Tourist places in Palakkad Kerala

Know about the tourist places in palakkad district kerala. Palakkad is rightfully known as the Gateway of Kerala Via Tamilnad. Rest of India is connected to the State via Palakkad. Palakkad is a land of plains, hills, mountains, rivers with large number of palm trees and vast paddy fields. It is known as the rice ‘Bowl of Kerala’ with varieties of flora and fauna. The town being in the border to Tamilnad, its culture is a mixture of Tamilnad and Kerala.

Tourist places in Palakkad

Palakkad is near the Gap in Western Ghats Making it a natural Gateway of Kerala. Kerala is in between the Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea. The Palakkad (Palghat) pass, a natural gap or depression in the Ghats which connects Kerala with the rest of India through the plains of Tamilnad near Coimbatore by Road and Rail. It being on the border of Tamilnad, there was a large scale migration of people from Tamilnad to kerala through this place and there are large settlements, Agraharams numbering about 18, of Tamilians mostly the Brahmins. The language of this area is a mix of Malayalam and Tamil which is known as Palakkad Tamil.

Palakkad District is a place of scenic splendors; abundant natural resources and a place of vide variety of natural delights. It is hilly and mountainous with large areas of plain land. It is having paddy fields, Sugar cane, Many types of trees & plants, Rivers, Temples, Cultural activities, waterfalls, famous personalities in various fields, Forest wealth, wild life sanctuaries (National Parks), rare animals and birds, dams etc. Palakkad is also known as Palghat and Palakkattusseri. It is said that the name Palakkad came from the words Pala (Estonia Scholaris - a tree which was abundant in Palakkad) and Kaadu making it Palakkad. (Forest of Pala trees). Another theory is that it came from the words Palai (dry) and nilam (land) – Palainilam (Palaikadu later turned into Palakkad). The British called it as Palghat (Ghat means mountainous region). It is a glittering jewel in the emerald necklace of the Western Ghats. A glimpse of the same is given below:

Palakkad - Places To See in and around

Palakkad Fort: Also known as the Tipu Sulthan Kotta (fort) is a Historical remainder of the Hyder – Tippu Rule of Mysore, invasion by Hyder and the rising of the British in Kerala. It is in a sprawling 15 acres of land built in 1766 at western end of the town. This fort was with the Sultans and the British for some time. In 1790 the British took over the fort and prepared their arrangements to the final showdown and annihilation of Tipu at Srirangapatanam. The British Government renovated the Fort in the European style with thick stone walls. There is a jail inside the compound. It is now a protected monument under the Archeological Survey of India.

Malampuzha Dam and Gardens

It is an irrigation dam on the River Bharatha Puzha (Nila) with a garden and fantasy park. The garden and the dam are known as the Brindavan of Kerala. The dam, the tranquil water reservoir, the backdrop of the majestic mountain, velvety green lawn, the beautiful flowers etc will give a memorable experience after the visit. Boat ride facilities are available. The place is having an aquarium, snake park, toy train, Japanese garden, ropeway, telescopic tower, thread garden, amusement park and rock garden located inside the main garden.

Nelliyampathy hill station

This is a hill station with a salubrious climate. From here we can have a beautiful view of the plains, cliffs, valleys, rivers, and lush green forests around and is a place for quiet vacation away from the bustle of the mechanical life. One can get a feeling bliss visiting here. It is renowned for its estates of tea, cardamom and orange etc. Nelliyampathy is about 50 km from Palakkad town. This place is having a beautiful silvery water fall in a spot known as Seetha kund amidst the tangerine orchards (reddish orange). This is an ideal place for those who are interested in trekking in the hills ranging from 450 to 1570 meters high.

Silent Valley National Park

This is a tropical evergreen forest, perhaps the only one in the Western Ghats, sprawling to about 90 sq km area. Thanks to the remoteness of the forest it is still pristine and untamed with vide varieties of plants and birds. Researchers are finding out new and new species every year. This forest is interspersed with mountains, valleys, rivulets and will expose us to the pristine natural beauty. This forest is home to some of the endangered species animals and birds like the lion tailed monkeys (macaque), Nilgiri langur, Tigers, Leopards, Bison, Elephants, bears, Malabar squirrels and so many varieties of deer etc

Attappady Tribal area

Attappady is a truly tribal area with 3 clusters of Aadivaasi (tribal) settlements by name Agaly, Puthur and Sholayur. These villages (clusters) of Aadivaasi settlements are untouched by the urban development. The people of this area still live as their ancestors lived by hunting, collecting honey, fruits, roots, herbs etc. These settlements are criss crossed by the mountain brooks. These settlements are inside the Silent Valley National Park about 50 km from Palakkad.

Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary

Parambikulam sanctuary is a tropical forest of about 290 sq km area with many species of wild animals, reptiles and birds. This forest is having the endangered species of costly trees – the Sandalwood, teak and Rose wood. There is a 360 year old teak tree named 'Kannimari' which is the oldest and largest teak wood tree in the world. This park is in between the Nilgiri mountain range and the Nelliyampathy Hill Station. This park is having only 2 -3 sparsely populated hamlets scattered across the park.The Western Ghats is one of the World's 34 Acclaimed Bio Diversity Hotspots. This wild life sanctuary is about 120kms from Palakkad town.

Dhoni Reserve Forests

This is a reserved forest. There is a beautiful dazzling water falls on top of the Dhoni Malai (hill). The whole area is lush green. Dhoni is famous for the rare breed of the exotic cattle. Dhoni reserve forest at the top can be reached in 3 hours by trekking. There is a beautiful Shiva temple at the foot and it is believed to have been built by the goddess. It is 15 kms from Palakkad.

Pothundy Dam

It is one of the old dams in Kerala built in 1800 AD with a special jaggery and quicklime mortar. It is a very small dam with picturesque surroundings. It is an ideal place to enjoy the nature's beauty and complete relaxation. It is at the foot of the Nelliyampathy. It is about 49 km from Palakkad and can also be used as a stopover place to Nelliyampathy.

Chittur Guru madam

In the portion known as the Thekke gramam in Chittur, on the banks of the Sokanasini (meaning destroyer of sorrows) river there is a memorial called the "Thunchathu Acharya Madam". This memorial is in memory of the stay of the Thunchathu Ramanujan Ezhuthachan in his last days of life in this place. Ezhuthachan is the author of the Adyatma Ramayanam in Malayalam. He is the father of Malayalam language. The memorial house is having his wooden slippers, some of the old palm leaf manuscripts, a stylus (an iron piece known as ezhuthani, with one end sharp used for writing on palm leaf before paper pencil etc were in use) and a couple of idols worshipped by the Thunchathu Ezhuthachan.

Thenaruvi Spring

This is a pilgrim spot. The spot is having a natural spring near the famous Sri Rama Temple in Palakkad. The people believe that this spring water is as sacred as the water of the River Ganges. Pilgrims flock here to drink water from this spring.

JP Smirthivanam & Deer Park

This park is a reserved forest range in the Walayar Reserve Forest Range on the border of Kerala and Tamilnadu. These 100 acres of pristine forest is the habitat for deer and other wild animals. Elephant ride is the popular way to cover the park and to have a glimpse of the exiting wildlife of the park. This park is about 22 km from Palakkad. town.

Choolanur Peacock Sanctuary

This is a sanctuary as the name indicates meant mainly for peacock, the National Bird of India. This sanctuary is spread around 500 hectares of reserve forest, the only one in Kerala of its kind. This hilly area is dotted with wild streams and shrubs and is the habitat of about 200 peacocks and wide Variety of exotic butterflies and bird species. The Choolanur sanctuary is about 30 km from Palakkad.

Jain temple

This is one of the few Jain temples in Kerala. The temple is built with granite blocks and has idols of various theerthankaras (Jain gurus) and Yakshinis of the Jainism. Though many details are not available about the temple and the Jain activities, it is believed that the temple is about 500 years old and the jains fled the place during the invasions of Tipu Sulthan.

Kollengode

It is an ancient village 19 km from Palakkad. Kollengode is famous for its Vishnu temple and the grand Kollengode Palace built on Kerala architectural style. This palace is now converted as a luxury hotel with the facility of Ayurvedic spa. Shashi Tharoor is from this place.

History of Palakkad

It is said that several megalithic relics are found in this region and accordingly the town dates back in origin to the Paleolithic age. However nothing much is known about Palakkad. There are evidences of the land being under the rulers of the Cheraman Dynasty for several centuries from the beginning of the 1st Millennium. When the Chera kings became weak their governors in various places became independent. One such governor called as the Utayavars established their rule in this place. It is also in record that the Pallavas of the Kanchi Kingdom invade this place in the 2nd and 3rd centuries. Another recording points out the fact that Palakkad was under the king Nedumpurayur Naadudayavar. They are now known as the Tarur Swaroopam or Palakkad Raja Swaroopam. In 1757 the Zamorin rulers of Calicut was about to invade Palakkad the Palakkad Raja sought the help of the Hyder Ali. However Hyder Ali appropriated this to his kingdoms and later Tipu became the ruler till the British defeated Tipu. After that this place came in the Malabar District under the Madras Presidency.

