Thalassery, also known as Tellicherry, is a city on the Malabar Coast of Kerala, India. This is the second largest city of North Malabar.
Thalassery is half an island lying on the banks of the Eranjoli river and surrounded by the Arabian sea. Just like the seven hills on the banks of the Tiber river helped Rome, become a great Empire, there are seven hills in Thalassery which have helped its prosper and become a legendary town. These hills are Dharmadam kunnu, Koduvalli kunnu, Illikunnu, Chetam kunnu, Morak kunnu, Mailam kunnu and Vayalalam kunnu. The eranjoli river and Dharmadam river flow through Thalassery creating a water ring around it. As Thalassery has several hills it is also known as the 'City of seven hills'.
Thalassery is half an island lying on the banks of the Eranjoli river and surrounded by the Arabian sea. Just like the seven hills on the banks of the Tiber river helped Rome, become a great Empire, there are seven hills in Thalassery which have helped its prosper and become a legendary town. These hills are Dharmadam kunnu, Koduvalli kunnu, Illikunnu, Chetam kunnu, Morak kunnu, Mailam kunnu and Vayalalam kunnu. The eranjoli river and Dharmadam river flow through Thalassery creating a water ring around it. As Thalassery has several hills it is also known as the 'City of seven hills'.
Thalassery is a healthy and picturesque town situated upon a group of wooded hills running down to the sea, and protected by a natural breakwater of rock.
Thalassery is one of the important town on the west coast of Kerala which has the waves of the Arabian sea beating on its sides. The town has Dharmadam Panchayat in the North, Eranjholi in the East, Kodiyeri in the west and New Mahe in the south. Thalassery Municipality was formed on November 1, 1886 as per the 10th Act of 1865. It was known as Thalassery Commission at that time. The first President of the Municipal Commission was the Malabar Collector G.M. Bellard. An European Lawyer named A.F. Lamaral became the first Municipal Chairman in 1885, when Thalassery became Municipal Council and that time the municipality measure 7.05 sq.kms. in area.
Because of sea erosion the town has lost a lot of area. The rocky area in the sea which one can see at around 350 meters from the coast was once the fish market of Thalassery. The sea walls built by Overberry saved Thalassery from fruther sea erosions.
The present municipal office was the head office of the Government Brennen College in its earlier days.
Thalassery courts have played an important part in the town's growth and its history.
Thalassery is the Judicial Head Quarters of Kannur Revenue District. Thalassery is the seat of the Principal District and Session's Judge, Chief Judicial Magistrate, Principal Sub-Judge amongst the others. So when the history of Judiciary in India is written, Thalassery's name will find a pride of place in it. The glorious, histroical, traditional and nostalgic era had the resilience and strength to continue unabated and uniterrupted to this day.
Thalassery Bar Association has a rich history and glorious tradition. It was started in the early 19th century and was formaly registered as a society under the Societies Registration Act. It has produced stalwarts both on the Bench and at the Bar. Legal luminaries like Diwan Bahadur Adv. T.C. Narayana Kurup, Adv. Damodar Rao, Adv. T. Narayanan Nambiar and Padma Vibhushan Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer were members.
The record room of the Thalassery courts has come in for high praise from Mr. Justice Mack of the Madras High Court and in open court bestowed high praise on the meticulous way in which a centuries old documents were neatly preserved in the record room. He particularly mentioned that where in at random asked for case of 19th century, it reached him in a few minutes.
Noted Malayalam writer Chandu Menon was a Judge at Thalassery when he wrote Malayalam's first novel 'Indulekha'.
The beginning of the registration process in Kerala was in Thalassery in a place named Anjarakandi. The process started after Murdoch Brown arrived Thalassery from London and bought 'Randu Tara' where he started living. He was very clever in acquiring wealth. The land owned by him became very large. He set up churches and made sure that the land could not be grabbed by anyone. Registration system was also his brain child. Brown Sahib himself set aside a room and appointed a clerk for preparing the property documents. He also encouraged others to register their property. These documents were given legal sanctity by British goverment in 1865. Brown was made Deputy Registrar and given powers to manufacture and sell stamp papers.
The registration office in Thalassery started functioning officially from 1877.
The Thalassery Town Bank is continuing to climb the steps of prosperiety with its selfless service and contributions to the life of people in this town. This bank has been functioning for more than 40 years.
When essential commodities became scarie during the second world war and prices rose, a group led by Kinnathi Narayan formed the PCC society in 1946. The society became a Rural Bank when the distribution of rice under the public distribution system was stopped in 1956. From 1974 March the bank started progressing very fast. In 1975 the Rural Bank became a Town Bank. The election held after the emergency in 1977 saw E. Narayanan became the President. The Bank also had a working capital of 30 Lakhs which it increased to 16 Crores in the short period. The town bank Auditorium built by bank is a shining symbol of Thalassery today. This hall now hosts marriages and cultural programmes. A payward was built in Thalassery hospital for poor patients in the name of former MP, Patiam Gopalan. An intensive care unit was established for the sake of heart patients. As part of it social activity the bank established a Childrens Park near the Thalassery Court. The bank now has 10 branches with 150 employees. Thalassery will forever remember Thalassery Co-operative Bank for its great service.
