History
Udma Grama Panchayat is a village panchayat located in Hosdurg Taluk, Kanhangad Block, in the Kasaragod district of Kerala. The panchayat includes the villages of Udma, Bara, and Kotikulam. Spread across an area of 23.54 square kilometres, the boundaries of the panchayat are: Chemmanad Panchayat to the north, Pallikkara Panchayat to the south, Pallikkara and Chemmanad Panchayats to the east, and the Arabian Sea to the west.
The history of present-day Udma Panchayat was completed with the Panchayat reorganization of 1962. Before that, the present Kotikulam village (formerly Pallikkara-2) was part of Pallikkara Panchayat. Udma Panchayat itself was formed in 1940, and the first governing committee came into existence in 1942. This election was conducted during a period when universal adult franchise did not exist. Only landowners and taxpayers had voting rights, and their number was very limited. The first President of the Panchayat Committee was K. C. Muhammed.
Situated between the Numbil River and the Bekalam River, Udma Panchayat is a land where diverse cultures meet. Rivers, hills, valleys, paddy fields, and the Arabian Sea together create a beautiful landscape with a rich cultural heritage. Festivals, Nerchas (religious offerings), Poorakkali, and Duff Muttu are some of the unique cultural traditions of this region. Different religious communities have lived together with tolerance for centuries, contributing to its cultural harmony.
It is believed that the descendants of the Rama Raja Kshatriya community, who were brought from Karnataka as soldiers by Shivappa Nayaka of the Ikkeri dynasty — who is also believed to have built Bekal Fort — still live in areas such as Thiruvakkoli, Pattathanam, Malamkunnu, and Muthiyakkal. Families connected to the Tulu royal lineage of Krishnadevaraya are also still found in Udma.
Later, during the military campaigns of Tipu Sultan, another group that settled here were Muslims belonging to the Hanafi sect. The Malayalam spoken here has been greatly influenced by Kannada, Tulu, and Hindustani languages. Konkani-speaking Gowda Saraswat Brahmins who arrived from the Konkan coast for trade, as well as Christians of the Basel Mission who established the first school here for missionary activities, also made significant contributions to the local culture.
The old landlord-serf social system that once existed in Udma disappeared with the introduction of modern laws, but large ancestral homes and grand bungalows still remain as lasting reminders of that era. The panchayat is home to places of worship belonging to different religions. There are also many ancient temples, traditional ancestral houses, and sacred groves associated with legends and historical significance.