At a Glance
Narippatta Grama Panchayat is located in the Kunnummal Block of Vadakara Taluk in Kozhikode district. The panchayat covers an area of 50.63 square kilometers. Its boundaries are formed by the Vanimel and Thondarnad (Wayanad) panchayats to the north; Kunnummal, Kayakkodi, and Nadapuram panchayats to the south; Thondarnad (Wayanad), Kavilumpara, and Kayakkodi panchayats to the east; and Vanimel and Nadapuram panchayats to the west. This village was constituted as a panchayat in 1955. The first election for the panchayat was conducted through a show-of-hands vote. A.P. Kunjikannan was the first president of the panchayat. Namboodiri families—who hailed from the Taliparamba region and had migrated from Chirakkal in present-day Kannur district—upheld the historic prominence of Thinur in Naripatta. Over time, the local temple, dedicated to the deity Thinumurappa, came to be known as a Shankaranarayana temple—a rare type of shrine in Kerala. The Namboodiri families here belong to the Yajurveda tradition. Some of these Namboodiri households still preserve rare palm-leaf manuscripts. The villages of the Kadathanad region possess a unique heritage; Kalaripayattu and Kolkkali flourished here side by side. Under the tutelage of *Kalari* masters, practitioners imbibed a harmonious rhythm that integrated both the physical and the mental. Kathakali, Ottamthullal, Mohiniyattam, and Chakyar Koothu stood out among the traditional art forms associated with the upper strata of society, while *Vadakkan Pattukal* (Northern Ballads) and various folk arts were contributions from the lower strata. The region's dense forests and evergreen paddy fields bear witness to a history of human habitation spanning centuries. In the past, Narippatta was characterized by a diverse landscape featuring steep ravines, towering hills, flat plains, streams and canals that served as lifelines for lush vegetation, and numerous perennial water bodies. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the area comprised approximately one thousand hectares of paddy fields and an equally vast expanse of dense forest.
