SH-156 (Tamil Nadu)

Kodaikanal (Tamil: கோடைக்கானல்) is a city and a Taluk division of Dindigul district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India.

The earliest residents of Kodaikanal were the Paliyan tribal people. The earliest specific references to Kodaikanal and the Palani Hills are found in Tamil Sangam literature of the early Christian era.

Modern Kodaikanal was established as a hill station by American missionaries in 1845, as a refuge from the high temperatures and tropical diseases of the plains.

In the 20th century a few elite Indians came to realize the value of this enchanting place and started relocating here. Kodaikanal is sometimes referred to as the "Princess of Hill Stations". Much of the local economy is now based on the hospitality industry, serving national and international tourists.

The Tamil language word கோடைக்கானல், refers to "a sanatorium at the top of Kodaikanal, the southern ridge of the Palani hills more than 7,000 ft. high".

It is not known who first used this name or what they intended it to mean, however, in the Tamil language there are at least five meanings. The word is formed from the two separate Tamil words Kodai and kāṉal (கானல்). kāṉal means a wood on a hill-slope, a dense forest or a closed forest.

Another Tamil meaning for வல்லி (Kodi) is Valli, the honey collecting daughter of the chief of the Veddas mountain tribe. In ancient times the chief and his wife prayed to the Mountain God for a girl-child. Their prayers were answered when the chief found a new-born girl child during a hunting expedition. As she was found among creeper plants, they named the child Valli and she grew up as princess of the tribe Kurinji and became the consort of lord Murugan The romantic traditions of Murugan in Sangam literature are thus claimed to be associated with the name Kodaikanal. By integrating these meanings, Kodaikanal is "that place at the end of Valli's forest which is a gift in the summer".

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