Chuzhali


Chuzhali is a village in the Kannur district of the Indian state of Kerala.

History

Chuzhali village is named after the goddess Chuzhali, as this village is the abode of Chuzhali. The main place of worship in the village is the Chuzhali Bhagavathy temple. The village was under the dynasty of "Chuzhali Nambiars". In ancient times it was under "Chuzhali Swaroopam" and the boundary was "Koorgu" in Karnataka.
In Malabar manual, William Logan mentioned Chuzhali as an ideal place for guerilla war, since the main land of Chuzhali is surrounded by high altitude areas, namely Kulathur, Thalakkulam, Edakkulm and Kuunam. Chuzhali Nambiar was one of the commanders of Pazhashiraja's guerilla army. It is said that Pazhashiraja had visited Chuzhali during his struggle against the British army. Chuzhali Nambiar was caught by the British army and was hanged at Thalassery.

Ancient families

The main Nambiar families in this place are Edayath, Padappayil, Palakkal, Manheri and Arayakkil.
Prominent Namboodiri families include Puthussery, Palika and Mangalam. There were sixteen Namboodiri families in Chuzhali Desam. All but three are extinct due to the practices of sambandham, where only the eldest member in the family marries a Namboodiri girl, and the younger brothers marry non-Namboodiris.

Politics

Chuzhali is a main voting supporter of the Communist Party of India.

Temples

Chuzhali Bhagavathi is a famous temple situated in the middle of the village. The annual festival of this temple takes place during March–April. The festival is treated by people of Chuzhali as their village festival. The main attraction near the village is Kulathur, 3 km from the main town of Chalilvayal.
Another famous temple in Chuzhali is "Thiruvambadi" to Lord Sreekrishna.

Demographics

At the 2001 India census, Chuzhali had a population of 13,898.
Muslims are the second biggest population in Chuzhali and Christians the third.

Transportation

The national highway passes through Taliparamba town. Goa and Mumbai can be accessed on the northern side and Cochin and Thiruvananthapuram can be accessed on the southern side. Taliparamba has a good bus station and buses are easily available to all parts of Kannur district. The road to the east of Iritty connects to Mysore and Bangalore. Buses to these cities are available only from Kannur, 22 km to the south. The nearest railway stations are Kannapuram and Kannur on Mangalore-Palakkad line.
Trains are available to almost all parts of India subject to advance booking over the internet. There are airports at Kannur, Mangalore and Calicut. All are small international airports with direct flights available only to Middle Eastern countries.