PALAI. - A Syro-Malabar diocese erected by the apostolic letter *Quo ecclesiarum* of 25 July 1950. It was carved out of the diocese of Changanachery and is a suffragan of Ernakulam.
In the diocese of P. there are 194,000 faithful; 103 parishes, subsidiary churches and mission centres; 226 secular priests; 38 religious houses, 91 primary schools, 46 middle schools, 1 university college and 4 charitable institutes.
BIBL.: Servizio Informazioni Chiesa orientale (Rome), 5 (1950), Ignazio Ortiz de Urbina