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One of the largest and most visited wildlife reserves in India, the Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary occupies 777 square kilometers of the Cardamom hills region of the Western Ghats. The majority of its many visitors come in the hope of seeing tigers and leopards - and most leave disappointed, as the few that remain very wisely keep their distance, and there's only a slight chance of a glimpse even at the height of the dry season (April/May). However, there are plenty of other animals: elephant, sambar, wild pig, Malabar flying squirrel, gaur, stripe-necked mongoose and over 260 species of birds including Nilgiri wood pigeon, blue-winged parakeet, white-bellied tree pie, laughing thrushes and flycatchers. Located close to the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border, the park makes a convenient place to break the long journey across the Ghats between Madurai and the coast. It's also a good base for day-trips into the Cardamom hills, with a couple of tea factories, spice plantations, the trailhead for the Sabarimala pilgrimage, and viewpoints and forest waterfalls within striking distance. Periyar lies at cool altitudes of 900m to 1800m with temperatures between 15°C and 30°C, just over 100km east of Kottayam, and centres on a vast artificial lake,created by the British in 1895 to supply water to the drier parts of neighboring Tamil Nadu, around Madurai.
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The royal family of Travancore, anxious to preserve favorite hunting grounds from the encroachment of tea plantations, declared it to be a Forest Reserve, and built the Edapalayam Lake Palace to accommodate their guests in 1899. It expanded as a wildlife reserve in 1933, and once again when it became part of Project Tiger in 1979. Seventy percent of the protected area, which is divided into core, buffer and tourist zones, is covered with evergreen and semi-evergreen forest. The tourist zone - logically enough, the part accessible to casual visitors - surrounds the lake, and consists mostly of semi-evergreen and deciduous woodland interspersed with grassland, both on hilltops and in the valleys. Although excursions on the lake are the standard way to experience the park, you can get much more out of a visit by walking with a local guide in a small group, or, especially, staying in basic accommodation in the sanctuary away from the crowd. However, avoid the period immediately after the monsoons, when leeches make hiking virtually impossible. The best time to visit is from December until April, when the dry weather draws animals from the forest to drink at the lakeside. |
Explore Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary
Cardamom Hills
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