Kodungallur is a municipality in the Thrissur district,Kerala. Kodungallur is 38 km southwest of Thrissur and 29 km northwest of Kochi. Kodungallur was an integral part of Mahodayapuram, the capital city of the kingdom of Second Cheras.

In the post-Chera period, the area was a feudal principality ruled by a royal family, Kodungallur Kovilakam. Kodungallur consequently lost its commercial importance by natural calamities, a flood or an earth quake in 1341.