Echo Point- Munnar

Echo Point- Munnar

Another attractive place of the Munnar is Eco point. It is situated 15 KM away from the Munnar and very good adventure destination for the tourists. This scenic place gets its name from the natural echo phenomenon here.

Echo point is on the way to Top station from Munnar A suitable place to disembark for some time, shriek and scream and enjoy the pleasure of your voice coming back.  Echo point will give the panoramic view to our eyes, clean mountain air, mist covered hill makes this place worth visiting.

The popular activity of the Echo point is Nature walks. Also we can go for trekking through the nearby coffee plantation, tea plantation, spice plantation and grasslands. Cool, light wind along with clam surroundings makes Echo Point a favorite place for us.

I was enjoyed the beauty of this place last vacation.

Top Station & Anayirangal- Munnar

Top Station-Munnar

Top station is the highest point on the way of Munnar – Kodaikanal Road. It is 32 km away from the Munnar. The top station is around 1700 m above sea level. The rare Nilakuriji flowers belong over vast area of this region. I said about Nilakuriji some days before, The Nilakurinji blooms every 12 years, at that time all the hill sides covered by blue flowers like a beautiful blue carpet. 

The hill station also offers panoramic view of the neighboring state of Tamilnadu. We can see the Kundalai Dam on the way Munnar – top station road. 

Top Station was a transshipment point for delivery of tea from Munnar to Bodynaakkanur. Top Station derived its name from its being the uppermost located railway station on the Kundala Valley Railway, built in 1902 between Munnar, Kundalai and this hilltop location. A monorail goods carriage system was soon installed along this cart route. In 1908 the monorail was replaced by a 24 inch gauge railway. Middle Station (Kundalai) is 12 kilometers (7.5 mi) west from Top Station on the way from Lower Station Munnar. Some remains of Kundala Valley Railway can be seen at the Munnar Tea Museum.

Tea chests arriving at Top Station from the Kundalai Valley were transported by a ropeway from Top Station 5 km downhill to the south to Kottagudi, Tamil Nadu. The tea was then shipped 15 km by cart to Bodynaakkanur, and then by rail to other places in India and ship to England.Remains of the ropeway station at Top Station is still visible. Elevation at top of Bodi ropeway was 1,911 meters.

Anayirangal

The Anayirangal is the best another sightseeing place in Munnar. Anayiragal is located about 22 KM from Munnar.

We can see lush green carpet of tea plants in this place. Actually a dam is located here, it gives superb views of reservoir, and this dam is surrounded by tea plantations and evergreen forests.

The Anayirankal Dam is surrounded by the Tata Tea Plantation and evergreen forests. Anayirankal is an ideal picnic spot for the travellers from around the world.

If you are lucky enough you will be able to sight large number of elephants that comes to this place often to drink water from this lake.

Tea Museum - Munnar

Tea Museum

Munnar is famous for tea plantation and tea preserving factories. The owner of Tea museum is Tata Tea Company in Munnar. This museum is located at the Nallathanni Estate of Tata Tea in Munnar.  We can see collection of old bits and pieces from the colonial era. Also we can see demonstration tea production, and learn working of machineries, tea processing, tea tasting. 

The Tata Tea Museum diligently portrays the growth of Munnar tea estates, veritably conveyed through some of the displays like the rudimentary tea roller to the modern fully automated tea factory. Visitors to the museum can satiate their curiosity on various stages of tea processing, and also learn a thing or two about the production of black tea.

A sundial, placed on a granite block, which was made in 1913 by the Art Industrial School at Nazareth, Tamil Nadu, greets a visitor to the Tea Museum. At the museum, if one is curious to locate an item with some antiquity, then the burial urn from the second century BC, which was found near Periakanal estate.

A section of the Tea museum also houses classic bungalow furniture, typewriters, wooden bathtub, magneto phone, iron oven, manual calculators and EPABX of the1909 telephone system.

A demonstration room for tea tasting is another attraction where one would come across different varieties of tea. Those eager to understand the nuances of tea processing can do so at the CTC and orthodox tea-manufacturing unit at the museum. The museum authorities are also contemplating on the idea of allowing tourists to pluck tea leaves themselves and have them processed in their presence. The working hours are 10.00 am to 4.00 pm. 

Mattupetty Dam - Munnar

Mattupetty Dam 

One of the main attractions of Munnar is Mattupetty; it is located 13 km away from Munnar Town.  One of the Main attractions in Mattupetty is the beautiful lake and the Mattupetty Dam, which are ideal picnic spot.

The District Tourism Promotion Council, Idukki arranging boating facilities in the Mattupetty Dam. The three types (Speed launch, sow speedboat and motorboat) of boating are available here on payment basis. 

Another main attraction of Mattupetty is the dairy farm run by the Indo-Swiss Livestock Project.  The dairy farm is a unique one of its kind with several varieties of high yielding breeds of cattle.

