Meghamalai (

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

: மேகமலை), commonly known as the High Wavy Mountains, is a mountain range located in the Western Ghats in the Theni district near Kumily, Tamil Nadu. It is dotted with

cardamom Cardamom (), sometimes cardamon or cardamum, is a spice made from the seeds of several plants in the genera ''Elettaria'' and ''Amomum'' in the family Zingiberaceae. Both genera are native to the Indian subcontinent and Indonesia. They are rec ...

plantations and

tea plantation Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and northe ...

s. The mountain range is 1,500 metres above sea level, and it is rich in flora and fauna. The area, now mostly planted with tea plants, includes cloudlands, high wavys, venniar, and the manalar estates belonging to the Woodbriar Group. Access is largely restricted and includes largely untouched remnants of evergreen forest.

Megamalai Wildlife Sanctuary

For a long time, there has been a pending proposal with the

Tamil Nadu Forest Department The Madras Forest Department, now officially, Tamil Nadu Forest Department, is a government department of Tamil Nadu. The department is responsible for managing all the protected areas and forests plus environmental and wildlife related issues ...

to establish the Megamalai Wildlife Sanctuary on 600 km² of forest in the division. The suggested priority tasks in the sanctuary include: the control of poaching, the use of pesticides for the elimination of ganja (''Cannabis sativa'') and the cultivation as well as scientific management of watersheds. The Megamalai Wildlife Sanctuary can be an excellent buffer to the

Periyar Tiger Reserve Periyar National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary (PNP) is a protected area located in the districts of Idukki and Pathanamthitta in Kerala, India. It is notable as an elephant reserve and a tiger reserve. The protected area encompasses , of whi ...

and

Grizzled Squirrel Wildlife Sanctuary The Grizzled Squirrel Wildlife Sanctuary (GSWS), also known as Srivilliputhur Wildlife Sanctuary, was established in 1988 to protect the Near threatened grizzled giant squirrel (''Ratufa macroura''). Occupying an area of 485.2 km2, it is bo ...

which can immensely strengthen the conservation in the southern Western Ghats – the range of hills south of the

Palakkad Gap Palakkad Gap or Palghat Gap is a low mountain pass in the Western Ghats between Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu and Palakkad in Kerala. It has an average elevation of with a width of . The pass is located between the Nilgiri Hills to the north and ...

. Wildlife found on the High Wavy Mountains include Oriental honey buzzard, great pied hornbill, Indian brown mongoose, Jerdon's palm civet, white-bellied short-wing, black-naped monarch, pied thrush, gaur, tiger, leopard, Asian elephant, mouse deer, ''Ghatixalus asterops'', ''Raorchestes beddomii'', ''Raorchestes ponmudi'', ''Nyctibatrachus'' sp., ''Ramanella triangularis'', ''Ramanella montana'', ''Calotes grandisquamis'', ''Hemidactylus anamallensis'', ''Salea anamallayana'', ''Kaestlea travancorica'', ''Kaestlea laterimaculata'', ''Uropeltis madurensis'', ''Uropeltis liura'', ''Calliophis nigrescens'', large-scaled pit viper and the enigmatic Hutton's pit viper. When the high wavys group of estates were managed by

Hindustan Unilever Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) is a consumer goods company headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. It is a subsidiary of Unilever, a British company. Its products include foods, beverages, cleaning agents, personal care products, water purifi ...

, the company started a non-profit organization called the Megamalai Wildlife and Environment Association. It worked with the forest department to protect the endangered species and safeguard the forest and its creatures; it did so by putting up signs promoting the preservation of nature and animals along the Ghat road of Meghamalai. Unfortunately, most of these signs were destroyed in an expansion project that took place on the Ghat road. The forest department has put new signs to replace the damaged ones.

Megamalai Tiger Reserve

On 6 April 2021, the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

approved the creation of new

Tiger Reserve Project Tiger is a tiger conservation programme launched in April 1973 by the Government of India during Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's tenure. The project aims at ensuring a viable population of the Bengal tiger in its natural habitats, protectin ...

in tamil nadu and on 11 April 2021, Meghamalai Tiger Reserve was created. Meghamalai Tiger Reserve will now comprise both the Srivilliputhur

& Tirunelveli Wildlife Sanctuary. With its new status as a Tiger reserve, Meghamalai Tiger Reserve has become the 5th Tiger Reserve of Tamil Nadu and 51st

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. It is to be noted that Meghamalai Tiger Reserve also acts as a contiguous patch of forest (earlier buffer zone) for the

Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary Periyar National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary (PNP) is a protected area located in the districts of Idukki and Pathanamthitta in Kerala, India. It is notable as an elephant reserve and a tiger reserve. The protected area encompasses , of which ...

