Suryanelli is a resort settlement in the Chinnakanal village in Idukki district,

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

, bordering

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

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 ...

. Situated 40 km South East of the popular tourist location of

Munnar Munnar () is a town and hill station in the Idukki district of the southwestern Indian state of Kerala. Munnar is situated at around above mean sea level, in the Western Ghats mountain range. Munnar is also called the "Kashmir of South Indi ...

. It is surrounded by tea plantations and many resorts. Tea Sapling

Etymology

Suryanelli is a name derived from two words " Suryan( origin :Sanskrit)and Illai( Tamil)", which translates to No Sun. Long before the human settlements formed this placed used to be on the way to Sabarimala and it was a densely

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

ed area. The tree were so dense that it almost covered the ground devoid of any sunlight.

Geography

Situated at 1,412 m (4,633 ft) from mean sea level in the southern Western Ghats it receives a very high rainfall. The maximum rains are brought in by the

South-west Monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscill ...

. It has a very pleasant climate throughout the year. However, the temperature drops drastically when the weather gets

wind Wind is the natural movement of air or other gases relative to a planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heating of land surfaces and lasting a few ho ...

Water-Bodies

Since it is on the slopes of the western ghats, Suryanelli is fed with may streams and rivers. Most of these streams dry up during peak summer months or Late April and Early May. However, the waterfalls near the Chinnakanal power house never dries up. There is a clear view of the Anaiirangal dam from Suryanelli. Bathing and swimming in these are highly restricted because of the water being used for drinking purpose. Tribal temple at Rajakumari, Idukki district

Tribal temple at Rajakumari, Idukki district

Languages

The Major Languages are Malayalam and Tamil. However the locals are conversant in English and Hindi due to the heavy influx of tourists.

Places of Worship

Suryanelli has many small temples, the main one being a Lord

Ganesha Ganesha ( sa, गणेश, ), also known as Ganapati, Vinayaka, and Pillaiyar, is one of the best-known and most worshipped Deva_(Hinduism), deities in the Hindu deities, Hindu pantheon and is the Supreme God in Ganapatya sect. His image is ...

Temple. There is a prominent

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and a

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

Church.

Economy

Majority of the locals work in the adjacent

Plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

s, both

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 north ...

and

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 r ...

. Some of them are in the hospitality sector, working in the resorts and as tourist guides. Some work as transporters both cargo and passenger.

Health care

Suryanelli has a 20 bedded primary health center cum hospital run by the plantation catering to the needs of the hospital. The hospital conducts frequent health check-up and awareness programs.

Education

Suryanelli as a village has a very high literacy rate. There are many state-run schools in and around the There is a high end private Montfort School. Munnar Catering College is a prestigious hospitality residential college in Suryanelli.

Transport

Suryanelli is well connected to both the western and eastern foothills. The Closest International Airport is

Kochi International Airport Cochin International Airport is an International airport serving the city of Kochi, in the state of Kerala, India. Located at Nedumbassery, about northeast of the city centre, Cochin International Airport is first of its kind which is develo ...

. which is 134 km away and the major railway junction is on the other-side at Madurai at 137 km. However, going towards cities

takes lesser time as the road quality is better. The nearest town in the Tamil Nadu side is Bodinayakanur and

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 ...

, where as on the Kerala side is

Kothamangalam Kothamangalam, , is a municipality in Ernakulam district of Kerala, India. The town is in the foothills of the Western Ghats, and is a part of the Idukki Lok Sabha constituency. The town serves as the headquarters of a taluk and a municipality ...

and Aluva. Suryanelli is well connected to various places in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, by the state-run

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

es and

taxi A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choic ...

services. There are innumerable local jeep services to travel in and around the town all the way up to Bodinayakanur. Suryanelli is the base station for Kolukkumalai visit which has the highest tea plantation in the world

Flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' ...
and
Fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is ''funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as ''Biota (ecology ...

Suryanelli is the midst of a very fragile ecosystem. Most of the surrounding places fall under the Reserve Forest Area. It is home to the highly

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and in ...

indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...

Nilgiri Tahr The Nilgiri tahr (''Nilgiritragus hylocrius'') is an ungulate that is endemic to the Nilgiri Hills and the southern portion of the Western and Eastern Ghats in the states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala in southern India. It is the state animal of Tami ...

Tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus ''Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on ...

Asian Elephants 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 n ...

, Red Squirrel, and various types of Birds. There is always an Animal - Human Conflict here especially with the elephants. The elephants raid the cardamom plantations and the human interference of their habitat during

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...

season of Sabarimala.

Tourist Accommodations

Suryanellli is home to a variety of Tourist accommodations ranging from home-stays to high end resorts hotels. There are a few

campsite A campsite, also known as a campground or camping pitch, is a place used for overnight stay in an outdoor area. In British English, a ''campsite'' is an area, usually divided into a number of pitches, where people can camp overnight using te ...

s too.

References

{{commons category, Suryanelli Villages in Idukki district