite scared of it, the priests and other officials deserted the temple and even their homes. One day ‘Manippothi’/ Mani Bhagavathi (a goddess of the jungle also called Mani, supposed to be the incarnation of Goddess Mahalakshmi), appeared at Manipparathattu to save the jungle people from the durmurthi. The goddess chased Manikkadachokkaali until at last it entered a cave at Manikadave beside the present day Manikadave- Kanjirakolly road. The goddess gave the durmurthi strict orders never to cross the face of cave or hurt people any more. To immortalize the memory of her appearance, it is believed, the goddess erected at Manippara two chambers carved out of laterite one of which exists even today withstanding the challenges of the seasons all through. It is now known as ‘kallara’ (‘kallu’= stone, ‘ara’ = small room/ chamber). From the day of its appearance, there began ‘theyam’- a ritual to please the goddess. There was also a “kavu” (a sacred forest) where ‘pattutsavam’ (‘pattu’= song, utsavam= festival) was held for ten days annually to appease ‘kattu pothi (goddess of jungle- another name for Goddess Mani) whose real name, the Karimpala elders say, is ‘Chuzhali Bhagavathi’. Now there is only a single huge and tall tree in place of the former sacred forest to remind us of the ancient festivities. About five hundred meters away from the ‘kavu’, there is a cave on the right side and, during monsoon, a wondrous spring of water on the left. If we walk through the cave for about twenty five meters from its opening or entrance, we see the beginning of an underground stream. THE LAND OF KARIMPALANS:-