Palakkad Tourist Places - Granary of Kerala

Considered as the granary of Kerala, Palakkad is offered with plenty of forests, water sources, fertile lands and of course serenity. Traders from all over the world through land and sea had marked their presence in Palakkad and its neighbouring places since humans started to evolve from various parts of Africa. The oldest record about Palakkad is found in the inscriptions of Chera Kings of Kodungallur describing Palakkad as ‘Chorainad as an important part of Tamizhakam’. In Tamil classics ‘Purananooru’ and ’Silappathikaram’, this word is modified as ‘Parainad’ meaning ‘Land Of rocks’. Romans also recorded their travels through the Palghat gap from Pandya kingdom to Chera port of Ponnani. According to William Logan, Pallavas had invaded Palakkad in the 2nd century AD and made it their second capital after Kanchipuram. Some historians reveal that the exact place Pallavas chose as their armoury base was what is now known as ‘Sultanpet’. In 1792, the Treaty of Srirangapatna was signed by Tipu Sultan.

All his possessions in Malabar including Palakkad went to British East India Company. They created Malabar district and in 1800 it was merged with Madras Presidency. They began to control Malabar from Palakkad fort before shifting their collectorate to Calicut. On understanding the importance of Palakkad as an important centre of South India and overseas trade, they founded the Municipality of Palghat in 1866 AD, on the instruction given by Lord Francis Napier, one of the mayors of Madras. They added more beauty to the city with their imposing rest houses, private residences, jails, arm batteries, gardens, factories, educational institutions, government buildings, railway lines etc to resemble most beautiful European capitals. Most of the British buildings in Palakkad are not purely European, but hybrids. In 1955, this municipality became ‘A’ Grade and continues till date with pride. Agriculture is the predominant occupation for the people here. Though it comes under Kerala state, it holds all the resemblances of the neighbourhood Tamil Nadu.