Palakkad Palghat
—  town  —
Palakkad Location of Palakkad in Kerala and India
Coordinates	10°46′N 76°39′E / 10.77°N 76.65°E / 10.77; 76.65Coordinates: 10°46′N 76°39′E / 10.77°N 76.65°E / 10.77; 76.65
Country	India
State	Kerala
District(s)	Palakkad
Chairman	Mr.Abdul Khudoos(Congress)
Language(s)	Malayalam, English, Tamil[citation needed]
Time zone	IST (UTC+05:30)
Area • Elevation	• 84 metres (276 ft)
Codes • Pincode • 678XXX • Telephone • +91 491 • Vehicle • KL-9(District), Municipality codes

Palakkad  pronunciation (help·info), previously known as Palghat, is a large town and municipality in the state of Kerala in southern India, spread over an area of 26.60 km² and is the administrative headquarters of the Palakkad District. Palakkad is the seventh most populous city in Kerala and lies near the Palghat Gap, a pass or natural depression through the Western Ghats ranges, and connects Kerala to the plains of the state of Tamil Nadu to the east. The city is situated about 350 kilometres (217 mi) north of state capital Thiruvananthapuram and 49 kilometres (30 mi) south west of Coimbatore.

Kerala would have an IIT in Palakkad under the 12th five-year plan. The land belonging to the Instrumentation Limited in Palakkad was finally chosen for the project.Since the IITs are set up by an act of Parliament, the whole process is the centre's prerogative, and the state government has only a limited role.^[1]

Geography[link]

Nelliampathi mountains as seen from Nemmara village

To the east lies Coimbatore of Tamil Nadu. Palakkad is the gateway to Kerala due to the presence of the Palakkad Gap, in the Western Ghats.

The climate is hot and humid for most part of the year. Palakkad is one of the hottest places in Kerala. There is sufficient rainfall. The town is blessed with many small and medium rivers, which are tributaries of the Bharathapuzha River. Of the number of dams in Palakkad district, the largest Malampuzha dam is 12 km from Palakkad town.^[2]

Etymology[link]

In earlier times Palakkad was also known as Palakkattuchery. Some etymologists trace the word "Palakkad" from the word Palai nilam, which means "dry lands". The commonly held belief, however, is that the name is a fusion of two Malayalam words, Pala, a tree (Alstonia scholaris) that is found abundantly in Palakkad, and Kadu, which means forest.

Transport[link]

Air[link]

The nearest international airport is Coimbatore Airport, which is about 62 km from Palakkad. Coimbatore airport has connecting flights to Singapore, Sharjah, Colombo. Other nearby airports are Kozhikode Airport about 103 km & Kochi Airport which is about 111 km from Palakkad.

There has been a proposal for a mini domestic airport near the city at East Yakkara with respect to setting up domestic airports for enhanced air connectivity by the civil aviation ministry of India. 60 acres has been identified for the project at East Yakkara.^[3]

Railways[link]

There are two railway stations serving Palakkad - Palakkad Junction is a broad gauge railway junction (located at Olavakkode) and Palakkad Town railway station located in the heart of the Palakkad town. Palakkad Junction also houses the office of The Divisional Railway Manager (Palakkad Division). The cities of Coimbatore, Erode, Salem, Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode and Ernakulam are connected by the broad gauge line. Pollachi, Dindigul and Madurai were connected by a metre gauge line starting from the Palakkad Junction railway station through Palakkad Town station. Under a policy "Project Unigauge", metre gauge tracks have been dismantled for conversion to broad gauge tracks.^[4] So trains on Palakkad - Pollachi - Dindigul route have been indefinitely suspended till the broad gauge is completed.

Road[link]

Palakkad is well connected by roads. The National Highway 544 (NH 544) from Salem to Kochi and the Palakkad – Kozhikode National Highway 213 pass through the district. Another important road is the Palakkad – Ponnani which connects NH 47 and NH 17.

Apart from the National Highways, Palakkad is well connected through State Highways to nearby districts and towns in Kerala.

Demographics[link]

In the 2011 census,^[5] Palakkad had a population of 2,810,892. Males constituted 49% of the population. The average literacy rate of the area is 81%, much higher than the national average of 59.5%. Malayalam is the most spoken language. Tamil is spoken and understood by a significant proportion of the population due to and presence of Tamil speaking communities like Iyers and proximity to Tamilnadu.Apart from Tamil and Malayalam, languages like Hindi and English are also spoken by many people.

Places of interest[link]

View from outside the northern wall of Palakkad Fort.

• Palakkad Fort – Fort dating from 1766, built by Hyder Ali of Mysore. In 1784, after a siege which lasted eleven days, the British Colonel Fullerton stormed the Fort.^[6] Later it fell into the hands of the Zamorin’s troops, but was recaptured by the British in 1790.^[7] This well-preserved fort is also known as Tipu's (Tipu Sultan, son of Hyder Ali) Fort. Today there is a functioning jail and Hanuman Temple in the fort grounds.

