# Iritty

Iritty is a municipality and taluk in Kannur district of Kerala state, India. The town is the main market place for the farmer communities in the surrounding regions. Iritty is at a distance of 20 km (12 mi) from Kannur International Airport and one among five taluks in Kannur district. Iritty is one of the major towns that lies between Coorg and Kannur International Airport near Mattanur.

## Location

Iritty is located on the banks of Bavali river, which originates from the Wayanad passes. Iritty is situated on the Thalassery-Coorg-Mysore highway or State Highway 30 (Kerala) between Mattanur and Virajpet. Nearby smaller towns are Padiyoor, Blathur, Peravoor, Kakkayangad, Aralam, Keezhppally, Vallithode, Karikkottakary, Angadikadavu, Anappanthy, Edoor, Ulikkal, Vattiyamthode, Mattara, Manikkadavu, Kilyianthara, Punnad, Charal, Edapuzha, Uruppumkutti, Vilakkode and Chavassery.
Aralam Wildlife Sanctuary is situated 8 kilometres (5 mi) from Iritty.

## Geography

Iritty is surrounded by hills. A river flowing through Iritty is more commonly known as Iritty Puzha (Iritty River). There is a steel girder bridge, built in 1933, over the river. There is a dam in the place Pazhassi for irrigation purpose named 'Pazhassi Dam' which is almost 10 km from the town. Wayanad tourist destinations are near from this place. The nearby areas are depending on Iritty for most of their shopping.Padiyoor, Payam, Aralam, Punnad, Vallithode, Kilyianthara, Kondambra, Kolikkadavu, Keezhur, Ulickal, Vattiyamthode, Mattara, Kalanki, Manikadave, Manippara Perumpally, Nuchiyad, Vayathoor, Edoor, Peratta, Karikottakari, Angadikadave, Puravayal, Kootupuzha, Charal, Alathupramba, Thermala, Urathoor, Vilakkode, Madathil etc. are the nearby small towns around.

### Steel bridge

The steel bridge in Iritty is a 10-ton bridge constructed in 1933 by the British authorities to connect the towns of Kodagu and Thalassery. It was designed by George Anderson of the Institution of Civil Engineers. A July 2015 death of a man after being accidentally wedged between the handrail and a private bus raised concerns about the bridge's age.

## Administration

Iritty was initially part of Keezhur-Chavassery Panchayat and upgraded to a Municipality on 1 November 2015. The Municipal town is divided into 33 wards. K Sreekala is the present municipal chairperson of Iritty. The current ruling party of Iritty Municipality is LDF.
Iritty Municipality is a part of Peravoor Assembly Constituency under Kannur Loksabha Constituency.
Iritty established as a Taluk headquarters since March 2013 when Kerala government declared new taluks for the state. Iritty taluk falls under Thalassery Revenue division.

### Villages in Iritty Taluk

Iritty Taluk has 20 villages
* Aralam, Ayyankunnu, Chavasseri and Kalliad
* Kanichar, Karikkottakari, Keezhur and Kelakam
* Kolari, Kottiyoor, Manathana and Muzhakkunnu
* Nuchiyad, Padiyoor, Payam and Pazhassi
* Thillankeri, Vayathur, Vellarvalli and Vilamana

## Etymology

Iritty, one of the beautiful hill side towns in the north Malabar of Kerala. The beauty of Iritty lies together with the unique rivers, streams, green hills and valleys. The main Streams of Iritty river are by the three rivers such as Bavali river, Aralam river and Barapuzha (Veni river). Before the name 'Iritty,' made the first cry, this land was nourished by two main rivers, one Barapuzha and Bavalipuzha. People started calling both the rivers confluence as Iratta puzha (Double River & 'Puzha' means River), and in course of time the land became Iritty.

## Climate

Iritty has a tropical monsoon climate (Am) with little to no rainfall from December to March and heavy to extremely heavy rainfall from April to November.
Climate data for Iritty :
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 31.6 (88.9) | 32.5 (90.5) | 33.6 (92.5) | 33.9 (93.0) | 33.2 (91.8) | 29.9 (85.8) | 28.6 (83.5) | 29.0 (84.2) | 29.7 (85.5) | 30.5 (86.9) | 31.0 (87.8) | 31.2 (88.2) | 31.2 (88.2) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 26.5 (79.7) | 27.5 (81.5) | 28.9 (84.0) | 29.8 (85.6) | 29.4 (84.9) | 26.9 (80.4) | 26.0 (78.8) | 26.2 (79.2) | 26.6 (79.9) | 27.0 (80.6) | 26.9 (80.4) | 26.3 (79.3) | 27.3 (81.2) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 21.4 (70.5) | 22.6 (72.7) | 24.3 (75.7) | 25.7 (78.3) | 25.6 (78.1) | 23.9 (75.0) | 23.4 (74.1) | 23.5 (74.3) | 23.5 (74.3) | 23.6 (74.5) | 22.9 (73.2) | 21.5 (70.7) | 23.5 (74.3) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 3 (0.1) | 4 (0.2) | 12 (0.5) | 85 (3.3) | 283 (11.1) | 867 (34.1) | 1,332 (52.4) | 711 (28.0) | 329 (13.0) | 279 (11.0) | 106 (4.2) | 23 (0.9) | 4,034 (158.8) |
| Source: ||||||||||||||

## Transportation

Iritty lies at an equal distance from the nearby cities of Kannur, Thalassery, Mahe, Taliparamba and Virajpet (Karnataka State). The proposed Kannur Mysore National Highway or SH 30 passes through Iritty connecting Thalassery, Mattanur Airport and Kodagu. This was initially called the TC Road by the British. This highway is used by interstate bus services plying to Madikeri, Mysore and Bangalore.
SH 36 connects Iritty with Taliparamba that gives access to other towns like Irikkur and Sreekandapuram.
Keezhur is the starting point of Iritty town. This place is well-connected by road from both Kannur and Thalassery. There are frequent buses from Iritty and to both these places and to several places across Kerala including Kottayam, Cochin (Ernakulam), Mangalore, Kasaragod, Panathur, Kanhangad, Cherupuzha, Wayanad and Kozhikode. There is no railway line, with the nearest railway stations at Kannur and Thalassery. The nearest airport is Kannur International Airport, at Mattannur is located 19.5 km south-west of Iritty.

## Commerce

Iritty is one of the major towns of the Kannur district. With nearby villages which produce cash crops and plantation crops, Iritty is a major commercial town too. It is one of the growing towns in the district. Iritty is famous for cash crops such as pepper, rubber and cashew nuts, some of which are sold under regional brands in various auction houses and commodities markets.
Iritty is primarily a trading town. Iritty is headquarters to several State Government offices. Most of these offices have jurisdiction over nearby towns like Mattanur and Peravoor.

## Hospitals

* Amala Multi Speciality Hospital, Keezhur
* Sky Super Speciality Hospital, Iritty.

## Education

* Pragathi Vidhyanikethan Nerampoke Road Iritty
* Higher Secondary School, Edathotty
* Benhill English Senior Secondary School, Kunnoth

## Pilgrim Centres & Religious Centres

* St. George Church Puravayal
* St. Mary's Forane Church, Edoor
* St. Joseph's Church Iritty

## Tourism

Iritty and the surrounding areas have a choice of tourism attractions.
* Aralam Wildlife Sanctuary
* Pazhassi Dam and garden
* Pazhassi Reservoir, Padiyoor
* Kanjirakkolly waterfalls

## Notable People

* Tintu Luka, an Indian athlete
* Nivetha Thomas, an Indian actress