Akalapuzha: The Sea Trapped in Land

Akalapuzha is a lake though its name carry river. It is often called the Kuttanad of Kozhikode. It is a rising tourist spot for its serene beauty and boating. 

Lakes are formed when water accumulates in large inland depressions called basins. It may also form when sea recedes from the land. It is known as marine regression. It can leave water trapped in low-lying depressions leading to the formation of lakes. Such lakes are called relict lakes or marine residuals. These are remnants of ancient seas cut off from the ocean as seafloors are uplifted or sea-levels dropped. Caspian sea and Aral sea occupy basins that were once part of a larger ocean, but became separated by tectonic uplift or retreating seas.

As the sea-level falls, sandbars, spits or beach ridges can be left behind acting as natural dams that trap sea water in coastal depressions. These basins are fed by fresh water from rivers, canals, springs and rivulets.

Philip Lake was a prominent geologist with Geological Survey of India who conducted significant research on the geology of South Malabar in the late 19th century. His work and subsequent geological studies support the theory that coastal plains were once submerged under sea. He identified that much of the coastal regions between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats is composed of Quaternary sediments - fluvial and marine deposits - which indicates that these areas were formed relatively recently in Geological time by receding sea and river siltation.

Holocene marine transgression 

Global rise in sea levels following following the last Ice Age which started 10000 years ago, say around 8000 BCE, reshaped Kerala coast  by pushing the shoreline far inland towards Wester Ghat. 

Early Holocene Transgression

Between 9000 to 6000 year BP sea level rose rapidly due to melting glaciers and intensified monsoons submerging the current coastal shelf. During this Holocene climate optimum the sea reached several metres above the current sea level drowning vegetation like mangroves.

A secondary transgression occured during the period between 4000yers to 2500 years BP, which coincides with the specific time frame of around 2300 BCE

Later Holocene regression after 2500BP ( say around 500CE) the sea began to recede, and river borne sediments from the Western Ghats filled in the shallow bays. This process formed barrier islands, sand ridges and backwaters filled in the shallow bays. Akalapuzha is a remnant of these marine events.

Why the ancient Greek Mariner's log "Periplus Maris Eritraea" does not mention Calicut or Kozhikode? After White Island (Kalpeni) the log mentions Naura. Where was Naura? Or What was Naura?

Why there were no Brahmin settlements south of Taliparambu upto Eranadu. The answer is that the area was marshy and not suitable for wetland cultivation.

Why Kadalundi was mentioned as Kadalmandi (കടൽ മണ്ടി) in Kozhikodan Grandhavari of Zamorin?

Kadalmandi means sea ran away. The name itself shows the recession of sea and the formation of new land forms.

Overzelous nationalists had been concocting fictions to establish that we were great.

Finally split the toponym Akalapuzha leaving its superfluous tail puzhs. It is akala. (അകാല) That means akam + ala or അകം + ആല. That means sea inside. ആല് means water as per the Malayalam lexicon. The crescent is missing because it was a later invention in Malayalam fond. Eg. Toponym ആല in Thrissur and Alappuzha. Ala and alam (ആല, & ആലം) were used interchangeably to mean water or sea. Also note that there are about 72 toponyms having ala & alamas its prefix in Kerala.