Notable people from

Palai Pallai ( ta, பளை, si, පල්ලෙයි), also spelt Palai, is a small town in the Kilinochchi District, Northern Province, Sri Lanka. It is located near the coast on the northern peninsula, approximately south-east of Jaffna. ...

include:

Politicians

K. R. Narayanan Kocheril Raman Narayanan (27 October 1921 – 9 November 2005) was an Indian statesman, diplomat, academic, and politician who served as the 9th vice president of India, Vice President of India from 1992 to 1997 and 10th President of India fr ...

, President of India (1997–2002), Vice-President of India (1992–97). *

Jose K. Mani Jose Karingozhackal Mani (born 29 May 1965) is an Indian politician and Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha and former Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha from Kerala. He is the son of veteran politician K. M. Mani and the Chairman of Kerala Congress ...

Member of Indian Parliament -

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past ...

(2010-Continuing). * N M Joseph, Minister of Forests, Kerala State (1987–91) * M M Jacob, Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) (1981-1993), Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha (1986–87), Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Home (1987–93), State Governor of

Meghalaya Meghalaya (, or , meaning "abode of clouds"; from Sanskrit , "cloud" + , "abode") is a states and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. Meghalaya was formed on 21 January 1972 by carving out two districts from the state of As ...

(1995–2007). * Kidangoor Gopalakrishna Pillai, General Secretary of NSS (1967 onwards) and Indian High-Commissioner to

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

(1992 onwards). *

P K Vasudevan Nair Padayatt Kesavapillai Vasudevan Nair (2 March 1926 – 12 July 2005), popularly known as PKV, was the 9th Chief Minister of Kerala and a senior leader of the Communist Party of India (CPI). He was elected to the Lok Sabha four times, in 1957, ...

, Member of Parliament, Chief Minister of Kerala State. * K M Chandy, State Governor (1982–89), President of Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (I). * Cherian J. Kappan, Freedom Fighter, Member of Indian Parliament -

(1962–67). Municipal Chairman. *

George Thomas Kottukapally George Thomas Kottukapally of Pala, Kottayam, Kerala, India (29 October 1901 – 11 October 1970), was a Member of Parliament, philanthropist, one of South India's largest plantation owners, public intellectual, an Indian independence activist ...

, Member of Indian Parliament -

(1957–62), U.N. Delegate. * R V Thomas, President (Speaker) of

Travancore The Kingdom of Travancore ( /ˈtrævənkɔːr/), also known as the Kingdom of Thiruvithamkoor, was an Indian kingdom from c. 1729 until 1949. It was ruled by the Travancore Royal Family from Padmanabhapuram, and later Thiruvananthapuram. At ...

State Legislative Assembly (1947–49). * Dr P J Thomas, Member of

Madras Legislative Council Tamil Nadu Legislative Council was the upper house of the former bicameral legislature of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It began its existence as Madras Legislative Council, the first provincial legislature for Madras Presidency. It was initia ...

, 1937–42 and Member of Indian Parliament -

Rajya Sabha The Rajya Sabha, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using si ...

1957-62. * Ulahannan Ulahannan Vadakkan, Member of

Sree Moolam Popular Assembly The Sree Moolam Popular Assembly in the erstwhile state of Travancore was the first popularly elected legislature in the history of India. Its predecessor legislative council was formed in Travancore in 1888 with eight appointed members. Sri Mu ...

State (1912–31). * J Thomas Kayalackakom, Member of

State (1922–28).

Literature, education and social service

Aryambika S. V. Aryambika S. V. (born 1981) is a Malayalam language poet from Kerala, India. She received several awards including Yuva Puraskar by Sahithya Akademi and Kanakasree Award by Kerala Sahitya Akademi. Biography Aryambika was born on 1981 at Edanad ...

, Malayalam poet. * Paremmakkal Thoma Kathanar: Author of "

Varthamana Pusthakam ''Varthamanappusthakam'' is a Malayalam travelogue written by Paremmakkal Thoma Kathanar, a Nasrani Mappila kathanar of the modern-day Syro-Malabar Church. It is the first ever travelogue written in an Indian Language. It was written in the 18t ...

", the first travelogue in an Indian language. *

Ramapurathu Warrier Ramapurathu Warrier (1703–1753) is considered to be the pioneer of the "Vanchippattu" or Boat song form of poetry in Malayalam language. ''Vanchippattu'' is a poetic form of folk origin composed entirely in the Dravidian metre ''nathonnata''. H ...

- Poet (Kuchelavritham). *

Kattakayam Cherian Mappillai Kattakayam Cherian Mappillai (1859–1936) was an Indian poet and playwright of Malayalam literature. He was known for the epic poem ''Shreeyeshu Vijayam'', which earned him the title of Mahakavi. He was the founder editor of '' Vijnaana Rathnaak ...

(1859–1936) - Author of Sri Yesu Vijayam (1926) & Editor of

Vijnaana Rathnaakaram ''Vijnaana Rathnaakaram'' was a literary magazine started in 1913 in the old Native State of Travancore, India. J Thomas Kayalackakom was its founder publisher and Mahakavi Kattakayam Cherian Mappillai was its Editor. It was the second literary ...

(1913) *

Pala Narayanan Nair Pala Narayanan Nair (11 December 1911 – 11 June 2008) was an Indian poet and lyricist, best known for his work, ''Keralam Valarunnu'', written in 1953, comprising eight volumes, which earned him the title of ''Mahakavi''. He wrote more than 5 ...

