Athinhal

Infobox Indian Jurisdiction
native_name = Athinhal | type = village | latd = | longd = |locator_position = right
state_name = Kerala
district = Kasaragod
leader_title =
leader_name =
altitude =
area_magnitude= sq. km
area_total =
area_telephone = 0467
postal_code =671329
vehicle_code_range =
sex_ratio =
unlocode =
website = www.athinhal.com
footnotes =

Athinhal is a coastal village in Kasaragod district in the Indian state of Kerala. It is 28 km from the district capital of Kasargod and one kilometer north of Kanhangad.

History

The name Athinhal was derived from the Arabic word of “Hadiya”, meaning gift. The history of Athinhal dates back to the 1940s, when "As sayid Omer Samarganth Waliyullah" came to Athinhal from Samarkand, Uzbekistan, to preach Islam.Fact|date=May 2008

Economy

The economy is dependent on the inflow of money from locals employed as migrant workers in the Persian Gulf countries. Ever since the oil boom of the 1970s, the village has witnessed a large-scale migration of young people to the oil producing Gulf countries in pursuit of work. This has changed the economic situation considerably. At least one person from each household is employed in the Gulf. In the past, the economy depended on agriculture. The greenery, which persisted once, has vanished, due to the spurting of concrete structures in the place of paddy fields. Now only the coconut faming survives and less than 5% people depend on agriculture.

Climate

The southwest monsoon starts towards the end of May or the beginning of June, heralded by thunderstorms and remains until September when the rain fades out. October brings in the northeast monsoon. Dry weather sets in by the end of December. January and February are the coolest months of the year. March, April and May are very hot.

Education

Unfortunately, Athinhal is lagging behind in terms of education and literacy. It is found that due to the migration of people to the Gulf, the young men tend to marry at an early age. Consequently, the females in the region lose their opportunity to get a proper education.