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Palakkad

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For the district with the same name, see Palakkad district.

Template:Infobox Indian jurisdiction Palakkad or Palghat (Template:Lang-ml) is a municipality and a city in the state of Kerala in southern India.The city is situated about 350 kilometres (217 mi) north of state capital Thiruvananthapuram. It is the administrative headquarters of Palakkad District. 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.

Etymology

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/Tamil words, Pala, a tree (Alstonia scholaris) that is found abundantly in Palakkad, and Kadu, which means forest.

Transport

The nearest international airport is Coimbatore Airport, which is about 45 km from Palakkad. Coimbatore airport has connecting flights to Singapore, Sharjah, Colombo, apart from major Indian cities. Now in the recent days there has been a proposal for a mini domestic airport near the city at Yakkara with respect to setting up domestic airports for enhanced air connectivity by the civil aviation ministry of India There is a Kerala State Road Transport Corporation Government bus stand. There are also three private bus stands, the Main bus stand, the Town bus stand and the Stadium bus stand. There are frequent buses to Coimbatore, Kozhikode and Thrissur from the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation bus stand.

Palakkad is well connected by roads. The National Highway 47 (NH 47) from Salem to Kanyakumari 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.

There are two railway stations in Palakkad. Palakkad Junction is a broad gauge railway junction (located at Olavakkode), on India's Southern Railway network. It 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 are connected by the metre gauge line starting from the Palakkad Town railway station. Under a policy "project unigauge", metre gauge tracks are being converted to broad gauge tracks all over India. This Metre Gauge track is now being dismantled for conversion to broad gauge tracks.So no trains are available to go to Pollachi, Palani, Madurai and Rameswaram through this route. The nearest city is Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu which is well connected to Palakkad with broad gauge trains and buses.

Demographics

In the 2001 census[1], Palakkad had a population of 130,736. Males constituted 49% of the population. The average literacy rate of the area is 81%, much higher than the national average of 59.5%.

The people of Palakkad speak Malayalam, though Tamil is spoken and understood by a significant proportion of the population due to and presence of Tamil speaking communities and proximity to Tamilnadu. A significant amount of Tamil speaking population come from the sixty agraharams – villages. Palakkad town – has 20 of them – namely: New Kalpathy, Old Kalpathy, Chatapuram, Govindarajapuram, Vaidyanathapuram, Sekharipuram, Venkateshapuram, Kumarapuram, Lakshminarayanapuram, Chokkanathapuram, Nelliserry, Vadakanthara, Pallipuram, Adityapuram, Noorani, Thondikulam, Avinji Padam, Tharekkadu, Kodunthirapully, Thirunellai and Ramanathapuram.

Communities peculiar to the Palakkad district are Tamil speaking Kongu vellala gounders, Iyers, Nedungadi, Vellodi, Pisharody, Guptan, Moothan, Mannadiar Ezhavar, and Tharakan. Irular, vellalar, Mudugar, and Kurumbar are the adivasi communities of the Attappadi tribal areas.

Places of interest

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.[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.
Paddy fields in Palakkad
  • 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 have survived without substantial damage.[citation needed] 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]
File:Nemmara-rice-straw.JPG
Heap of rice straw, usually seen in front of houses in Palakkad district.
File:Nemmara-fence.JPG
A typical fence made of bamboo usually seen in villages of the Palakkad district.
  • 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.
  • Karnaki Temple. Palakkad has a Karnaki Temple where goddess Kannaki is worshipped in her idol form. [citation needed] In the Karnaki temple, Kerala form of pooja practices are done by Kerala Brahmins (Namboothiris) and in the Siva Temple in the same compound, Tamil Shaiva form of pooja practices are carried out by Tamil Brahmin Priests.
  • Sree Chemittiya Bagavathy Kshetram: Around 6 km from Pala town on Chittur road is the temple of the goddess. Every year during March – April the annual fair happens here. There are many people who come here for rituals during that season. The temple committee is setting up a marriage hall which on completion can help many of the surrounding village to use this.
  • Kanhira Puzha dam, This is a very beautiful dam and beautiful garden.Kanhira puzha dam situted in mannarkkad taluk in Plakkad district.This ia a very large dam in mannarkkad.

Kottamalai:15 km away from town stand.a beautiful place.