, poet, teacher, most celebrated work 'keralam valarunnu' *

Pravithanam PM Devasia Pravithanam PM Devasia was a Malayalam poet. He penned five Christian Mahakavyam. His best known works are ''Israel Vamsam'' and ''Rajakkanmar''. He was a teacher by profession. He led a very austere life and received many accolades for his work. ...

, poet * Lalithambika Antharjanam, novelist *

Fr. Abel Abel Periyappuram (born Periyappuram Mathan Vaidyar Mathew, 19 January 1920 – 27 October 2001), commonly known as Fr. Abel, was an Indian Syro-Malabar Church, Syro-Malabar Catholic Carmelites of Mary Immaculate, CMI priest, journalist, and ly ...

Periapuram, Founder of

Kalabhavan Kalabhavan ( lit. "The House of Arts"), also known as Cochin Kalabhavan, is a centre for learning performing arts in Kochi, India. ''Kalabhavan'' is notable and known for being the first organized performing mimicry group in Kerala and which p ...

. *

Paul Zacharia Paul Zacharia, popularly known mononymously as Zacharia, is an Indian writer of Malayalam literature. Known for his body of literary works composed of short stories, novellas, travelogues, screenplays, essays, columns and children's books, Zacha ...

, writer & columnist *

Ezhacherry Ramachandran Ezhacherry Ramachandran (born 1944) is a Malayalam poet, lyricist and journalist. He has penned lyrics for several Malayalam movies and albums. In 2020, he won the Vayalar Award. Personal life Ramachandran was born at Ezhacherry near Pala, Ke ...

, poet * Bishop Sebastian Vayalil, Founder of St. Thomas College * Cyriac Thomas, former Vice Chancellor

Government and administration

V. Joseph Thomas IPS Vattavayalil Joseph Thomas (30 November 1941 – 10 February 2018), known simply as Joseph Thomas in police and political circles, was an officer of Indian Police Service, who served as the Director General of Kerala Police. Personal life V. Jo ...

, Director General of Police, Kerala. * V. J. Kurian IAS, Addl. Chief Secretary to Govt. of Kerala. Managing Director of the World's First Solar Powered Airport *

B. Sandhya B. Sandhya (Malayalam: ബി. സന്ധ്യ) (born May 25, 1963) is a retired officer of the Indian Police Service and a former Director General of the Kerala Fire and Rescue Services, Home Guard, and Civil Defence. She is also known fo ...

IPS, writer and

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...

officer.

Sports

* Col. G.V. Raja, sports promoter *

M D Valsamma Manathoor Devasia Valsamma (born 21 October 1960) is a retired Indian athlete. She was the second Indian woman to win an individual gold medal at the Asian Games and the first to win it on Indian soil. Early life Valsamma was born on 21 Oct ...

, athletics, Asian Games Gold Medalist *

Mani C. Kappan Mani C. Kappan (born 1956) is an Indian politician, film producer, film director and actor. He is the current Member of the Legislative Assembly (India), Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) of the state of Kerala for the Pala (State Assembl ...

international volleyball player

Commerce and industry

* Joseph Augusti Kayalackakom (1884–1968) - Founder Managing Director of

Palai Central Bank Palai Central Bank was a commercial bank headquartered in Kerala, South India that functioned during the middle of last century. Although it was started in a small, remote city, the bank grew to become not only the largest bank but the largest i ...

Movies

Bhadran Bhadran is a village in the state of Gujarat, in far western India. It is in the Anand district. Bhadran was nicknamed the "Paris of Gaekwad state" due to its prosperity and civil works carried out by Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III, the vision ...

, movie director * Miss Kumari, Malayalam actress in leading roles * Suvarna Mathew, actress *

Ponnamma Babu Ponnamma Babu is an Indian actress best known for her work in Malayalam cinema. She has acted in more than 300 films, TV serials and Comedy shows . She made her debut in ''Padanayakan'' in 1996. Personal life Ponnamma was born to Mathai and ...

, actress *

Pala Thankam Pala Thankam (1941 – 10 January 2021) was an Indian actress in Malayalam movies. She was one of the prominent supporting actresses, singers and dubbing artists in the late 1960s and 1970s in Malayalam and Tamil movies. She acted in more than 1 ...

, actress * Miya (Gimi George), actress *

, director, producer, actor *

Rimi Tomy Rimi Tomy is an Indian playback singer,Carnatic Musician, television host,and an occasional actress. She started her career by anchoring music programs in television and sang her first song "Chingamasam Vannu Chernnal" in the 2002 film ''Meesa M ...

, singer *

Listin Stephen Listin Stephen is an Indian film producer and distributor who works in Malayalam, Tamil and Hindi film industries. He founded the film production company Magic Frames that has produced and distributed a lot of successful movies over a decade. Hi ...

, film producer * Chali Pala, actor

Journalists

Jose Panachippuram Jose Panachippuram (born 24 August 1951 in Kottayam District, Kerala, India) is a noted short story writer, novelist and journalist in Malayalam. He is working as the Senior associate editor of ''Malayala Manorama'' daily. He won the Kerala ...

, associate editor, ''

Malayala Manorama ''Malayala Manorama'' is a morning newspaper in Malayalam published from Kottayam, Kerala, India by the Malayala Manorama Company Limited. Currently headed by Mammen Mathew; it was first published as a weekly on 22 March 1888, and currently has ...

'' daily * Eby J Jose, editor, ''Gulf Life'' magazine

References

{{Reflist People from Pala, Kerala