Kodaikanal at 7200 ft. above sea level is one of the finest hill stations in India. It is also known as 'Princess of Hill stations' and 'Gift of forest'. It is located in Dindigul District of Tamilnadu and is surrounded by Palani Hill ranges.
The original inhabitants of Palani mountain ranges were the Palian nomadic tribes who were hunters and gatherers. References of KodaiKanal are found in ancient Tamil literature known as Tamil Sangam literature.
Kodaikanal is all about mist or fog, beautiful landscape and pleasant weather. There are different places and spots, which as a tourist you will religiously try to visit in your tour. But take my word, even if some places on the way are not a designated tourist spot, the landscape is equally beautiful!! So if you are having a private vehicle don't hesitate to stop and take excellent photographs!
The names of the spots will vary. It will be silent valley or caps fly point or Echo point or Suicide point but what remains constant is the eternally beautiful natural scenery!!
We travelled by the Nilgiri Mountain Railway from Udagamandalam to Coonoor. From Coonoor, we travelled by road to Kodaikanal. The distance is more than 200km. The road is in good condition with a beautiful scenery.
What I loved most was the combination of coconut, palm and banana gardens and the mountains were providing a backdrop for these gardens.
The road offered views like this!!
After a long journey of nearly 6/7 hours, we reached Kodaikanal, in the evening. The landscape was covered with the famous beautiful mist of Kodaikanal. Here is a series of photos, showing the landscape without and with the mist and when the mist was cleared with sunlight on next morning.
Upper Lake Point
You can get a beautiful view of Star shaped Kodai lake from this point. The lake is a man made lake and is the center point of Kodaikanal.
When you actually visit the lake, the shape of the lake is not easily recognizable. But when you view from Upper Lake View Point, the shape is instantaneously visible.
Moir Point
This is one of the very popular points in Kodai. This point is at distance of 15/20 minutes by car, from the Upper lake point. Name is given in memory of Sir Moir who has built the road in 1929. You will see a pillar which was erected to mark the opening of the road.
The view is simply mesmerizing. There is a viewpoint as well. You can enjoy the scenery and soak yourself in the pleasant weather. There is a small park and few shops nearby.
About 15 minutes drive from Moir point is another beautiful sight, named Pine tree forest. There are hundreds of pine tree standing tall in natural surroundings. You can walk leisurely in this area. There are some activities like horse riding available in the forest. But I strongly condemn, using animal rides for just your pleasure and so preferred walking in the forest. It is an unforgettable experience. The tall majestic trees are growing high as if trying to reach the skies.
You can see hundreds of pine cones scattered on the ground, some types of lichen growing on stems of pine trees. The Sun rays getting filtered through the pine crowns seem to be really magical. The world looks different there!! They say that there are some sort of plants and mushrooms in the forest, which when ingested, make you hallucinate. But just looking at the crowns of the tall trees, the sun rays, the long lines of tall stems and cones scattered on ground takes you into another world!!!
At around 10 minutes drive from the Pine forest is another famous tourist spot named Guna caves.
Guna Caves
Previously this spot was named as Devil's kitchen. The Kamal Hasan movie 'Guna' which was released in 1991 was shot in these surroundings and thus came the name Guna caves.
These are the caves formed on mountain top in a dense forest. The caves are dangerous and after the death of many hikers trying to enter the caves, now the caves are closed for public. But just visiting the place is also thrilling. With roots of old Shola trees forming a maze on the ground, the sharp cliff and the mist make this place mysterious!
There are few steps and approximately half a kilometer walk from the entrance.
Actually these caves are at the back side of three pillars and the three pillar rocks view point is at 10 minutes drive from Guna Caves.
Three pillar rocks view point
Huge, Giant, Gigantic, Towering pillar like rocks, three of them stand tall near the cliff offering an unforgettable view. The three pillar rocks are nearly 400 ft. high. The mist veils and unveils them. Standing there, looking at them, you surely keep marveling about the wonders of nature.
After a day full with excitement, viewing various tourist points, a little unwinding is welcome. For that, we chose the boating in Kodai lake.
The star shaped lake at the center of Kodaikanal is the prime attraction together with the nearby Bryant park. The path around the lake is favorite among the locals as well as tourists. The mist covered water of the lake, the blue lilies and the cool breeze make this boating trip a pleasant activity.