Proposed Palakkad Municipal Corporation

There is a demand to upgrade Palakkad Municipality to a Municipal Corporation. [citation needed]

The proposed Palakkad Municipal Corporation comprises:

Total Area: 220.35 km2

Total Population (1991 Census): 317,658

Local Festivals

  • Mudappallur Azhikkulangara bhagavathy Vela-May 22 (Edavam 8th of Every Year)
  • Thazekottukavu Vela - Melarcode [1]
  • Vilayanchathanur kummatty .The festival is held in April month ....
  • Tharakkad Simhanadha Bhagavathy Mandalam Villakku Festival (December)
  • Tharakkad Sivan Kovil Siva Rathry
  • Tharakkad Neeratu Ganapathy Sankata Hara Chathurthy (Monthly )
  • Mannarkkad Pooram – Udayarkunnu Bhagavathy Temple- Mannarkkad
  • Valliya Aarattu -Karnaki Amman Temple, Moothanthara celebrated in the month of Medam Punertham Constellation (Star)
  • Kodunthirapully Navarathiri – A Vibrant colorful festival with more than 20 Elephants and ChendaMelam (Falls on September mid to October month) every year
  • Cheramkulangara Vishu Vela (April 14)
  • Akathethara-Thekkethara Vela – (March 30 ) (Meenamasathille, Karthika)
  • Akathethara-Vadakkethara Vela – April 24
  • Padur Vela – February 24
  • Nemmara Vela - April 3
  • Pudussery Vedi – February 28
  • Kalpathy Ratholsavam. Famous for Kalpathy Rathotsavam held during the second week of November every year.
  • Nellissery Ratholsavam.One of the 18 Agraharams of Palakkad District.Nellissery village had been the only landmark in Indian history where Kanchi Paramacharya Sri Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswathi Swamigal & Mahatma Gandhi met each other in the year 1927.
  • Sree Maha Ganapathy Sahayam – Naga Sahayam Vela- April 17
  • Manappullikavu Vela
  • Vayilliamkunnu Pooram
  • Kavasseri Pooram (celebrated on "Pooram" star day in "Meenam" Malayalam month
  • Mangottu Kavu Temple Vela – Second Sunday after Vishu (every year)
  • Vadakkanthara Vela (only once every 3 years)
  • Ashtami Rohini (Sreekrishna Jayanthi) (Kunnathurmedu Sreekrishna Temple )
  • Kizhkencherry Ratholsavam – December 25
  • kurmalikavu pooram is a famous festival in palakkad District.(this away from mannarkkad in 16 km)
  • Thiruvara Niramaala – December 28
  • Karumanassery Ratholsavam – December 29
  • Puthur Kavu Vela – April 7
  • Pariyanampatta Pooram – Kumbham -7
  • Peruvemba Vela [2]
  • Kannambra Vela – May 24
  • Nurani Sasthapreethi (Every year end of Dec – beginning of Jan) www.nuranivillage.org
  • Puthucode Navaratri Festival for 9 days September – October.
  • Kallepully Kummati Kummati Festival during February – March every year
  • Kongad Pooram Festival at the Kongad Shri Thirumandankunnu Bhagavati Temple during March- April every year
  • Mangod Pooram festival at Mangottukavu Bhagavathy temple; it is situated near the heritage village, Vellinezhi
  • PariyanamPatta Pooram: Pooram at the Pariyanampatta temple, MangalamKunnu, Palakkad. It's the famous festival of Valluvanadu. The pooram day is (Malayalam) Kumbam 7.
  • Manappullikavu Vela Cheruppil Kavu: It is situated 2 km from Palakkad railway station. The Goddess is "Cheruppil amma". One of the famous festivals is "PANA" which happens once in every 5 years. It is a 41 day festival. Various famous art forms are performed on these days.
  • Thiruvaraikkal Temple Pooram Festival
  • Thiruvaraikkal Temple Pooram, Thiruvazhiyode: Thiruvaraikkal Temple pooram festival is celebrated on April 20 (Medam 7). The temple is situated 37 kilometres from Palakkad town (Palakkad – Cherpulassery route).
  • Mathur Kooth Festival (Kalikavil Bhagawathy Temple, Mathur Padinjharethara, Mathur, Palakkad ) Celebrates Kooth Festival in April – May , in every year.
  • Pariyanempatta Bhagavathi Temple, Kattukulam, Mangalamkunnu, Palakkad
  • Pappady Sreekrishna Temple- Ashtami Rohini and Kumbabhishekam in every year.
  • Athaniparambu Chandhana Bhagavati Vela
  • Harvest festival: The festival of harvest celebrated around October every year at the C.S.I Churches of Palakkad. [3]
  • Mulayankavu Bhagavathi Temple – kalavela, pooram

Educational Institutions in Palakkad

See also

Satellite image of the city

References

  1. ^ Template:GR

Vadakkanthara

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