Places of Interest
- 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.
- 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]
- Parambikulam The Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary, covering 285 km², is 135 km from Palakkad and adjacent to the Annamalai Wildlife Sanctuary in Tamil Nadu. Besides being a home for elephants, wild boar, sambar, bison, guar, crocodiles, and a few tigers and panthers, it has a rich diversity of flora and fauna. Trekking in the forest is allowed with prior permission. Boating facilities are available on the lake. The large Cannimare Teak Tree is here near Thunakadavu.
- Silent Valley National Park A dense rain forest and the habitat of rare species 80 km from Palakkad. It is popularly known as the evergreen forest and noted for its eerie silence because of the lack of cicadas.[citation needed] It is an important biosphere reserve in the Western Ghats and home of the tribal people. The valley is known for the rare Lion-Tailed Macaque. This National Park is a protected area for tigers also.[citation needed]
- Nelliampathi Known as the Ooty of Kerala,[citation needed] Nelliampathy, about 80 km from Palakkad, is a hill station in the Nelliampathy forest ranges. This forest range constitutes a series of ridges cut off from one another by valleys of dark evergreen forests.
- Pothundy Dam Around 35 km from Palakkad town, Pothundy Dam is situated on the way to Nelliampathi hills. The hill area to Nelliyampathy hills starts from Pothundy Dam. People visiting Nelliampathi, stop here to enjoy the beauty of the dam as well as to relax during their long journey up the Nelliampathi hills.
- Walayar Dam is around 25 km from Palakkad town, It is located on the border of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. It is a beautiful place. It is an easily accessible location to the visitors to and from Tamilnadu also. There is a Deer park located 3 km from Walayar.
- Anamudi The highest peak in the district. The area has coffee and tea plantations.
- Attappady Attappady is an extensive mountain valley above the crest of the Ghat ranges, with several rivulets of the river Bhavani. The area is dominated by tribal people.[citation needed]
- Punarjani Guha The Punarjani Guha is a natural tunnel 15 meters long in the rocky cliff. It is 2 km from the Thiruvilwamala Temple and the chief presiding deity is Sri Rama. The idol is believed to be ‘swayambhoo’, i.e. born on its own. It is believed that performing ‘noozhal’ -- crawling through the tunnel from one end to the other—will wash away all of one’s sins and thus bring about rebirth. Only men are allowed to do the ‘noozhal’: women may only visit the cave. This ritual is practised on only one day per year, on Guruvayur Ekadashi. This particular site actually comes under the district of Trichur.
- Kanjirapuzha Dam: This dam feeds almost half the agricultural land of the district. It supplies water to such places as Mannarkkad, Ottappalam and Shoranur, and is the biggest dam built with soil in Kerala. There is a garden in front of the dam.
- Srikrishnapuram: A small and welcoming village; the name comes from Palakkadussery Sekhari Varma Raj. It is one of the many villages of Palakkad. Punchappadam and Karimpuzha are also included in this village area
- Dhoni Waterfalls: It is a gift of nature to the district with green forest, rocks, shallow water and beautigul water fall. Dhoni waterfall is in the western ghats 15 km from the Palakkad Town bustand 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.
- IRTC [1]: Integrated Rural Technology Centre (IRTC) is an R&D and Training Institution situated at Mundur, Palakkad. It develops or adapts technology having rural applications. Training and follow up facilities are extended in various livelihood programmes.
- Koduvayur: Koduvayur is one of the major markets in Palakkad district. The vegetable and cloth markets here attract customers as well as dealers from different parts of the state as well. The famous car festival is celebrated here. Major market possessions are managed by Moothans, the Vaisya sect of Palakkad and Muslims.
- Cherpulassery Ayyappankavu is the famous Dharmasastha Temple, where thousands of devotees visit, especially during Mandala season. Many who go to Sabarimala start from here. The ten days long Utsavam in the month of Kumbham attracts thousands of devotees.
- Karnaki Temple. Palakkad has a Karnaki Temple where goddess Kannaki is worshiped in her full 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.
- Vayillyamkunnu - (new name Kadambazhipuram): The name Vayillyamkunnu came from VAYILLAKUNNILAPPAN - the last member of PARAYI PETTA PANTHIRUKULAM of the famous saint Vararuchi. It is a historical place which was famous due to Gandhian activities and Sanskrit scholars. Vayillyamkunnu Bhagavathy Temple is famous for its Pakalpooram, the Annual festival.
- Cheerakuzhy Young Bud Rubber Nursery: Cheerakuzhy Young Budding is a milestone in the history of rubber cultivation. This painstaking efforts of the pioneer, Shri. K.C. Kuriakose, has come out with a new method in Rubber Budding. He was tired of many experiments carried out to over-come the drawbacks of the age-old method of Rubber Budding. Using only his tools available at home and commonsense, he developed a new successful method and later it came to be known as "Cheerakuzhy Young Budding". (Initially he named it ‘Seeded Poly Bag Plants’). Under this method, germinated rubber seeds are planted directly in polybags during July-August and budding starts from the 28th day and continues up to 60 days. The scion (budwood) used for Young Budding should be of 20 to 25 days old. After the successful budding process, the Young Budded Plants will be allowed to grow in the polybays itself for 4 to 5 months. Thereafter, the shoot portion above the bud patch will be chopped off. The bud will start sprouting from the 10th day onwards. After a further growth of 4 months; the plants will be ready for transplanting in the field. Thus, by way of Young Budding: the plants in polybags get matured for cultivation within 10 months after sowing the rubber seeds. For more details, please visit http://www.cheerakuzhy.com
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Palakkad (Malayalam: പാലക്കാട്) is a town and a municipality in the state of Kerala in southern India. 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. The people of Palakkad speak Malayalam. The city of Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu is only about 50 km from Palakkad.