Bryant Park
The park is named after the forest officer who has planned this garden in 1908. It is a huge 20 acre park with variety of colorful flowers, beautiful lawns. When we had visited Kodaikanal in January 2019, some restoration work was going on in the park. There is an annual flower show held in the park in summer, mostly in the month of May.
Silent Valley
For visiting certain points like Silent valley, Caps point, Berijam lake etc., a special permission from Forest department is required. Only a few vehicles are allowed each day to enter the forest reserve. So it is better to reach there early as otherwise, there is a long queue of vehicles waiting to enter the area.
I liked the fact that the wildlife sanctuary authorities have taken all the efforts to literate people. Silent valley is on the Berijam lake road. If the weather is clear, you will be able to see the really deep valley. It must be a magnificent view. When we had visited, the valley was filled with mist!
Caps fly valley!
As the name suggests, the place is windy. Anything light weight like a tissue paper or dry leaf, when thrown away will come back to you like a boomerang!
Berijam Lake view point
This is the special tourist fact that, though we are going near the Berijam lake, it's very important to see it from the view point!!!This looks like a trick to increase the number of points in the brochure. Anyways the view is simply awesome. So no complaints about it!!
Berijam lake
This is a reservoir lake which provides drinking water to some towns near Kodaikanal. Boating is not allowed in the lake. As it comes in the restricted area, entry is allowed only from 9.30 a.m. to 3.30p.m., that too with forest department permit. This forest reserve is rich in flora and fauna and has some rare medicinal plants as well. Peaceful area with natural beauty makes it a must visit site. There is a temple near the entrance. You can see some wild animals in the forest reserve. Blue lilies typical of this region are in abundance.
Coming out of the restricted area let's go to Kodaikanal city again!!
Coakers Walk
This is one of the most popular attractions in Kodaikanal. It is a small stretch of 1 or 1.5 km. This is very near the Kodai lake. The path is surrounded by mountains and valleys and provides an amazingly beautiful view. It is very popular among tourists and so is mostly bit crowded. But there is good fencing done on the valley side, so it's not dangerous. There are some roadside vendors as well.
Kurinji flowers are seen on the slopes of Coakers walk. For those who don't know about Kurinji flowers, let me tell you that these are the bluish flowers which give the Nilgiri mountain it's name. The Nil - blue comes from the blue color of Kurinji. They bloom once in 12 yearson the slopes of Nilgiri Mountain and make it blue! We missed the bloom by a month. In 2018, Kurinji flowers were in full bloom, in the months of August to December. In fact, this Kurinji Bloom was mentioned by Prime Minister Hon. Modiji in his 'Man ki baat'! Though we had missed the full bloom, we could see some of the late bloomers. But sadly I don't have even a single photograph of the Kurinji Flowers. Why? Due to the famous and lovely mist of Kodaikanal. Many times it happens that in a matter of few minutes, the valley gets filled with fog and nothing is visible. When we were at Coaker's walk, we could enjoy the same.
It is said that sometimes you can see your shadow on the clouds with a rainbow halo around you, while you are walking on this Coaker's walk. We were not that lucky!!
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| Peach blossom |
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| Coakers Walk |
There are some more points to enjoy in Kodaikanal. There are some beautiful waterfalls. Observatory, museums, temples, trekking, fun park, wax museum are there, so that you can visit it according to your taste and availability of time.
Getting vegetarian food in Kodaikanal is not a problem. You can get delicious south Indian Vegetarian food. Near the lake area in city, you will be able to find many vegetarian restaurants.
For staying in Kodaikanal, umpteen choices are available. We were staying at Le Poshe Club Mahindra. It is having a vast area beautifully landscaped and overall a well maintained facility. But if you are having some senior citizens with you, who are unable to walk, choose the rooms accordingly. As the area is vast and there are many steps to climb as well, it could be a problem. We had completely enjoyed our stay in it.
If you let them know, well in advance, about your special requirements of food, they surely try to provide it. For us, they had come up with excellent vegan options and even desserts. Kodai is bestowed with variety of fruits and so says the platter as well.
Now it is time to return home! We travelled to Coimbatore by road. The road is good and scenery is beautiful. From Coimbatore we took a Coimbatore- Mumbai flight.
#ClubMahindra #KurinjiThe NeelgiriFlower # Mankibaat #GunaCaves #PlacesToVisitInKodaikanal #KodaiKanalInTwoDays.
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