Twelve rivers and the Chandragiri: the district at the northern tip of Kerala

Background

Kasaragod is the district that closes Kerala at its northern end, and that position is what its own district administration uses to describe it. Lying at the northern tip of Kerala bounded by the Western ghats in the east and Arabian sea in the west, twelve rivers flow across its terrain. There are 12 rivers in this district. The longest is Chandragiri (105 kms) originating from Pattimala in Coorg, and it embraces the sea at Thalangara, near Kasargod. The river assumes its name Chandragiri from the name of the place of its source Chandragupta Vasti, where the great Maurya emperor Chandragupta is said to have spent his last days as a sage. On the name of the district the administration records different views: one view is that it is the combination of two Sanskrit words kaasaara, which means lake or pond, and kroda, which means a place where treasure is kept; another view is that it is the place where Kaasaraka trees are in abundance. The landscape is dotted with tiled-roof buildings, topped with the famous Kasaragod tiles made with the local hard red clay and typically walled with laterite blocks.