Palai is a municipal town 32 km east of Kottayam in the Indian state of Kerala , which occupies an area of ​​15.93 km2. Pala has the highest proportion of the Syrian community Nasrani Malabar in Kerala. It lies 173km north of Thiruvananthapuram , the state capital, on the banks of the Meenachil River and is home to the Taluk Meenachil and the Pala Tax Division. It is one of the main gateways to the southern high ranges of Western Ghats.

There are several versions about the origin of the name of the place. According to one, Pala gets its name from Palazhi (Ksheera Sagara), the mythological Ocean of milk from which nectar was produced. Another point of view is that the name derives from Palathu Chettiyar families,