Chaliyar River is the fourth longest river in Kerala at 169 km in length. The Chaliyar is also known as Chulika River, Nilambur River or Beypore River as it nears the sea. Pothukal, Chungathara, Nilambur, Mampad, Edavanna, Kavanoor, Perakamanna, Areekode, Kizhuparamba, Elamaram, Cheekkode, Vazhakkad, Vazhayur, Cheruvadi, Edavannappara, Mavoor, Peruvayal, Feroke and Beypore are some of the towns/villages situated along the banks of Chaliyar. It mainly flows through Malappuram district. Its tributaries flow through both the districts of Malappuram and Kozhikode. The bank of river Chaliyar at Nilambur region is also known for natural Gold fields. Explorations done at the valley of the river Chaliyar in Nilambur has shown reserves of the order of 2.5 million cubic meters of placers with 0.1 gram per cubic meter of gold. It originates at Ilambaleri hills of Nilgiri Mountains in Nilgiris district (Ooty district), which is also near Wayanad-Malappuram district border. It flows mainly through the erstwhile region of Eranad (present-day Malappuram district), and finally empties into the Arabian Sea at Beypore port, opposite to Chaliyam harbour. Name The river has three names - Chaliyar, Nilambur River, and Beypore puzha, of which the first one is more popular. The river meets the Lakshadweep Sea at an 'azhi' (estuary), the southern part of which is known as Chaliyam and northern part as Beypore. Unlike many other rivers in Kerala, Chaliyar does not dry up during the drought season in March and April. Chaliyar is also the name of a place and a Grama panchayat in Nilambur Taluk, which is located near the Nilambur Municipality, where Conolly's plot, the oldest manmade teak plantation in the world is located. Course The Chaliyar originates in the Western Ghats range at Ilambaleri hills in the ranges of Nilgiri Mountains of Western Ghats, which is also near Wayanad-Malappuram district border. Chaliyar flows through Malappuram District for most of its length and then for around 17 km it forms the boundary between Malappuram District and Kozhikode District before entering the city of Kozhikode for its final 10 km journey and finally empties into the Lakshadweep Sea at Beypore. Six major streams Chaliyarpuzha, Punnapuzha, Kanjirapuzha, Karimpuzha, Iruvahnipuzha and Thottumukkampuzha constitute the Chaliyar River drainage system. Other important tributaries are Kurumanpuzha, Pandipuzha, Maradipuzha, Kuthirapuzha and Karakkodupuzha. Most of these rivers have their origin in the Nilgiri hills in the east and Wayanad hills in the north, where they form a number of rapids