Palani (or Pazhani ) is a town and a municipality in Dindigul district , Tamil Nadu , located about 100 kilometres (62 mi) north-west of Madurai , 100 kilometres (62 mi) South-east of Coimbatore , and 60 kilometres (37 mi) west of Dindigul . The Palani Murugan Temple dedicated to Hindu war God Kartikeya is situated on a hill overlooking the town. The temple is visited by more than 7 million pilgrims each year. As of 2011, the town had a population of 70,467.mil

• 1Etymology
• 2History
• 3Geography
• 4Demographics
• 5Temples
• 6Transportation
  • 6.1Road
  • 6.2Rail
  • 6.3Air
• 7References
• 8See also

References to the place exist in ancient Tamil devotional texts. According to Hindu mythology, "Sage Narada once visited the celestial court of Lord Shiva at Mount Kailashto present to Him a fruit, the gyana-pazham(literally, the fruit of knowledge), that held in it the elixir of wisdom. Upon Lord Shiva expressing his intention of dividing the fruit between his two sons, Ganesha and Karthikeya , the sage counselled against cutting it. He decided to award it to whomever of his two sons first circled the world thrice. Accepting the challenge, Lord Karthikeya started his journey around the globe on his mount peacock. However, Ganesha, who surmised that the world was no more than his parents Shiva and Shakti combined, circumnambulated them". ^[2] Pleased with their son's discernment, Lord Shiva awarded the fruit to Lord Ganesha. When Kartikeya returned, he was furious to learn that his efforts had been in vain. He left Kailash and took up his abode in Palani hills in South India. It is believed that Karthikeya felt the need to get matured from boyhood and hence chose to remain as a hermit and discarded all his robes and ornaments. He went into meditation to know about himself. ^{[ citation needed ]}

Palani and most of Dindigul district were part of the Kongu Nadu region of the Tamil country. The northern part of the Palani andOddanchatram taluks is held to have been part of the Anda Nadu sub-region, whereas the rest of the area constituted the Vaiyapuri Nadu. The area was under the influence of the rulers of Madurai and Coimbatore, at various points of time. In the 18th century, Hyder Aliand his son, Tippu Sultan ruled over the place before being annexed the British after the Third Anglo-Mysore War .