• Jain Temple of Jainimedu – Situated on the western border of Palakkad town and not far from the railway station, this is an historic Jain Temple. The area around the temple is known as Jainimedu. This is one of the few places in Kerala where vestiges of Jainism in Kerala have survived without substantial damage.^[8] The granite walls are devoid of decoration. The temple, 32 feet (9.8 m) long and 20 feet (6.1 m) wide, consists of four divisions with images of Jain Thirthankaras and Yakshinis in three of them. Kumaran Asan wrote his monumental poem Veena Poovu (the fallen flower) at a Jain house here during his brief stay with his master Sri. Narayana Guru.^{[citation needed]}

• Kalpathi One of the 21 Agraharams of Palakkad District on the banks of the Kalpathy river, famous for its annual Ratholsavam (Temple car Festival) and annual music festival. One of the oldest settlements of Tamil Brahmins in Kerala, it dates back to the 15th century.^[9]

• Malampuzha Dam and Gardens - Situated about 10 km from Palakkad Town, Malapuzha Dam was completed in 1955 and is the largest reservoir in Kerala. The spot is also known for its scenic beauty and sprawling gardens. It is one of the major attractions in this part of Kerala.

• Dhoni : Dhoni is situated around 15 Kilometers from Palakkad town in Kerala, India. Its famous for Dhoni Waterfalls and the Western Ghat forests. Dhoni is bordered by Western Ghats on north. Its also a popular trekking spot for tourists. The dhoni farm of KLD Board an Indo-Swiss project is situated there and is set amidst a beautiful location and is relatively unknown for its tourist potential.

Local Festivals[link]

• Vadakkanthara Vela : It is held at Vadakkanthara Thirupurakkal bhagavathi temple once in 3 years. This is the most famous local festival of Palakkad town which is celebrated by people of all castes and denominations.

• Manappullikavu Vela: It is held in the Cheruppil Kavu situated 2km from Palakkad railway station. The Goddess is "Cheruppil amma". It is a 41 day festival. Various famous art forms are performed on these days. One of the famous rituals is "PANA" which happens once in every 5 years.

• Kalpathy Ratholsavam: It is held during the second week of November every year. This is basically a festival of Tamil brahmins of Kalpathy and cannot be termed as a popular festival of all walks of people.
• Ayyermala Ratholsavam: It is held in Ayyermala,Thenur 17 km from palakkad town in ottapalam road.Festival conducted once in a year in the month of November and December on karthika villake.
• cheramkulangara vela:This one of famous bhagavathi temble in palakkad,all year "VISHU"day celibrete here cheramkulangara vela,temble located in Paruthipulli,kuzhalmadam thiruvilyamala road.
• Kalikavu vela:It is held during early April every year.The festive proceedings from more than 10 different places like mankurrushi,chemmukil,vellarode,kannampirayiram,mannakara......meet together to make it a gand festival which cannot be overseen.

Religious Places[link]

• Vadakkanthara Thirupurakkal Bhagavathy temple is a popular Bhagavathy temple in Palakkad town situated at Vadakkanthara.^[10]
• Manappullikavu temple : Hindu religious place situated near the N.H.47 on the eastern side of the town.^[11][12]
• C.S.I Church of Hope : The only remaining presbytirian church in Palakkad town which was built by the Basel mission missionaries on 1910 situated in Mepparamba (also known as Melparamba) on the western side of the town. The congregation started in 1866.^{[13][14][15][better source needed]}
• C.S.I Holy Trinity Church : The Anglican church situated in the Fort Maidan area of Palakkad town. The only church in Palakkad where the English worship is held.^{[dubious – discuss]} The congregation started in the 18th century.^{[16][better source needed]}
• C.S.I Robinson church Palakkad : The Basel Mission church which was renovated recently and is named after Mr.Robinson,^{[dubious – discuss]} who was the collector of Palakkad during the British days. The congregation dates backs to 18th century.^{[17][better source needed]}
• The Hanuman temple situated inside the Palakkad fort is another major holyplace.It is not held aback being in the heart of the city and is frequently visited by many devotees and tourists.

Educational Institutions in Palakkad[link]

• NSS College of Engineering, Palakkad
• Government Victoria College, Palakkad
• Mercy College, Palakkad
• Govt Polytechnic, Palakkad, Palakkad
• Co-Operative Arts & Science College, Olavakkode
• Palghat Lions School Koppam,Palakkad.
• BEM HSS, PALAKKAD - Basel Evangelical Mission Higher Secondary School

See also[link]

• Palakkad District
• Palghat (Lok Sabha constituency)
• Olavakkode
• Ottapalam

References[link]

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ayyermala-Temple/272860619428890

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Palakkad

• http://www.palakkad.gov.in - Official Website of Palakkad District Administration