Palakkad’s name according to some scholars is the union of the word 'Pala' (barren land) with 'Kadu' (forest, jungle)
Another theory, the most predominant, says that it is derived from the 'Pala tree' (Alsteria Scholaris), an indigenous tree which once covered most of the land, and kadu (forest, jungle). In that case, it means “a forest of Pala trees” During the time of the British Raj, it was called “Palghat”, a name that was changed only a few years ago to the original one. Now the landscape is full of palmyra trees and green paddy fields.

Palakkad is known as the Gateway of Kerala, giving the rest of India access to the State through what is probably the biggest mountain pass in the world (30-40 Kms) separating the two folds of the Western Ghats on the border of Kerala with Tamil Nadu. From the same pass, many foreign invadors came, giving the district a varied cultural influence and heritage.

Panoramic views, traditional architecture, culinary delights, wildlife and so forth exist in perfect harmony with nature, making Palakkad a perfect tourist destination.

Further, the well-knit social life rooted in culture backed by a family-oriented life is in a way different from many others.

Some facts

The district of Palakkad has an area of 4480 sq. km and a population of 2,382,235
The temperature is mild, without excesses, and ranges from 21.15 to 38.68 degrees Celsius

The climate is tropical, with an average of 240 cm annual rainfall. The hot season is March to May, and the tourist season September to February.

Palakkad, the largest producer of rice, is known as the granary or rice-bowl of Kerala. Its fertile plains are also cultivated with groundnut, black gram, coconut, cotton, ragi, pepper, ?banana, cashew, sugarcane and pea.

The 32 to 40 km wide Palakkad pass in the 960 km long Western Ghats is of immense geographic importance. On either side of this natural gap are the vast Nilgiri Hills and the colossal Annamalai ranges. Dense reserve forests are found in the Palakkad and Chittur taluks of the district. The hilly district has 136,257 hectares of reserve forest.

Eight major rivers originate from the Palakkad hills, including Bharathapuzha river, the longest in the state. The district has some key irrigation projects and dams at Malampuzha, Walayar, Mangalam, Gayatri, Chittur, Meenkara, Pothundi and Kanhirapuzha. Malampuzha Dam irrigates over 20,000 hectares of farming land while Chittur Irrigation Project covers over 18,000 hectares and Kanhirapuzha project waters over 10,000 hectares.

PALAKKAD HISTORY

Palakkad has a long history dating back to the paleolithic period - substantiated by a number of megalithic relics. It also housed the capitals of two kingdoms: Palakkad and Kollengode, which were prominent cities until the 19th century.
The ancient history of Palakkad is obscure. For many centuries the Malabar region was ruled by Perumals. Malabar had been invaded by many of the ancient South Indian rulers. According to William Logan, the author of “Malabar Manual”, the Pallava Dynasty of Kochi might have invaded Malabar in the second or third century. One of their headquarters was Palakkad, which could be the present Palakkad. After this the Malabar was divided among their Utayavars. The Palakkad Region had come under the control of Kollengode Raja and Sekhari Varma Raja of Palakkad.
When the Kozhikode Samoothiri invaded Palakkad in 1757, the Palakkad Raja sought the help of Hyder Ali of Mysore. With his help the Samoothiri was forced to retreat. Later Hyder Ali subjugated all territories in Palakkad which were under the possession of Kozhikode Samoothiri. Thus the whole dominion of Palakkad passed into the control of Mysore Sultan Hyder Ali Khan and his son Sultan Fateh Ali Tippu, also known as the Tiger of Mysore (1750- 1799), who became the de facto ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore from the time of his father's death in 1782 until his own demise in 1799. Tippu Sultan was a learned man (reputedly a good poet) and an able soldier. The war between the East India Company and Tippu Sultan ended with the treaty of 1792 and all the possessions of Tippu in Malabar area were passed on to the East India Company, forming the Malabar District of the Madras Presidency.

