Nileshwaram
town in Kasaragod district, Kerala, India

Nileshwaram or Nileshwar or Neeleshwaram is a municipality and a major town in Kasaragod District, state of Kerala, India. It is one of the three municipalities in Kasaragod district; the others are Kasaragod and Kanhangad. Nileshwaram is located on the estuary of Kavvayi Backwaters and Neeleshwaram River. Nileshwaram is referred to as the cultural capital of Kasaragod, the northernmost district of Kerala. "The first Chief Minister of Kerala and communist leader E. M. S. Namboodiripad, Kamaran Nair had contested elections to the Assembly from the Neeleshwaram segment."
History
Neeleswaram, or Nileswaram, is the abbreviated form of Neelakanteshweram. The Kolathiri Dominion emerged into independent 10 principalities in the late medieval period, i.e., Kadathanadu (Vadakara), Randathara or Poyanad (Dharmadom), Kottayam (Thalassery), Nileshwaram, Iruvazhinadu (Panoor), Kurumbranad etc., under separate royal chieftains due to the outcome of internal dissensions. Many portions of the present-day Hosdurg taluk (Kanhangad) and Vellarikundu were parts of the Nileshwaram dynasty, who were relatives to both Kolathunadu as well as Zamorin of Calicut, in the early medieval period. Nileshwaram was historically the seat of the Neeleswaram Rajahs, who belonged to the clans of the Kolathiri and Zamorins. The Nileshwar Rajahs and the Bednore Nayaks battled in this area.
The grand finale of the annual temple festival season takes place in this area, which is known for its "kavus", or sacred groves.
The public source identifies “Nileshwaram” as town in Kasaragod district, Kerala, India. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Nileshwaram, town and Kasaragod.
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Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q12064134. Authority coordinates are 12.260, 75.130. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
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This entry incorporates text from “Nileshwaram” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.