Map - Palakkad district (Palakkad district)

Palakkad district (Palakkad district)
Palakkad is one of the 14 districts in the Indian state of Kerala. It was carved out from the southeastern region of the former Malabar District on 1 January 1957. It is located at the centre of Kerala. It is the largest district in the state since 2006. The city of Palakkad is the district headquarters. Palakkad is bordered on the northwest by the Malappuram district, on the southwest by the Thrissur district, on the northeast by Nilgiris district, and on the east by Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu. The district is nicknamed "The granary of Kerala". Palakkad is the gateway to Kerala due to the presence of the Palakkad Gap, in the Western Ghats. The 2,383 m high Anginda peak, which is situated in the border of Palakkad district, Nilgiris district, and Malappuram district, in Silent Valley National Park, is the highest point of elevation in Palakkad district. Palakkad city is located just 50 km away from Coimbatore, a major city in Tamil Nadu state.

The total area of the district is 4480 km2 which is 11.5% of the state's area which makes it the largest district of Kerala. Out of the total area of 4480 km2, about 1360 km2 of land is covered by forests. Most parts of the district fall in the midland region (elevation 75 - 250 m), except the Nelliampathy-Parambikulam area in the Chittur taluk in the south and Attappadi-Malampuzha area in the north, which are hilly and fall in the highland region (elevation > 250 m). Attappadi valley of Palakkad district, along with the Chaliyar valley of the neighbouring Nilambur region (Eastern Eranad region) in Malappuram district, is known for natural Gold fields, which is also seen in other parts of Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve.

The climate is pleasant for most parts of the year, the exception is the summer months. There is sufficient rainfall and it receives more rainfall than the extreme southern districts of Kerala. The district has many small and medium rivers, which are tributaries of the Bharathapuzha River. A number of dams have been built across these rivers, the largest being the Malampuzha dam. The largest in volume capacity is the Parambikulam Dam Bhavani River, which is a tributary of Kaveri River, also flows through the district. Kadalundi River has its origin in Silent Valley National Park. The Chalakudy River also flows through district.

Palakkad district have total number of seven municipalities.The largest city in the district is the Palakkad municipality. The municipalities in the district are Palakkad city, Ottapalam, Shornur, Chittur-Tattamangalam, Pattambi, Cherpulassery and Mannarkkad. Out of the total Palakkad District population for 2011 Census of India, 24.09 percent lives in urban regions of district. In total 676,810 people lives in urban areas of which males are 328,012 and females are 348,798. Sex Ratio in urban region of Palakkad District is 1063 as per 2011 Census of India data. Similarly child sex ratio in Palakkad District was 959 in 2011 census. Child population (0-6) in urban region was 70,405 of which males and females were 35,933 and 34,472. This child population figure of Palakkad district is 10.95% of total urban population.

In earlier times, Palakkad was also known as Palakkattussery. Many concluded that Palakkad is derived from 'Pala', an indigenous tree which once densely occupied the land; and hence Palakkad or "the forest of Pala trees".Some believe, connecting the ancient Jain Temple in the town, that the sacred language Pali gave the name. In 1757, to check the invasion of the Zamorin of Calicut, the Palakkad Raja sought the help of Hyder Ali of Mysore. Later his son Tipu Sultan became the ruler.

Before the Indian Independence, present-day Kerala state was scattered in South Canara, Malabar District of British India, and two princely states namely Cochin and Travancore. The first All-Kerala conference of Indian National Congress was held in 1921 at Ottapalam on the banks of the river Bharathappuzha, which also later demanded a separate state for the Malayalam-speaking regions in future Independent India. Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee was formed in that conference. Before that, Malabar District, Cochin, and Travancore had separate Congress committees. Ottapalam is located right in the middle of Kerala state.

 
Map - Palakkad district (Palakkad district)
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India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), – "Official name: Republic of India."; – "Official name: Republic of India; Bharat Ganarajya (Hindi)"; – "Official name: Republic of India; Bharat."; – "Official name: English: Republic of India; Hindi:Bharat Ganarajya"; – "Official name: Republic of India"; – "Officially, Republic of India"; – "Official name: Republic of India"; – "India (Republic of India; Bharat Ganarajya)" is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west; China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north; and Bangladesh and Myanmar to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives; its Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand, Myanmar, and Indonesia.

Modern humans arrived on the Indian subcontinent from Africa no later than 55,000 years ago. Their long occupation, initially in varying forms of isolation as hunter-gatherers, has made the region highly diverse, second only to Africa in human genetic diversity. Settled life emerged on the subcontinent in the western margins of the Indus river basin 9,000 years ago, evolving gradually into the Indus Valley Civilisation of the third millennium BCE. By, an archaic form of Sanskrit, an Indo-European language, had diffused into India from the northwest. (a) (b) (c), "In Punjab, a dry region with grasslands watered by five rivers (hence ‘panch’ and ‘ab’) draining the western Himalayas, one prehistoric culture left no material remains, but some of its ritual texts were preserved orally over the millennia. The culture is called Aryan, and evidence in its texts indicates that it spread slowly south-east, following the course of the Yamuna and Ganga Rivers. Its elite called itself Arya (pure) and distinguished themselves sharply from others. Aryans led kin groups organized as nomadic horse-herding tribes. Their ritual texts are called Vedas, composed in Sanskrit. Vedic Sanskrit is recorded only in hymns that were part of Vedic rituals to Aryan gods. To be Aryan apparently meant to belong to the elite among pastoral tribes. Texts that record Aryan culture are not precisely datable, but they seem to begin around 1200 BCE with four collections of Vedic hymns (Rg, Sama, Yajur, and Artharva)."
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