, via the

. In addition, it is believed that Meghamalai Tiger Reserve will become the crucial corridor/contiguous forest stretch and aid in the movement of wildlife from

, to Meghamalai Forests. Wildlife conservationists also hope that with the formation of the Meghamalai Tiger Reserve, greater protection will also be accorded the

Vaigai river The Vaigai is a river in the Tamil Nadu state of southern India; it passes through the towns of Theni, Dindigul and Madurai. It originates in Varusanadu Hills, the Periyar Plateau of the Western Ghats range, and flows northeast through the K ...

which originates in Meghamalai. The Tiger reserve will also be known as the Meghamalai-Srivilliputhur Tiger Reserve.

Flora

According to the experts the last extensive study of flora in the biodiversity-rich, Meghamalai have been conducted in the early 1980s. Since then, no comprehensive research has been done on the vegetation. Vegetation ranges from scrub forests at the foothills, ubiquitous expanses of tea and coffee estates, to spice (

pepper Pepper or peppers may refer to: Food and spice * Piperaceae or the pepper family, a large family of flowering plant ** Black pepper * ''Capsicum'' or pepper, a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanaceae ** Bell pepper ** Chili ...

cinnamon Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several tree species from the genus ''Cinnamomum''. Cinnamon is used mainly as an aromatic condiment and flavouring additive in a wide variety of cuisines, sweet and savoury dishes, breakfa ...

) plantations and finally to the dense evergreen forests at the top.

Fauna

Meghamalai forest area hosts a variety of birds, mammals, reptiles and butterflies. Resident and migratory elephants are also common. There are hundreds of identified species:

Wildlife of Meghamalai Tiger Reserve

Spotted deer The chital or cheetal (''Axis axis''; ), also known as the spotted deer, chital deer, and axis deer, is a deer species native to the Indian subcontinent. It was first described and given a binomial name by German naturalist Johann Christian Po ...

Spotted dove The spotted dove (''Spilopelia chinensis'') is a small and somewhat long-tailed pigeon that is a common resident breeding bird across its native range on the Indian subcontinent and in Southeast Asia. The species has been introduced to many parts ...

Barking deer Barking may refer to: Places * Barking, London, a town in East London, England ** London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, a local government district covering the town of Barking ** Municipal Borough of Barking, a historical local government dist ...

Sambar deer The sambar (''Rusa unicolor'') is a large deer native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia that is listed as a vulnerable species on the IUCN Red List since 2008. Populations have declined substantially due to severe hunting, local ins ...

Mouse deer Chevrotains, or mouse-deer, are small even-toed ungulates that make up the family Tragulidae, the only extant members of the infraorder Tragulina. The 10 extant species are placed in three genera, but several species also are known only f ...

Grizzled giant squirrel The grizzled giant squirrel (''Ratufa macroura'') is a large tree squirrel in the genus '' Ratufa'' found in the highlands of the Central and Uva provinces of Sri Lanka, and in patches of riparian forest along the Kaveri River and in the hill ...

Indian flying fox The Indian flying fox (''Pteropus medius'', formerly ''Pteropus giganteus''), also known as the greater Indian fruit bat, is a species of flying fox native to the Indian subcontinent. It is one of the largest bats in the world. It is of interest ...

Indian giant squirrel The Indian giant squirrel or Malabar giant squirrel (''Ratufa indica'') is a large multi-coloured tree squirrel species endemic to forests and woodlands in India. It is a diurnal, arboreal, and mainly herbivorous squirrel. Distribution and hab ...

Indian giant flying squirrel The Indian giant flying squirrel (''Petaurista philippensis''), also called the large brown flying squirrel or the common giant flying squirrel, is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae. It is capable of gliding flight using a skin membrane ...

Pied thrush The pied thrush (''Geokichla wardii'') is a member of the thrush family found in India and Sri Lanka. The males are conspicuously patterned in black and white while the females are olive brown and speckled. They breed in the central Himalayan ...

