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Fact Facts

How to get there:

• By air: The airport is 25 kms from the centre of the town.

  Indian Airlines has a daily flight to Calicut from Madras, Bombay and Sharjah

  • Flight IC 985 leaves Madras at 1220 hours IST and reaches Coimbatore at 1325 hours IST. It leaves Coimbatore at 1405 hours and arrives in Calicut at 1435 hours daily.

  • Flight IC 989 leaves Bombay at 1425 hours IST and reaches Calicut at 1605 hours IST on Thursdays.

  • Flight IC 993 leaves Bombay at 1500 hours IST and reaches Calicut at 1640 hours IST on Mondays.

  • Flight IC 991 leaves Bombay at 1500 hours IST and reaches Calicut at 1640 hours IST on Tuesdays.

  • Flight IC 989 leaves Bombay at 1500 hours IST and reaches Calicut at 1640 hours IST daily except on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.

  • Flight IC 993 leaves Sharjah at 1425 hours IST and reaches Calicut via Ras Al-Khaimah on Mondays.

  • Flight IC 991 leaves Sharjah at 1425 hours IST and reaches Calicut via Fujairah on Tuesdays.

  • Flight IC 989 leaves Sharjah at 1425 hours IST and reaches Calicut on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

  Jet Airways operates a daily flight to Calicut from Bombay.

  • Flight 9W 421 departs from Bombay at 1225 hours and arrives in Calicut at 1405 hours daily.

• By train: Calicut is well linked by rail to the main rail hubs in South India. It is a five hour train journey to Calicut from Mangalore. It is a four and a half hour journey to Ernakulam from Calicut and a nine-and-a-half to ten hour journey to Trivandrum and a 15 hour or more journey to Madras.

• By bus: KSRTC buses connect Calicut with Bangalore, Mysore, Trivandrum, Ooty, Ernakulam, Alleppey, Madurai, Mangalore and Coimbatore. The bus station is located on Manvoor Road. For Booking: tel # 0495-74596.

Where to eat:

The town is well known for its banana chips that are available crisp and hot, as they emerge fresh from karhais or woks at roadside stalls. Equally well known in these parts are the halwas -- the black karutha halwa or the jackfruit and banana halwas -- that are a speciality of the Kerala Muslim or Mappila community. Every tea stall worth its name stocks nendrampazham or freshly cooked plantains.

Most of the 'dining out' type of restaurants are on Beach Road and Manvoor Road. Among the best are:

• The Paramount Tower hotel, Town Hall road, has an open air rooftop restaurant at Town Hall Road.
• Hotel Alakapuri, Maulana Mohammed Ali Road, serves typical hearty South Indian fare at its restaurant on the 1st floor.
• Malabar Mansion, the KTDC hotel at SM Street, has a restaurant that serves beer.
• India Coffee House, Kallai Road and another on Manvoor Road, serves piping hot South Indian meals.
• Woodlands, on Manvoor Road.
• Park Restaurant, near the Mananchira tank, is an open air restaurant.
• Mammas and Pappas is a French bakery on Beach Road.
• Royal Cakes is situated on Bank Road.
• Cochin Bakery and Ice cream also serves hot snacks and is situated near the CSI Church.

Where to shop:

Try the Court Road spice market if you would like to purchase some spices.

Plain and printed cottons or calicos available by the roll on SM Road and is a speciality of this town; the word calico is a corruption of the name Calicut. Also try the Comtrust weaving centre in Beypore, 11 kilometres away. If you want to buy some books for your stay then you could go to Touring Book Shop next to the Malabar Palace Hotel on SM Street or try Pai's at Kallai Road.

History of Calicut

The name Kozhikode is derived from the word colicudu or 'cock crowing'. History records that mighty King Cheramana Perumal, a maharaja of the Malabar region, converted to Islam and sailed away to Mecca for a better future.

Before departing he divided his kingdom into smaller states and handed it over to his family. To his nephew he gave the kingdom of Kozhikode, which stretched over an area in which a 'cock crowing' from an important small local temple could be heard. But he appointed his nephew as the Zamorin or ruler of the region.

Calicut was a port popular with Muslim traders who came there to buy cardamom and pepper. Vasco da Gama's arrival in this town in 1498 heralded European involvement in the region. Worn out from battling the Portuguese, in the early 1500s, the Zamorin offered trading rights to the Portuguese and allowed them to build a fort in the town.

In the 18th century it was the forces of Haider Ali of Mysore that threatened Calicut. When peace was not forthcoming, the Zamorin locked himself up in his palace and burnt it down. Twenty three years later, Haider Ali's son, the legendary Tipu Sultan left Calicut in ruins. In 1792 the British took Calicut over under the Treaty of Seringapatam.

The town was built according to an ancient Hindu grid system with Calicut's most important temple, the Tali Shiva, at the centre.