Palakkad

Palakkad   is rightfully known as the Gateway of Kerala, giving the rest of India access to the State. Its other name is Palghat was contributed by British Raj. Palakkad is a land of palm trees and paddy fields. It's known to be rich in flora and fauna.

Palakkad is prime among Kerala's most picturesque districts, thanks to its distinctive palmyra trees and extensive green paddy fields. Palakkad lies near the Palghat Gap, a pass or natural depression through the Western Ghats ranges that run parallel to the west coast of India, and connects Kerala to the plains of the state of Tamil Nadu to the east. The Silent Valley National Park that  abruptly rises to the Nilgiris is an everlasting marvel to the tourists.

The abundant forest wealth,dams,wild life sanctuaries,rivers,rare birds and animals,historical monuments,traditional ayurvedic treatment centres  have given Palakkad an exquisite and outstanding touch.

ETYMOLOGY AND HISTORY

ETYMOLOGY :

Palakkad was also known as Palakkattussery. 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 words, Pala, a tree that is found abundantly in Palakkad, and Kadu, which means forest.

HISTORY :

Not much is known about Palakkad's ancient history. It dates back to the Paleolithic period, and several megalithic relics have been found in the region. At the turn of the first millenium AD, for several hundred years the Perumals ruled the land. Later their governors called Utayavars took possession of this land and divided it among themselves. William Logan, the Scottish author of the celebrated Malabar Manual , suggests that one of the hubs of the Pallavas of Kanchi  invaded Malabar in the 2nd and 3rd centuries.

One of the earliest records about Palakkad has a chronicle of a war victory in A.D 988 when the king of Palakkad, Nedumpurayur Nadudayavar, stopped an invasion by the forces of the King of Kongunadu at Chittur. Even today, a festival is celebrated in memory of this victory at Chittur. The Nedumpurayur royal family was later known as Tarur Swaroopam and finally as Palakkad Raja Swaroopam.

In 1757, to check the invasion of the Zamorin of Calicut, the Raja of Palakkad sought the help of Hyder Ali of Mysore, who freed all parts of Palakkad invaded by the Zamorin. Eventually, Haider helped himself to Palakkad and later his son Tipu Sultan was the unquestioned ruler of this region. But after his defeat to the British, Tipu ceded all his Malabar territories to the British following the treaty with the English East India Company in 1872. Palakkad formed part of the Malabar District of the Madras Presidency thereafter.

ART AND CULTURE

Palakkad district has a rich  cultural tradition. Worthy contributions have been made by talented artists of this district for maintaining and enriching the classical dance forms of Kerala, such as Chakkiar Koothu, Thullal, Kathakali and Mohiniattom. It is said that Thunchathu Ramanujan Ezhuthachan, the father of Malayalam literature, spent his last days in Chittur. To commemorate this, there is the “Thunchathu Acharya Madam” at Chittur. Kunjan nambiar, the most popular poet of Malayalam and the founder of Thullal, purely a Kerala art form, had his birth in a small village called Killikurissimangalam (Lakkidi) in this district.

Mani Madhava Chakiar for ‘Koothu’ and Vazhenkada Kunju Nair for Kathakali are the two names to be remembered in this context. The “ Kalluvazhichitta”, the most popular school of ‘Kathakali’ had its origin in Palakkad district and its exponent was late Sri Vazhenkada Kunju Nair. The musical tradition of Palakkad district is unchallenged. The district has been blessed with the birth of the late Sri Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar, the exponent of Carnatic music and Sri Palakkad Mani Iyer, the inimitable maestro of mridangam. Sri C. Sankaran Nair also belongs to Mankara, a place in this district.

Some of the old temples in the district have in them beautiful paintings and sculptures of great artistic value. Among the eminent personalities of the district are the late K.P.S. Menon, diplomat and author who won the Lenin Prize and late K.P.Kesava Menon, the great freedom fighter, celebrated author and journalist. Swadeshabhimani Ramakrishna Pillai spent his life in exile at Vadakkanthara near Palakkad town.

TOURIST ATTRACTIONS

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.[citation needed] Later it fell into the hands of the Zamorin’s troops, but was recaptured by the British in 1790.[citation needed] This well-preserved fort is also known as Tipu's (Tipu Sultan, son of Hyder Ali) Fort. Today there is a functioning jail in the fort grounds.

Malampuzha Dam and Malampuzha dam garden :

This is a large irrigation dam built on the river Bharathapuzha at the base of the hills of the Western Ghats. The gardens, the amusement park for children, and the boating facilitices on the reservoir make Malampuzha a centre of interest for tourists, easily accessible from Palakkad.

Kalpathi

One of the 18 Agraharams of Palakkad District on the banks of the Kalpathy river, famous for its annual Ratholsavam. One of the oldest settlements of Tamil Brahmins in Kerala, it dates back to the 15th century.

Dhoni Waterfalls:

It is a gift of nature to the district with green forest, rocks, shallow water and beautiful water fall. Dhoni waterfall is in the western ghats 15 km from the Palakkad Town bus stand and 9 km from the Palakkad Junction railway station. There is a beautiful temple near the mountain valley and it is believed that this was built by the Goddess for Shiva Bhagawan.

PHYSIOGRAPHY AND GEOGRAPHICAL CONDITION

The major rivers are Bharathapuzha (Nila), Kollengode, Kannadi, Kalpathy, Chitturpuzha, Bhavani, Shiruvani, Thuthapuzha and Gayatri.

Palakkad, branded as the rice-bowl of Kerala, has fertile plains where substantial quantities of rice are produced by scientific cultivation methods.Palakkad has a tropical climate. From February to April, days are hot while nights.

Groundnut, black gram, coconut, cotton, ragi, pepper, banana, cashew, sugarcane and pea add in to the roll of other major crops. Sugar Cane is grown extensively in the Chittur taluk. Around 284 lakh hectares of the district (64 % of geographical area) is used for farming and some key agricultural institutions of Kerala including Regional Agricultural Research Station, Soil Testing Laboratory, Fertilizer Quality Control Laboratory, Mushroom Laboratory and Agricultural Engineering Workshop are located at Palakkad.

PHYSIOGRAPHY :

Located between north latitude 10° 46' and 10° 59' and East longitude 76° 28'and 76° 39', Palakkad district shares borders with Malappuram district in the North and Northwest, Trichur in the South and Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu in the East.

The highest peak is the 2386.14 m high Anjinad. The other major peaks include Karimala, Karimala Gopuram, Kalladikkode, Nellikkotta or Padagiri and Vellachimudi.