Kodaikanal (Tamil: கொடைக்கானல்) 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.