ART AND CULTURE

The proximity and easy approach to Tamil Nadu have caused the mixture of Malayalam and Tamil culture in the Palakkad district.
The Palakkad district has a glorious cultural tradition, and is perhaps the foremost in fostering Carnatic music. Great musicians like Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar and Palakkad Mani Iyer, the inimitable master of mridangam (the carnatic two-headed drum), who have enriched Carnatic music by their contributions, hailed from here.
In the field of dance, one can remember the names of Mani Madhava Chakkiar for Koothu and Vazhenkada Kunju Nair for Kathakali.
It is said that Thunchathu Ramanujan Ezhuthachan, the father of Malayalam literature spent his last days in Chittoor Thunchathu Acharya madhom. The great teacher taught the people to respect and worship the language and the alphabet, refined the Malayalam language style and wrote his works for ordinary people. He modified and unified the Malayalam alphabets and wrote the Harinamakeerthanam to popularize them. Even after centuries people from various parts of the state come to take sand from Thunjan Parambu to initiate their children to the alphabet. Every year, hundreds of people bring their children to write their first alphabets during the Vijayadasami festival, to Thunjan Parambu. His contribution to the language and to culture is immense.
The great modern poet of Malayalam literature, Mahakavi Kumaranasan wrote his famous work Veena Poovu at Palakkad.
Kunchan Nambiar, the founder of Thullal dance and the most popular poet in the Malayalam language had his birth in a small village called Killikurissimangalam(Lakkidi).

PALAKKAD TOWN SIGHTSEEING

Tippu’s fort

This fort is in the heart of the tiny town of Palakkad, with a sprawling 100 acres of land around it.
It was built by Hyder Ali Ghan, the then ruler of Srirangapattinam (Mysore-Karnataka state) in 1766 C.E..

It was constructed with a view to check the expansion of the empire of Samorin, the then powerful ruler of Calicut (a principality on the north of Kerala) and to improve communication between Palakkad and Coimbatore...

But this fort is popularly known as Tippu’s fort. Tippu Sultan was the son of Hyder Ali Ghan.

Tippu ascended the throne of Sreerangapattinam after the death of Hyder Ali Ghan and his animosity turned towards the British. He was declared a belligerent ruler by the British and a series of wars were fought between the two. Tippu used this fort as a bastion against the British army in the wars. But he was driven from there in 1790, and was defeated and executed at Srirangapattinam.

Afterwards, the fort came under the control of the British, and remained so till 1947, the year in which India gained independence.

Palakkad fort - The old mango tree

 

Jain temple in Jainmedu

The Jain Temple is situated on the Western suburbs of Palakkad town and not far from the railway station. The area around the temple, known as Jainimedu, is one of the few places in Kerala where vestiges of Jainism have survived without substantial damage. According to legend, this temple was built 500 years ago by a sutar (head of the Jains) for the Jain sage Chandranathaswami. The Jain who came here from Mysore fled from this place during the invasion of Tippu Sultan.
The granite walls are devoid of decoration. This historic temple, 32 feet long and 20 feet wide, consists of four divisions with images of Jain Thirthankaras and Yakshinis in three of them. The Malayalam lyrical poet, philosopher and social reformer Kumaran Asan (known as one of the famous triumvirate poets of Kerala in the first half of the 20th century), wrote his monumental poem Veena Poovu ("The fallen flower") at a Jain house here during his brief stay with his master Sri Narayana Guru

Vadakkanthara Temple

Dedicated to Bhagvathy, an incarnation of Kannagi, this temple still holds a traditional display of fireworks, that are set off at 6 pm sharp in the temple compound. Locals have been known to set their clocks by this sound and it is customary to make a wish under the multi-coloured blasts.

The agraharams or gramams

Legend traces the setting up of these gramams to a romantic legend of a prince who fell in love with a tribal girl, and as a result was cast off from his community. He then settled up a kingdom with the Tamil Brahmins, which eventually came to be known as the gramams. The 30-35 families who still dwell here have preserved their archaic way of life. In fact, Vedas and shastras are orally passed down from one generation to other.

GOING TO AND AWAY

Palakkad is well connected by roads. Palakkad is on National Highway 47 from Salem to Kanyakumari via Coimbatore (50 km) and the Palakkad-Kozhikode National Highway 213pass through the district. Another important road is the Palakkad-Ponnani which connects NH 47 and NH 17.
The main bus stand has buses to and from Alleppy, Trivandrum, Kollam and Coimbatore.

Palakkad is a railway junction on India's Southern Railway. The cities of Pollachi, Dindigul and Madurai are connected by the meter-gauge line starting from here.
The nearest airport is at Coimbatore, 50 km from Palakkad. The nearest international airport is the Cochin (Kochi) International airport, 120km from Palakkad.