KOZHIKODE: The ‘Walking Kozhikode’ initiative by NIRDESH and IIM-K will conduct their next heritage walk on April 27. It will cover Valiyangadi and surrounding areas, where Arabs and Indians traded, much before the appearance of the Europeans. A team of 30 history buffs will participate in the walk, to be flagged off by Joseph Mathew, Railway Station Manager, Kozhikode. It will start from Produces Market near the District Court. This used to be the destination of bullock carts laden with pepper and other Wayanadan spices, and coconut and other produces from elsewhere; to be unloaded into huge godowns called Pandyalas or Pandikasalas.
The team will visit some Pandyalas that still use traditional methods to process copra and other produce. The walk will then enter Valiyangadi, an open air supermarket, once stretching from South Beach to Palayam. It used to sell everything from pulses to gold and even small arms & ammunition. The lore of Kammali Mooppans; the unsung foot soldiers who lugged heavy loads on their heads much before the advent of trucks and other motorised carriers, would be narrated, said the organisers. The walk will culminate at the Railway Station, recalling interesting anecdotes connected to the arrival of the railways. Advocate T B Seluraj, anecdotal historian of Kozhikode and Captain Ramesh Babu, Project Director, NIRDESH, will lead the walk.https://ssl.gstatic.com/ui/v1/icons/mail/images/cleardot.gif
