Thekkady

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Thekkady തേക്കടി
town and tourist destination
A boat cruise on Periyar Lake
Thekkady Location in Kerala, India
Coordinates: 9.533°N 77.200°ECoordinates: 9.533°N 77.200°E
Country	India
State	Kerala
District	Idukki
Languages
• Official	Malayalam, English
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
Vehicle registration	KL-

Thekkady (Idukki district) is the location of the Periyar National Park, which is an important tourist attraction in the Kerala state of India.^[1]

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Overview[edit]

Thekkady is located about 257 km (160 mi) from Trivandrum, 114 km from Madurai City and Madurai Airport, 185 km from Cochin International Airport and 114 km fromKottayam railway station. Thekkady is located near to Kerala-Tamilnadu border. The sanctuary is famous for its dense evergreen, semi-evergreen, moist deciduous forestsand savanna grass lands. It is home to herds of elephants, sambar, tigers, gaur, lion-tailed Macaques and Nilgiri Langurs.

The Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary is spread across 777 km² (300 sq mi), of which 360 km² (140 sq mi) is thick evergreen forest. The Wild Life Sanctuary was declared a Tiger Reserve in 1978. The splendid artificial lake formed by the Mullaperiyar Damacross the Periyar River adds to the charm of the park. The greatest attraction of Periyar are the herds of wild elephants that come down to drink in the lake. Sanctuary can be accessed through a trekking, boating or jeep safari.

Submerged trees in Periyar National Park

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Thekkady is considered a heaven for natural spices such as black pepper,cardamom, cinnamon and clove.

Nearby Places of interest[edit]

Murikkady[edit]

This place consists of spices and coffee plantations. It is about 5 km from Thekkady.

Chellar Kovil[edit]

This is located about 15 km from Kumily en route to the Theni district of Tamil Nadu. This place has a lot of picturesque waterfalls and cascades.

Anakkara[edit]

Located at about 13 km from Kumily on the Kumily-Munnar road. A new airport is proposed at Anakkara and is under review by theAirports Authority of India.

Mangala Devi Temple[edit]

It is situated about 15 km from Thekkady at an altitude of 1337 m above sea level. It is surrounded by lush greenery and is closed throughout the year except during the Chitra Pournami festival. At other times tourists can still visit it by getting a special letter from the forest ranger. The view from the temple premises is spectacular and one can see part of eastern ghats and some villages from adjacent state of Tamil Nadu.^[2]