Wayanad is an Indian district in the north-east of Kerala state with administrative headquarters at the municipality of Kalpetta. It is set high on the Western Ghats with altitudes ranging from 700 to 2100 meters.^[5] The district was formed on 1 November 1980 as the 12th district in Kerala by carving out areas from Kozhikode and Kannur districts. About 885.92 sq.km of area of the district is under forest.^[6] Wayanad has three municipal towns—Kalpetta, Mananthavady and Sulthan Bathery. There are many indigenous tribals in this area.^[7][8]

Wayanad district is bordered by Karnataka to north and north-east, Tamil Nadu to south-east, Malappuram to south, Kozhikode to south-west and Kannur to north-west.^[9] Pulpally in Wayanad boasts of the only Lava– Kusha temple in Kerala and Vythiri has the only mirror temple in Kerala which is a Jain temple. The edicts and caves of Ambukuthi Mala and another evidence state that the place is as old as the beginning of the New Age Civilisation.^[10]