Tea plantations also we can see here. You are interested for trekking in the Shola forests around Mattuppetty, you can see the variety of birds.

Walk along small streams and follow its meandering path till it falls down the hillside as a waterfall. The hill side is dotted with pretty waterfalls that added attraction of the place.

Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary -Munnar

Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary

 This is the one of famous sanctuary in Kerala. Chinnar Wildlife sanctuary is situated 60 km away from the Munnar.  Chinnar is the habitat for the rare “Giant Grizzled Squirrel of India”. The total number of this squirrel here would be less than 200.

 Chinnar wild life sanctuary is located in the rain shadow area of the Western Ghats.  Here gets only less than 2 months of rain every year.  The forest of Chinnar is ideal for trekking. The added attraction of the Chinnar is a widespread Sandal wood forest.  

The travelling from Karimuthi to Chinnar, elephant, spotted deer, sambar, hanuman langur and even peacocks can be seen on the either side of the road. In this sanctuary we can see extremely rare creature, Chinnar resident species Elephants, Tigers, Chital, Sambar, Indian bison, Leopards, Bear, different type of birds and Hanuman Monkeys, Spotted Deer, rare species of Star Tortoise etc.

Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary a mixture of thorny scrub and deciduous forest that is home to some of Kerala most interesting Wildlife. There is a watch tower to see the forest and animals; it will give a panoramic view of our eyes.

The Chinnar was declared as Indra Gandhi Wildlife sanctuary in 1984 which covered an area of 90.422 sq.km. The top station of the Chinnar Wildlife sanctuary, bordering the state of Kerala, offers spectacular views of the Western Ghats.

Anamudi Peak - Munnar

Anamudi Peak 

Another main attraction of the Munnar is Anamudi Peak (It means Elephant Peak). This is the highest peak in south India also the highest point in India outside the Himalaya- Karakoram Peak.  The height of the Anamudi is over 2700m.

Anamudi peak lies to the interior of the Eravikulam National Park. The Anamudi and the Eravikulam National Park surrounding it is home to the largest surviving population of Nilgiri Tahr. 

This is one of the interest places for trekking as enough facilities are arranged here for the tourists and permitted to go on foot to Anamudi.

Anamudi literally translates to "elephant's forehead," a reference to the resemblance of the mountain to an elephant's head. 

Anamudi Shola National Park provides valuable wildlife habitat connectivity between Mathikettan Shola National Park, Eravikulam National Park, Pambadum Shola National Park, Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary and the Kurinjimala Sanctuary, all of which surround this protected area.

This national park forms part of the Anamalai sub-cluster, which was recently nominated for consideration for World Heritage Site status under UNESCO's World Heritage Program.

I went for trekking to Anamudi with my friends; it was arranged by the Nature club of my College. It was amassing; I can’t express those mountain climbing feelings through my words.  At the top of the peak we can’t see each other due to mist.  I strongly recommended this place for trekking because that feeling we can’t ever forget from our mind in the whole life. 

Eravikulam National Park - Munnar

Eravikulam National Park 

The main attraction of the Munnar is Eravikulam National Park. Eravikulam National park is located in 15 KM from Munnar. This park we can see different type of butterflies, animals and variety of birds. This is the great place for trekking; it gives a panoramic view to our eyes. In the morning time this area is covered by blankets of mists.

This park becomes a hot destination at the time of blooming of Nilakuriji. That time the blue flowers of Nilakurigi are covered the hills and vallies of Munnar and this park.  The last time it bloomed was in 2006. This blooms once in twelve years.

The main body of the park consists of a high rolling hill plateau with a base elevation of about 2,000 m. The terrain consists of high altitude grasslands interspersed with Sholas. Many perennial streams criss-cross the park. They merge to form tributaries of the Periyar River and Chalakudiyar River on the west and the east flowing Cauvery River in Tamil Nadu. Lakkom Waterfalls is in this region.

Twenty six species of mammals have been recorded in the park including the largest surviving population of Nilgiri Tahr. The other ungulates are Gaur, Indian Muntjac and Sambar Deer. Golden Jackal, Jungle Cat, Wild dog, Dhole, leopard and tiger are the main predators. Some little known animals such as Nilgiri langur, Stripe-necked Mongoose, Indian Porcupine, Nilgiri Marten, small clawed otter, Ruddy Mongoose, and Dusky palm squirrel are also found. Elephants make seasonal visits.

132 species of birds have been recorded which include endemics like Black-and-orange Flycatcher, Nilgiri Pipit, Nilgiri Wood Pigeon, White Bellied Shortwing, Nilgiri Verditer Flycatcher and Kerala Laughingthrush.

Every year the wild life warden will close the Eravikulam national park for 45 days from 1^st February due to calving of nilgiri tahr. The Eravikulam National Park was established to protect the Nilgiri Tahr, and rare species of the wild goat and the only one to be found south of the Himalayas. It is absolutely awesome place.