ABOUT

Kottayi is a small village located around 15 km away from Palakkad in the Alathur Taluk. The Kottayi Junction in Koottumukku and the Kottayi High School are the main landmarks of the destination. It is in Chembai, a small village near Kottayi, that the renowned Carnatic singer, Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar, was born. In his memory, the village hosts the annual Chembai Parthasarathy Ekadasi Music Festival during the months of February and March. Kottachantha is a village located in the vicinity of Kottayi. It is believed that Haider Ali, the erstwhile sultan of Mysore, planned to build a fort at Kottachantha before it was built at Palakkad. The huge area of land in this village was used as a market place by natives during ancient times and relics of the same can be seen at the site. Since the establishment of the marketplace, the area is known as Kottachantha, which is a combination of two different words, namely Kotta meaning fort and Chantha meaning market. It is also believed that the name of the site is derived from Kottayilekkulla Vayi, meaning the way to the fort.