Elerithattu

Elerithattu
village
Elerithattu Location in Kerala, India
Coordinates: 12°20′0″N 75°18′0″E / 12.33333°N 75.30000°E / 12.33333; 75.30000Coordinates: 12°20′0″N 75°18′0″E / 12.33333°N 75.30000°E / 12.33333; 75.30000
Country	India
State	Kerala
District	Kasargod
Languages
• Official	Malayalam, English
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
Vehicle registration	KL-

The hanging spring bridge over the Bheemanadi in West Elerithattu.

Elerithattu is located in West Eleri village, about 30 km east of Nileshwar in the Kasaragod district of Kerala in India. The settlement is situated in a sylvan environment, with rubber trees and various tropical vegetation.

Education

Elerithattu Lower Primary School

Elerithattu Lower Primary School,^[1] is situated in the village. The E.K. Nayanar Memorial Government College is co-located with the school.^[2][3] Mar Gregorios Memorial Upper Primary School (MGMUPS) and Varakkad high school are located at 1 km distance from Elerithattu.

People and history

Elerithattu was partly ruled by the Nileshwar Raja until the 1940s. During the Indian freedom struggle, the area was a local hub for communist movement. The area is still considered to be a strong fort for left wing political ideologies. Prominent left leaders such as E K Nayanar have spent time in exile at this place during the British rule, prior to Indian independence in 1947. The early inhabitants of this place came from places such as Nileshwar, Cheruvathur and Payyanur, and they predominantly were nairs (nambiar). During the middle of twentieth century, christian and ezhava families migrated in large numbers and settled there. Most of such migration came from travancore and southern parts of Kerala. Thanks to the agrarian and fertile landscape prevailed then, many families decided to settle there and became integral part of the social setup. A small share of harijan tribal community also live in various parts of this locality. The harijan families among themselves used to speak an unidentified dialect, but over time Malayalam has taken over and at present it is spoken uniformly across the society. Elerithattu is known to be quite and peaceful with different communities living in harmony. Large section of people rely on individual agrarian income to make their livelihoods. In the 1970s and 80s Elerithattu claimed to have a strong volleyball team in the locality, but these days cricket take precedence among the younger population.

Origin of the name Elerithattu

Even though there is no reported written reference to the exact origin of the name Elerithattu, a widely talked about story goes likes this. The place is a flat geographical locality at the top of a hill. The term "thattu" is a Malayalam word for "flat surface". Years ago, Elerithattu and surrounding areas used to have a single season (in a year) paddy crop. Since the season for such a paddy cultivation coincided with the pre-monsoon time, the rice produced there came to be known as "elaya ari" referring to "early (to monsoon) rice" ("ari" in Malayalam when translated to English is rice grains and "elaya" stands for young or early). Over time, "Eleya Ari" shortened to become "eleri". "eleri" and "thattu" combined to reason out the current name of the locality.

Neighbouring places

Konnakkad and Kottancheri Hills are located within 20 kilometers from this locality. Cherupuzha, a local trading center is about 15 kilometers away. Bheemanady, Chittarikkal, Vellarikundu and Narkilakkad are the adjacent commercial localities. The nearest municipal town isKanhangad.

See also

• Hosdurg Taluk

References