Palakkad – Culture – Arts – Contributions - Luminaries

This district has made a rich contribution in the field of Classical dance of Kerala, like the Mohiniyattam, Ottan thullal, Kathakali and Chakyar Koothu etc. It is said that the last years of his life, Thunchathu Ramanujan Ezhuthachan considered as the father of Malayalam Literature, spent in Chittur. There is a memorial for him in Chittur by the name "Thunchathu Acharya Madam". Another giant in the literary field, the Kunchan Nambiar, the most popular poet and founder of the art 'Thullal' was born in a village by name Killikurissimangalam (Lakkidi). Another 2 names in the art's field are the Mani Madhava Chakyar for Chakyar Koothu and Vezhenkada Kunju Nair for Kathakali. In the field of Music Palakkad has a tradition and it is the birth place of the Carnatic music maestro, Late Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar. Another great name in the field is the unparallel maestro of mridangam (a percussion instrument of Carnatic Music) late Palakkad Mani Iyer. Another great personality is late Chettoor Sankaran Nair, from Mankara who had the distinction of being the only keraleeyan to become the President of the Indian National Congress in 1897. He was the Advocate general of the Government and was also a Judge of the Madras High Court. Another great is K P S Menon Diplomat, author and winner of Lenin Prize. Great freedom fighter, author and journalist K P Kesava Menon is one more. Swadesabhimani Ramakrishna Pillai spent his exile life in Vadakkanthara Village of Palakkad.

Festivals

The main festivals of Palakkad are temple festivals. A brief details of them are given below:
1. Kalpathy Car festival This is a famous annual festival of the famous Viswanatha Swamy temple. This temple is built in 1425 by the then Raja of Palakkad, Kombi Achan. The legend is that a Brahmin widow lady, Lakshmi Ammal went to Kasi (Banaras) and brought a lingam (the usual symbolic representation of Shiva in Siva temples) and installed it in the present site on the southern banks of the river Neely Bhagirathi. The location, layout of the temple and the steps leading to the river etc will remind the visitor to the Kasi temple and hence this temple is called the 'Kasi Pakuthi Kalpathy' (half Banaras temple).

2. Chittur Kongan Pada The legend is that the ruler of Pollachi one Singamanan waged war on Chittur on some false pretext. The Chittur people not being familiar with wars were about to be defeated. But with the help of the Bhagavathy (goddess) of the place won the war. As a gratitude to the goddess the local people celebrate the victory day every year as a dedication to the temple.

3. Manapullikkavu Vela The temple is believed to be about 1200 years old. The rituals and rites are carried out by the Namboodiri Brahmins which is rare in goddess temples in Kerala. Both the Shiva and Vaishnava traditions are followed.

4. Nenmara Vallengi Vela This is a famous festival like the Thrissur Pooram attracting people from near and far. The fireworks of this festival are very famous. The festival is on the Pooram star day of Meena Masam. 5 of the nearby villages take part in the festival.

5. Jain Temple Festival It is a temple near Palakkad town about 500 years old.
6. Ottapalam Nercha Festival This festival is celebrated to commemorate the death of a saint Uthaman Auliya. Free food is distributed on the day to the poor.
7. Kunnathu Medu Sri Krishna Temple Ashtami Rohini It is connected with the Sri Krishna temple in the heart of Palakkad town. This is the only Sri Krishna Temple in the town.
8. Chenakkathur Pooram This is a rural festival at Ottapalam. The pooram is in the temple about 4 km from Ottapalam. The pooram is of the temple Chenakkathur Kavu dedicated to Durga. The attraction is the procession with caparisoned elephants with the traditional rhythmic vadyas (orchestras).
The major rivers are Bharathapuzha (Nila), Kollengode, Kannadi, Kalpathy, Chitturpuzha, Bhavani, Shiruvani, Thuthapuzha and Gayatri.

Palakkad is the rice bowl of Kerala with tropical climate and the days are very warm. Other major crops of the district are: Groundnut, black gram, coconut, cotton, ragi, pepper, banana, cashew, sugarcane and pea add in to the roll of other major crops. There are some research institutions and laboratories of Kerala connected with agriculture.

How to reach

Nearest International airport is Coimbatore which about 52 km. The town is connected by rail from all parts of India. It is also connected by bus routes from all cities and towns of Kerala.

Local Conveyance Cabs are the best mode for going to the distant locations. Inside the town you may use bus or autos.

Caution

Be prepared for the leeches when visiting the parks and forest. Prior Intimation is to be given for trekking expeditions.

Tourist places in Palakkad Kerala