Palakkad Gap or Palghat Gap is a low

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since many of the world's mountain ranges have presented formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human a ...

in the Western Ghats between

Coimbatore Coimbatore, also spelt as Koyamputhur (), sometimes shortened as Kovai (), is one of the major metropolitan cities in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Noyyal River and surrounded by the Western Ghats. Coimbato ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

and

Palakkad Palakkad (), formerly known as Palghat, historically known as Palakkattussery is a city and municipality in the Indian state of Kerala. It is the administrative headquarters of the Palakkad District. Palakkad is most densely populated municipal ...

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

. It has an average elevation of with a width of . The pass is located between the

Nilgiri Hills The Nilgiri Mountains form part of the Western Ghats in northwestern Tamil Nadu, Southern Karnataka, and eastern Kerala in India. They are located at the trijunction of three states and connect the Western Ghats with the Eastern Ghats. At le ...

to the north and

Anaimalai Hills The Anamala or Anaimalai, also known as the Elephant Mountains, are a range of mountains in the southern Western Ghats of central Kerala ( Idukki district, Ernakulam district, Palakkad district, Thrissur district) and span the border of we ...

to the south.

Origin and History

There are various theories about the origin of Palakkad gap. One among them is that it is caused by the landslide due to rivers flowing in opposite directions. The

Bharathappuzha Bharathappuzha ("River of Bhārata"), also known as the Nila or Ponnani River, is a river in India in the state of Kerala. With a length of 209 km, it is the second longest river that flows through Kerala after the Periyar. It flows throu ...

river (River

Ponnani Ponnani () is a municipality in Ponnani Taluk, Malappuram District, in the state of Kerala, India. It serves as the administrative center of the Taluk and Block Panchayat of the same name. It is situated at the estuary of Bharatappuzha (Riv ...

) originates in the Palakkad Gap from rivulets and tributaries feeding from steep

escarpment An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations. The terms ''scarp'' and ''scarp face'' are often used interchangeably with ''escar ...

slopes along the flanks of the Ghats. Another theory suggests that the gap may be created by an asteroid strike around 800 million to 550 million years ago. Palakkad gap has played a major role in enabling human migration into Kerala from parts of Tamil Nadu. From 300 B.C. to 13th century, it also helped the Cheras rule the entire Kerala and the Kongu Nadu as one geographical unit from

Karur Karur () is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Karur is the administrative headquarters of Karur district. It is located on the banks of River Amaravathi, Kaveri and Noyyal. Karur is well known for the export of Home Textile products to ...

in Western Tamil Nadu.

Tamil Brahmin Tamil Brahmins are an ethnoreligious community of Tamil-speaking Hindu Brahmins, predominantly living in Tamil Nadu, though they number significantly in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, in addition to other regions of India, as wel ...

s migrated to Palakkad from Central Tamil Nadu via the Palakkad gap from the 15th century to 18th century.

Effect on weather

The gap affects the weather patterns in Southern India as it allows the moisture-laden

Southwest monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscill ...

winds into western Tamil Nadu, moderating summer temperatures and generating greater rainfall in the region relative to the rest of lowland Tamil Nadu. It affects rainfall activity in parts of tamilnadu likely Coimbatore,palladam, kangeyam, dharapuram, udumalai .It also allows the hot winds coming from

which warm the eastern part of Kerala compared to the rest of the state and the

tropical cyclone A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

winds from

Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, bounded on the west and northwest by India, on the north by Bangladesh, and on the east by Myanmar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India. Its southern limit is a line between ...

bearing rain during the summer.

Transport and trade

The gap is the lowest pass through the Western Ghats in the region. It is an important mountain pass in the Western Ghats that runs along the entire eastern edge of Kerala isolating it from the neighboring Tamil Nadu. It acts as an important transport corridor between the two States by linking

Palakkad District Palakkad District () 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 i ...

of Kerala with Coimbatore District of Tamil Nadu and has served as a vital trade route between the east and west coasts of peninsular India since ancient times. Both the

National Highway 544 National Highway 544, commonly referred to as NH 544, (''old number'' NH 47) is a National Highway in South India connecting Salem city in Tamil Nadu to the city of Kochi in Kerala. It is also called the Salem-Kochi Highway. The highway runs ...

and the

Coimbatore - Shoranur railway line Coimbatore, also spelt as Koyamputhur (), sometimes shortened as Kovai (), is one of the major metropolitan cities in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Noyyal River and surrounded by the Western Ghats. Coimbato ...

, Palakkad - Pollachi Railway line joining Kerala to Tamil Nadu pass through the gap. The gap also helps for VHF line of sight communications between the states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Wind Energy

The Palakkad Gap funnels the winds blowing from the west on to

district in

and

Tirupur Tiruppur or Tirupur ( ) is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Tiruppur is the administrative headquarters of Tiruppur district and the fifth largest city as well as an urban agglomeration in Tamil Nadu. Located on the banks of Noyyal ...

districts in

making the region one of the major wind power generation areas. The average annual wind speed is 18–22 km/hr. Large windmill farms can be seen in and around

Kanjikode Kanjikode or Kanchikode is an industrial town located east of Palakkad. Kanjikode is the second largest industrial hub in Kerala after Kochi.The town is part of Pudussery Panchayat. It is one of the growing suburbs of Palakkad city. First and t ...

Chittur Chittur-Thathamangalam is a town and municipality in Palakkad district of Kerala State, India. It is the headquarters of Chittur taluk, south-east of Palakkad, on the banks of the Kannadipuzha, a major headstream of the Bharathapuzha, the sec ...

, Muthalamada, Kollengode,

Pollachi Pollachi is a town and a taluk headquarters in Coimbatore district, Tamil Nadu state, India. Located about to the south of Coimbatore, it is the second largest town in the district after Coimbatore. Pollachi is a popular Marketplace for ja ...

Kinathukadavu Kinathukadavu (also spelt as Kinathukkadavu), meaning ''Pass of the Well'', is a town panchayat suburb of Coimbatore city and taluk in Coimbatore district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is along the National Highway 209 and is from G ...

Udumalaipettai Udumalai, also known as Udumalaipettai and Udumalpet (), is a town in Tiruppur district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Udumalaipettai is located 535 km (332 mi) south west from the state capital, Chennai and 72 km (45 mi) away from Coimbato ...

Dharapuram Dharapuram (;) is a town situated along the banks of Amaravati River in Tiruppur district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Dharapuram is one of the oldest towns in South India and was the capital of Kongu Nadu under the Cheras, Western ...

and Madathukulam.

Gallery

File:Train negotiating Palghat Gap.jpg, Palghat Gap as seen from Coimbatore-Shoranur railway line File:Palghat Gap 2.jpg, Palghat Gap as seen from Palghat-Chitoor Road File:Walayar as seen from line.jpg, Western Ghats as seen from Coimbatore-Shoranur rail line File:View of Ghats.jpg, View of Ghats File:Palghat-Coimbatore Rd.Through the gap..jpg, Palghat-Coimbatore NH 544 - NH 66 (re-numbered NH 47)runs through the gap File:Southern end of the Gap..jpg, Southern end of the gap File:One end of the Gap..jpg, One end of the gap File:Train in Walayar Forest.jpg, A passenger train in Palghat gap

References

External links

View of Palghat Gap
from the Nelliampathy Mountain ranges {{Mountain passes of India Mountain passes of the Western Ghats Geography of Palakkad district Tourist attractions in Palakkad district Mountain passes of Kerala Transport in Palakkad district