Kalpetta കല്പ്പറ്റ |
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Municipality | |
Kalpetta Flower Show
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Location in Kerala, India | |
Coordinates: 11°37′21″N 76°04′53″E / 11.622550°N 76.081252°ECoordinates: 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 | IST (UTC+5:30) |
PIN | 673121 (Kalpetta Head PO), 673122 (Kalpetta North), 673123 (Chundale) |
Telephone code | +91 4936 |
Vehicle registration | KL12 |
Kalpetta is a town and a municipality in the Wayanad district, state of Kerala, India. Kalpetta is the headquarters of Wayanad district as well as the headquarters of Vythiri taluk. It is a bustling town surrounded by dense coffee and tea plantations and mountains. It lies on the Kozhikode-Mysore National Highway NH 766 (Old 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 the administrative capital of the district, Kalpetta is also the center 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 Kalpetta town.
It is believed that the early Jain residents who migrated from Karnataka have named the place "Kalpetta". In Kannada, the words "Kal" and "Pettah" means "deposits of stones". Rocks -large and small- are found throughout the landscape of Kalpetta. Hence the name.
Kalpetta was under the rule of Western Ganga dynasty until AD930. Through ages this region fell into the rule of Hoysala Empire, Vijayanagara Empire, and Kingdom of Mysore. Pazhassi Raja was the next to rule the region. Kalpetta Nair administered the place as the representative for Pazhassi Raja. Mysorean invasion of Kerala made Kalpetta a part of Tipu Sultan's empire. This continued until the demise of Tipu Sultan. Along with the rest of Malabar, Kalpetta also came under British rule after Tipu Sultan's demise.