| Kumbla | |
| Settlement Type: | Town |
| Pushpin Map: | India Kerala#India |
| Pushpin Label Position: | right |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in Kerala, India |
| Coordinates: | 12.5946°N 74.9472°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | India |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Name1: | Kerala |
| Subdivision Type2: | District |
| Subdivision Name2: | Kasaragod |
| Government Type: | Panchayati raj (India) |
| Governing Body: | Grama Panchayat |
| Unit Pref: | Metric |
| Area Total Km2: | 40.18 |
| Population Total: | 46,691 |
| Population As Of: | 2011 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Demographics Type1: | Languages |
| Demographics1 Title1: | Official |
| Demographics1 Info1: | Malayalam, English[1] |
| Timezone1: | IST |
| Utc Offset1: | +5:30 |
| Postal Code Type: | PIN |
| Postal Code: | 671321 |
| Area Code Type: | Telephone code |
| Area Code: | 4998 |
| Registration Plate: | KL-14 |
| Blank1 Name Sec1: | Nearest city |
| Blank1 Info Sec1: | Kasaragod |
| Blank2 Name Sec1: | Lok Sabha constituency |
| Blank2 Info Sec1: | Kasaragod |
| Blank3 Name Sec1: | Civic agency |
| Blank3 Info Sec1: | Panchayat |
Kumbla is a small town in Kasaragod district of Kerala state in India. It is located 12 km north of Kasaragod town.
Kanvapura, the original name, was derived from the name of Maharshi Kanva. Since then the name has morphed into "Kanipura" via oral transmission. The historic and ancient temple of Gopalakrishna in Kumble was believed to have been conceived by Kanva Maharshi. Kumble was once the seat of the Kumbla Kings[2] l, who ruled the southern part of Tuluva Kingdom. Ramacharitam, probably the oldest literary work written in Old Malayalam, which dates back to 12th century CE, is thought to have written somewhere near Kumbla as its manuscripts were discovered from Nileshwaram and the poem mentions about Ananthapura Lake Temple in Kumbla in detail.[3] Kumbla was a small port in ancient times. The Kumbla dynasty, who swayed over the land of southern Tulu Nadu wedged between Chandragiri River and Netravati River (including present-day Taluks of Manjeshwar and Kasaragod) from Maipady Palace at Kumbla, had also been vassals to the Kolathunadu kingdom of North Malabar, before the Carnatic conquests of Vijayanagara Empire.[4] The Kumbla dynasty had a mixed lineage of Malayali Nairs and Tuluva Brahmins. They also claimed their origin from kadambas of Karnataka. Francis Buchanan-Hamilton states that the customs of Kumbla dynasty were similar to those of the contemporary Malayali kings, though Kumbla was considered as the southernmost region of Tulu Nadu.[5] Kannada kingdoms focused on Kasaragod in the 16th century CE. The Vijayanagara empire attacked and annexed Kasaragod from the Kolathiri Raja with Nileshwaram as one of the capital in the 16th century. In the 16th century A.D. (1514), Duarte Barbosa, the Portuguese traveller, visited Kumble and he had recorded that he had found people exporting rice to the Maldives in exchange of coir[6] According to Barbosa, the people in the southwestern Malabar coast of India from Kumbla in the north to Kanyakumari in the south had spoken a unique language, which they called as "Maliama" (Malayalam).[7] If he is right, then the kingdom of Kumbla would be the northern end of Malayalam region in the first quarter of 16th century CE. When Tippu Sultan captured Mangaluru, the Kumble Raja fled to Thalassery; but he returned in 1799 and after an unsuccessful fight for independence, submitted to the British Empire and accepted a small pension of Rs. 11,788 per annum in 1804. Parthisubba, the great Yakshagana exponent, known as Father of Yakshagana was born here in the 18th century.
As of 2011 Census, Kumbla Grama Panchayat had total population of 46,691 among which 27,033 lives in Urban areas with 5,168 households and 19,658 people in rural areas with 3,506 households. Males constitute 22,629 (48.5%) and Females constitute 24,062 (51.5%) in Kumbla Panchayat. Population of children in the age group 0-6 is 6,031 (12.9%) in the panchayat limits. Among this, male child constitutes 3,093 (51.3%) and female child constitutes 2,938 (48.7%).
Total number of literates in Kumbla Panchayat is 36,319 which makes overall literacy rate of 89.3%. Total male literates are 18,293 (93.6%) and female literates are 18,026 (85.3%).
Kumbla Panchayat has 2 census towns and 3 revenue villages under its jurisdiction. Koipady, Mogral are the census towns and Arikady, Bombrana and Kidoor are the revenue villages.[8]