Kerala is known as the God’s Own country. It is one of the most beautiful, exotic and picturesque places in India. It is bestowed with the nature’s best like lush green fields, sandy beaches, mountains, backwaters, avenues of coconut trees and ancient towns. All these reasons have contributed to the ranking of Kerala as one of the 50 “Paradise Found” places in the world. Palakkad district is located centrally in Kerala. It is a land of palm trees and green fields. The name “palakkad” is derived from “pala” which means a tree called Alstonia scholaris which has sweet scented flowers and “kaadu” which means forest. Together, it means that the place was a forest of Pala trees.
Palakkad district came into existence on January 1, 1957. It has the biggest mountain pass in the world (30 kms) separating the two folds of the Western Ghats on the border between Kerala and Tamil Nadu. It is called the Granary of Kerala and also the gateway of Kerala. Palakkad is located at the foot of the Western Ghats. This is an ancient town that was once dominated by Brahmins. Since this district shares the border with Tamil Nadu, many people in this place speak Tamil in addition to Malayalam and English. This Palakkad district is rich with mountains, forests, valleys, rivers and mountain streams. The main rivers of this district are Bharathapuzha, Kannadi, Kalpathi, Bhavani, Siruvani, Thoothapuzha. As a result, this district is rich in flora and fauna. This is an ancient town and is also famous for temples like Kalpathy Siva temple, vadakkunthara Shiva temple and Ayappa temple. There is also a Jain temple at Jainmedu about 3 km from Palakkad. This is only Jain temple in Kerala. The Silent Valley national park is also a favorite tourist destination.
