Kalpetta

Kalpetta
Kalpetta
Municipality
	Kalpetta Civil Station complex entrance in December, 2013
	Kalpetta Location in Kerala, India Kalpetta Kalpetta (India)
	Coordinates: 11°37′21″N 76°04′53″E / 11.622550°N 76.081252°E
Country	India
State	Kerala
District	Wayanad
Area
• Total	40.74 km2 (15.73 sq mi)
Elevation	780 m (2,560 ft)
Population (2011)
• Total	31,580
• Density	780/km2 (2,000/sq mi)
Languages
• Official	Malayalam, English
Time zone	UTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN	673121 (Kalpetta Head PO), 673122 (Kalpetta North)
Telephone code	+91 4936
Vehicle registration	KL-12
Website	http://www.kalpettamunicipality.in

Kalpetta is the largest and first City, Town and municipality in the Wayanad district of the Indian state of Kerala. Kalpetta is the headquarters of Wayanad district,^[2] as well as the headquarters of Vythiri taluk.^[3] It is a bustling city, town surrounded by dense coffee and tea plantations and mountains. It lies on the Kozhikode-Mysore National Highway NH 766 (formerly NH 212) at an altitude of about 780 m above sea level. Kalpetta is 72 km from Kozhikode and 140 km from Mysore.

Apart from being the administrative capital of the district, Kalpetta is also the main hub of tourism activities in Wayanad due to its central location within the district and its proximity to most visited tourist sites. There is a good number of hotels and resorts within and surrounding the city of Kalpetta.

Etymology

It is believed that the early Jain residents who migrated from Karnataka had named the place "Kalpetta". In Kannada, the words "Kal" and "Pettah" mean "deposits of stones". Rocks, large and small, are found throughout the landscape of Kalpetta. Hence this name was derived.^{[citation needed]}

History

Entire north kerala was under Samoothirpaad's rule it was never under any other rule. Samoothiri's tasted defeat for the first time in 400 centuries when tipu sultan attacked with rockets. After that only British gained control^{[citation needed]}

In Wayanad, the Indian independence movement started first at Kalpetta. The first political conference was held in 1921 under the leadership of Dharmaraja Iyer. K. P. Kesava Menon and A. K. Gopalan participated in this meeting. Formation of the committee of Indian National Congress also occurred around the same time. Father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi visited Kalpetta on 1934 January 14.^[4]

Kalpetta became the headquarters when Wayanad district was formed on 1 November 1980. Kalpetta was still a Village Panchayath when it became district headquarters and it attained Municipality status on 1 April 1990.

Demographics

As of 2011^[update] India census,^[5] Kalpetta had a population of 31,580. Males constitute 49% of the population and females 51%. In Kalpetta, 11% of the population is under the age of 6.

People

Being the district headquarters, Kalpetta is home to a large number of government offices. Besides, the district level offices of Media Houses, Political Parties etc. also function out of Kalpetta. Hence a large section of the population of Kalpetta are office-goers. Like elsewhere in Kerala, Hindus, Muslims and Christians live in harmony in Kalpetta. There is a significant Jain population also in Kalpetta.

Transport

Kalpetta has very good road connectivity with the rest of Kerala and neighbouring South Indian cities. NH766 connects Kalpetta with Kozhikode and Mysore. State Highways connect Kalpetta with Ooty in Tamil Nadu and Madikeri in Karnataka. En route to Mysore on NH 766, past Wayanad district boundary, which is also the Kerala state boundary, NH 766 passes through Bandipur National Park. There is a night traffic ban imposed on this stretch from 9pm to 6am since 2009.^[6] The alternate road to take is, leave NH 766 at Kalpetta and proceed to Mysore through Mananthavady, Kutta, Gonikoppal, and Hunsur.

The nearest airport is Calicut International Airport, 90 km from Kalpetta. Kannur international airport is 100 km from Kalpetta

Tourist attractions

Mahathma Gandhi Museum
Myladippara
Pookode Lake
En ooru tribal heritage village
Anantnath Swami Temple
Lakkidi View Point
Chembra Peak
Soochipara Falls
Kanthanpara Falls
900 Kandi
Kurumbalakotta hill
Honey Museum
Kuruvadweep
Banasura sagar dam

Economy

The Wayanad dairy of Milma (Kerala Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation) is situated at Chuzhali within Kalpetta Municipal Limits. There is a Mini Industries Park promoted by Kinfra at Kalpetta. Several small scale industries function out of this Park. Tourism and hospitality industry experienced a boom in recent years. This has led to mushrooming of resorts throughout Wayanad, with the largest concentration of hotels and resorts at Kalpetta and adjoining areas within Vythiri taluk.

Education

Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Pookode (14 km from Kalpetta)
College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences at Pookode (14 km from Kalpetta)
Oriental School of Hotel Management located at Lakkidi (15 km from Kalpetta)
Aster DM WIMS Medical College located at Meppadi (15 km) is the only Medical College in Wayanad district
College of Dairy Science and Technology, Pookode offers B.Tech. degree course in Dairy Science & Technology
WMO Arts and Science College, Muttil, Kalpetta North
Aster DM WIMS Nursing College located at Meppadi
Aster DM WIMS Pharma College, Meppadi
Kendriya Vidyalaya, Kalpetta
SKMJ Higher Secondary School, Kalpetta
De Paul Public School, Kalpetta
NSS Higher Secondary School, Kalpetta
HIM UP School, Kalpetta
Govt.College, Vellaramkunnu, Kalpetta.
St: Joseph's Convent School, Kalpetta.
Jawahar Navodaya, Kalpetta
M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, Kalpetta
MCF Public School, Kalpetta
Kristhuraja Public School, Kalpetta
Govt. LP School, Kalpetta
GVHSS Kalpetta
KeyPees International School, Kunnampetta
Falah Green Valley School, Kalpetta
SDMLP School, Kalpetta
Amrita Vidyalaya, Kalpetta
WMO Higher Secondary School, Muttil, Kalpetta North
GLPS Edapetty, Kalpetta North
St. George ALP School, Kolavayal, Kalpetta North
Prerana Special School, Kalpetta

Notable personalities

Kalpatta Narayanan - Indian Poet and Novelist
Abu Salim - Actor
M. P. Veerendra Kumar - Writer and politician
Anu Sithara - Actress
Sunny Wayne - Actor
Midhun Manuel Thomas - Script writer and director
Princely Amin Dias - Founder of Future Beings India Private Limited

Climate

Climate data for Kalpetta, Kerala
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)	27.2 (81.0)	28.8 (83.8)	30.4 (86.7)	30.4 (86.7)	29.4 (84.9)	25.9 (78.6)	24.4 (75.9)	25.1 (77.2)	26.0 (78.8)	26.6 (79.9)	26.5 (79.7)	26.5 (79.7)	27.3 (81.1)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)	16.7 (62.1)	17.9 (64.2)	19.5 (67.1)	20.8 (69.4)	20.8 (69.4)	19.7 (67.5)	19.3 (66.7)	19.4 (66.9)	19.2 (66.6)	19.4 (66.9)	18.6 (65.5)	17.0 (62.6)	19.0 (66.2)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	4 (0.2)	10 (0.4)	19 (0.7)	99 (3.9)	210 (8.3)	664 (26.1)	1,229 (48.4)	637 (25.1)	275 (10.8)	239 (9.4)	92 (3.6)	24 (0.9)	3,502 (137.8)
Source: Climate-Data.org^[7]