Anthoor

Anthoor  is a municipality, in Taliparamba taluk of the Kannur district in Kerala, India. The municipality had a population of 28,218 in the 2011 Indian census.

Anthoor is situated on the western bank of the Valapattanam River. Anthoor is located roughly 6 km south of Taliparamba town and 15 km north of Kannur.

Etymology
The name Anthoor means "large village." Due to its large size, the town was split into two villages, Anthoor and Morazha. The hill of Anthoor has been mentioned in many Theyyam folk songs and Thottam Pattu (തോറ്റം പാട്ട്).

History
Anthoor was previously under Kolathiri rule. Later, Tipu Sultan adjoined this area as part of the Kingdom of Mysore. During British Raj, the kingdom was under Chirakkal Taluk of Malabar District in the Madras Presidency. After the formation of the Kerala State, this area was made a panchayat in the Cannanore District. Later, the Anthoor Panchayat was merged with the Taliparambu Municipality upon the latter's formation. Presently, Anthoor is an independent municipality of Kannur District of Kerala State.

Geography
Almost half of Anthoor's border is surrounded by two scenic rivers, the Valapattanam Puzha and the Kuttikkol Puzha. The backwaters at Vellikkeel Eco Tourism Park are a tourist spot.

Anthoor shares borders with Taliparamba and Kurumathur to the north, Kalliasseri and Pappinisseri to the south, Kannapuram to the west, and Mayyil, Kolachery, and Narath to the east.

Governance
Anthoor is part of the Taliparamba Assembly constituency, and the Kannur Lok Sabha constituency. Prior to 1990, Anthoor was a gram panchayath consisting of two villages: Morazha and Anthoor. After the reorganisation of municipalities in 1990, Anthoor was merged with Taliparamba to form a new municipality. In 2015, Taliparamba was bifurcated into two new municipalities- Anthoor and Talipparamba.

Anthoor has generally been a municipality where the CPI-M has dominated. 14 out of 28 of the municipal councillors were elected unopposed. The current Municipal Chairperson is P. Mukundan.

Municipal Wards
Anthoor Municipality is composed of following 28 wards:

Demographics
According to the 2011 India Census, Anthoor had a population of 28,218 with 12,527 men and 15,691 women.

Notable people

 * M.V. Govindan - Politician

Transport
The National Highway-66 passes through the Dharmashala junction. Mangalore and Mumbai can be accessed on the northern side, and Cochin and Thiruvananthapuram can be accessed on the southern side. The nearest railway stations are Kannapuram and Kannur on the Mangalore-Palakkad line. There are airports at Kannur International Airport, Mangaluru Airport and Calicut International Airport.