India Westernghats Mountains as seen from Palakkad Gap. Palakkad Gap or Palghat Gap is a low mountain pass in the Western Ghats between Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu and Palakkad in Kerala.

Palakkad gap is where the Indian plate broke from Madagascar.
Over 160 million years ago, the supercontinent of Gondwana began breaking up and the continents of Africa, Australia, Antarctica and South America were separated over millions of years. Madagascar and India, however, remained attached for much longer as part of the Dharwar Craton the oldest rocks found in the Indian subcontinent.

About 88 million years ago, a major underwater volcanic explosion, the Marion Hotspot which went on for 2 million years split India and Madagascar and the ever-flowing lava widened the gap, to what it is today. The Palakkad Gap marks the place where the Indian plate broke.