Black bulbul The black bulbul (''Hypsipetes leucocephalus''), also known as the Himalayan black bulbul or Asian black bulbul, is a member of the bulbul family of passerine birds. It is found primarily in the Himalayas, its range stretching from India eastwa ...

* Meghamalai rock gecko *

Black baza The black baza (''Aviceda leuphotes'') is a small bird of prey found in the forests of Northeast India, the eastern Himalayas, China and Southeast Asia. Many populations are migratory, including those in the Indian region, which winter in the sou ...

White-bellied woodpecker The white-bellied woodpecker or great black woodpecker (''Dryocopus javensis'') is found in evergreen forests of tropical Asia, including the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. It has 14 subspecies, part of a complex including the Andaman w ...

* White-bellied drongo *

Drongo cuckoo '' Surniculus '' is a small genus of birds in the cuckoo family. Its four members are found in tropical Asia and the Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika n ...

Black-naped oriole The black-naped oriole (''Oriolus chinensis'') is a passerine bird in the oriole family that is found in many parts of Asia. There are several distinctive populations within the wide distribution range of this species and in the past the slende ...

Black-naped monarch The black-naped monarch or black-naped blue flycatcher (''Hypothymis azurea'') is a slim and agile passerine bird belonging to the family of monarch flycatchers found in southern and south-eastern Asia. They are sexually dimorphic, with the male ...

* Black-naped hare *

Bengal tiger The Bengal tiger is a population of the ''Panthera tigris tigris'' subspecies. It ranks among the biggest wild cats alive today. It is considered to belong to the world's charismatic megafauna. The tiger is estimated to have been present in ...

Dhole The dhole (''Cuon alpinus''; ) is a canid native to Central, South, East and Southeast Asia. Other English names for the species include Asian wild dog, Asiatic wild dog, Indian wild dog, whistling dog, red dog, red wolf, and mountain wolf. It ...

Great pied hornbill The great hornbill (''Buceros bicornis''), also known as the concave-casqued hornbill, great Indian hornbill or great pied hornbill, is one of the larger members of the hornbill family. It occurs in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. It ...

Malabar pied hornbill The Malabar pied hornbill (''Anthracoceros coronatus''), also known as lesser pied hornbill, is a bird in the Hornbill, hornbill family, a family of tropical near-passerine birds found in the Old World. Taxonomy The Malabar pied hornbill was des ...

Oriental honey-buzzard The crested honey buzzard (''Pernis ptilorhynchus'') is a bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes many other diurnal Bird of prey, raptors such as kite (bird), kites, eagles, and harrier (bird), harriers. ''Pernis ptilorhyn ...

* Dusky palm squirrel *

Gaur The gaur (''Bos gaurus''; ), also known as the Indian bison, is a bovine native to South Asia and Southeast Asia, and has been listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1986. The global population was estimated at a maximum of 21,000 m ...

Tourist attractions

Tea estates and dams

The Highwavys provide a view of the entire mountain range of

Varusanadu Varusanadu is a village panchayat (code: 232202) in Theni district, Theni District of Tamil Nadu, which is located in the bank of Vaigai River. This village comes under Kadamalaigundu - Mayiladumparai Kadamalaigundu - Mayiladumparai Panchayat uni ...

Hills. There are large private tea, spices, and coffee plantations all around, notably the Highwavys Group of Estates. Ananda Plantations, Ponsiva Plantations, and Fieldmede Estate, are also some of the other small plantations in Meghamalai. An artificial lake makes plenty of scope for leisurely walks. Kardana Coffee Estate is situated in the High Wavy Mountains at . Six dams on the hill and originating place of Suruli Theertham (

Suruli falls Suruli falls, is located from Theni and from Cumbum in the Theni District in Tamil Nadu, India. It is a 2 stage Cascading water fall. The Suruli River supplying the falls originates from the Meghamalai mountain range. The falls drop from a ...

near Cumbum town) are popular attractions for tourists. From the Manalar dam, one can view the deep

Cumbum Valley Cumbum Valley, also called Kambam Valley, is a valley in the Theni district of Tamil Nadu state in India near the Kerala state border. This is the most fertile valley in south India, The valley includes lands between Thekkadi Hills, Varusanadu Hi ...

and the villages of Theni district. The Department of Tourism has planned to introduce a boat or ferry service to enable tourists to access the area.

