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 and Vazhachal Falls. Chalakudy lies on National Highway 544 and located about 47 km north of the city of Kochi, and 30 km south of Thrissur.

History

The name "Chalakudy" is derived from two words "Yagashala" and "kody". Once Chalakudy was famous all over India as a place for conducting sacrifices. Many "rishis" used to come over here as it was considered as a sacred land. In order to identify these settlements, they hoisted flags next to it. Thus those entire area got its name "yagashalakody". History also 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.

Demographics

As of the 2011 census, Chalakudy had a population of 114,901 with a density of 4,554 per km2. The male population of which is 55,276 while female population is 59,625. The children population of Chalakudy UA is around 8.86% of total Chalakudy UA population which is lower than National Urban average of 10.93%. Total children in Chalakudy Urban region were 10,176 of which 5,225 were male and 4,951 female.
The literacy rate of Chalakudy Agglomeration is 96.42% which is higher than National Urban average of 85%. Literacy rate for male and female for Chalakudy stood at 97.53% and 95.41% respectively. Total literates in Chalakudy UA were 100,977 of which males were 48,815 and remaining 52,162 were females. The sex ratio of female to male in Chalakudy UA was found higher with figure of 1079 females against national urban average of 926 females per 1000 males. For children, girls were 948 per 1000 boys in Chalakudy Urban region against national average of 902 girls per 1000 boys.

Government

Chalakudy Municipality came into existence in the year 1970. The municipality covering an area of 25.23 km2 is divided into 36 electoral wards. Chalakkudy is a Grade-II municipality. Chalakudy is an assembly constituency & Lok Sabha constituency). Benny Behnan is the current MP of the Parliamentary constituency and B.D. Devassy is the current M.L.A. of Legislative Assembly Constituency.

Transport

Road

Located along the National Highway 544, between Kochi and Coimbatore. Another major road is State Highway 21 which connects Chalakudy to Vazhachal and ends at the border of Tamil Nadu.

Railways

The main rail transport system in Chalakudy is operated by the Southern Railway Zone of Indian Railways, and comes under Trivandrum Railway Division.

Airport

The nearest airport is Cochin International Airport in Nedumbassery which is 21 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, Mangalore, Calicut, Thiruvananthapuram, Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Bahrain, Kuwait, Muscat, Malé, Colombo, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Salala, Jeddah and Riyadh.

Business

Madura Coats, Geetha Flour Mill, Apollo Tyres, Codemazk, Paulson Distillery, Choice Foods, Amoeba Associates, Carborundum Limited, Eddie Current and the Sree Shakti Paper Mills are the major industrial establishments.

Education

Schools

Government boys higher secondary school chalakudy

Colleges

Notable people