Vellimalai

The Vellimalai (Silver Mountain, 1,650 m) area is the heart of Meghamalai. Silver-lined clouds seem to rest gently on green hilltops; nestled in this region is the place where the river

Vaigai The Vaigai is a river in the Tamil Nadu state of southern India; it passes through the towns of Theni, Dindigul and Madurai. It originates in Varusanadu Hills, the Periyar Plateau of the Western Ghats range, and flows northeast through the ...

originates. This place offers an opportunity to see wild animals aesthetically and scientifically managed

tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and northe ...

gardens.

Falls

Meghamalai Falls (Suruli Falls) is on the Suruli River originating in the Meghamalai Hills. Water flows down 58 meters through the twin falls. There are frequent visits by elephants, spotted deer, gaur, and other wild animals at dawn and dusk. Forest Department officials have plans to assist tourists in viewing these wild animals.

Encroachment threat

Massive encroachments in the reserved forests of almost all divisions in the district have been posing a threat to the

eco-system An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...

of the Megamalai hills. Of the total 806.86 km², about 400.77 km² were degraded forest area. A total of 292.81 km² falls under dense forest areas, of which only 22.43 km² was tree bearing. About 220 out of 430 km² of the Gandamanur forest range under the Madurai Forest Division had encroached in the past four decades. Large areas of Ulloothu Kavu, Anjaraipuli, Elamalaipoodu, Arasaradi, Bommarasapuram, and neighboring villages were also encroached. With an increase in population and their demands, vast stretches of land were either degraded or converted into uni-crop areas, causing damage to the environment. The people settled in the hill tracts were solely dependent on the forests for livelihood. Conservation of natural forest in any form will help preserve

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...

Access

The Meghamalai mountain range can be approached two ways—from Theni via

Chinnamanur Chinnamanur is a town and a municipality in Theni district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. As of 2011, the town had a population of 42,305. The town is one of the major trade centers in the district and supports basic needs for a population ...

, or

Andipatti Andipatti or Aundipatty is a municipal body in Theni district in Madurai Region of Tamil Nadu state in southern India. It is on the bank of Vaigai River with rich flora and fauna species. It is a valley surrounded by mountains and there is a ...

via Kandamanayakkanur. Both can be accessed by road from

Madurai Madurai ( , also , ) is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District. As of the 2011 census, it was the third largest Urban agglomeration in ...

and

Dindigul Dindigul, also spelt Thindukkal (), is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the administrative headquarters of the Dindigul district. Dindigul is located southwest from the state capital, Chennai, away from Tiruchirappalli, away ...

Theni Theni is a valley town situated in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu at the foothills of Western Ghats. It is the headquarters of the Theni district, located in a distance of 70km from Madurai. It is known for the large-scale trading of garlic, c ...

is 76 km from

. The road from the turnoff near Chinnamanur before Iravangalar was under the responsibility of the Woodbriar group; due to lack of maintenance, the government has started to maintain it. Only forest lodges and panchayath rest houses are available at the hilltop. Day-trippers may stay in hotels in

and

. The distance from Madurai is 130 km. The website for Mehamalai has a warning against travelling there in June and July.

Gallery

File:Meghamalai Mountains.jpg, Meghamalai Mountains File:Meghamalai.jpg, Meghamalai File:Cloudy Mountain near Kadayanallur.jpg, Cloudy Mountain File:Manalaru Dam, Meghamalai.jpg, Manalaru Dam File:Cumbam Valley.jpg, View of Cumbam Valley File:Elephants Coming Out of Forest.jpg, Wildlife File:Elephants at river.jpg,

Asian elephant The Asian elephant (''Elephas maximus''), also known as the Asiatic elephant, is the only living species of the genus ''Elephas'' and is distributed throughout the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, from India in the west, Nepal in the no ...

in megamalai tea estate, alt= File:Bison at Meghamalai.jpg, Bisons at Meghamalai File:Meghamalai Forest.jpg, Forest File:Clouds Near Meghamalai.jpg, Meghamalai File:Meghamalai Temple.jpg, Murugan Temple on the foot hill File:Upper Manalar Estate, Meghamalai.jpg, Upper Manalar Estate File:High Wavy Mountains.jpg, The Highwavys of Theni district File:High Wavys Dam.jpg, High Wavys Dam File:Meghamalai Coffee Plant.jpg, Meghamalai Coffee Plant