Nedumkandam is the headquarters of

Udumbanchola Udumbanchola is a taluk in Idukki district of Kerala state in India. This is in the high ranges. Nedumkandam is the major town and capital of Udumbanchola taluk. Mathikettan Shola National Park is located in Udumbanchola. In July 2019, a tea ...

taluk which is situated in Idukki district of the Indian state of

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 ...

. Nedumkandam is among the fastest growing towns in the Idukki district. Nedumkandam is well known for its spices production and is a major contributor to the production of spices like cardamom and pepper. This town situated an average elevation (considering only town region) of 900 meter above sea level and maximum elevation respectively 1190 meter (kailasappara mountain) 1100 meter (Ummakkkada mountain, Kurishupara) and 975 meter (Nedumkandam St. Sebastian's Church Kurishumala ) and is a destination for economical stay and shopping for tourists in the popular Kumily-

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 ...

tourist route. SDA Residential English High School

Geography

Geographically, Nedumkandam lies in between the

Periyar Erode Venkatappa Ramasamy (17 September 1879 – 24 December 1973), revered as Periyar or Thanthai Periyar, was an Indian social activist and politician who started the Self-Respect Movement and Dravidar Kazhagam. He is known as the ' ...

Tiger reserve/

Thekkady Thekkady( Idukki district) is a town near Periyar National Park, an important tourist attraction in the Kerala state of India. The name Thekkady is derived from the word "thekku" which means teak. Temperatures are lowest in the months of Dec ...

and the hill station of

. It is known as the land of migratory farmers, most of whom have migrated from Central Travancore areas like

Kottayam Kottayam () is a municipal town in the Indian state of Kerala. Flanked by the Western Ghats on the east and the Vembanad Lake and paddy fields of Kuttanad on the west. It is the district headquarters of Kottayam district, located in south- ...

Palai Pallai ( ta, பளை, si, පල්ලෙයි), also spelt Palai, is a small town in the Kilinochchi District, Northern Province, Sri Lanka. It is located near the coast on the northern peninsula, approximately south-east of Jaffna. ...

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

Muvattupuzha Muvattupuzha () is a town in the midlands directly to the east of Kochi in Ernakulam district, Kerala, India. It is located about from downtown Kochi, and is a growing urban centre in central Kerala. The town is also the starting po ...

in search of better agricultural land in the 1960s to 1980s period. The land occupies the modern nedumkandum was either bought by the migrants from the native tribal people who were the traditional inhabitants of the land or was encroached from the then evergreen rain forests of western ghat. Most of these forests have now converted to agricultural lands or gave-way to the modern township. The major agriculture crops produced here are cash-crops like

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 ...

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 ...

and coffee. Besides there are a wide variety of other cash crops like tea,ginger, clove,coco,nutmeg etc. are also cultivated in small scales, in some areas according to geographic conditions available

Location

The town of Nedumkandam is situated along the sides of State Highway 19 (Kerala),

State Highway 40 (Kerala) State Highway 40 (SH 40) is a State Highway in Kerala, India that starts in Alappuzha and ends in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India . The highway is 183 km long. The Route Map Alappuzha – Muhamma – Thanneermukkam – Vechur Bund Road ...

and

State Highway 42 (Kerala) State Highway 42 (SH 42) is a State Highway in Kerala, India, that starts in Kumarakom and ends in Cumbum. The highway is approximately 190 km long. Route Kumarakom Boatjetti jn. – Edayazham – Kallara – Kaduthuruthy - kuruppa ...

almost midway between these three famous tourist destinations in western ghat and it extends a stretch of approx. 3 km. As a town with a history of less than four decades, it is a testimony to the high rate of migration from the low lands of Kerala in that time span where elephants roamed until the early sixties. It has evolved as a major township for the neighboring villages with Hospitals, Educational institutions, Banks and a spate of Government offices littered among the business centers. Pepper and cardamom are the mainstays of the economy. Pepper cultivation is predominantly a Malayalee activity. Land holdings are small, generally ranging from 10 cents to and a couple of cows for a family are common. In the dawn hours, riders with pails of milk can be seen descending to the town from their boards in the hills around Nedumkandam. The milk, collected by societies and carted off to Kochi, Kottayam etc. has sustained many a family in the lean years after their pepper vines were decimated by the wilt disease. Cardamom farms are larger and about half of the owners are Tamilians whose parents ascended the ghats from Cumbam, Bodinaikanur areas of Tamil Nadu to cultivate the forest soils of the Cardamom Hill Reserve areas. Nearest Picnic Spots are Ramakkalmedu,Kailasapara,Thooval falls, Kallumekallu,Mankuthimedu,Neyyandimala.

Educational organizations

* G.H.S.S KALLAR * M.E.S. College, Nedumkandam, Vattappara * M.G University College of Teacher Education Nedumkandam * Govt. Polytechnic College Nedumkandam * College Of Applied Science (IHRD) Nedumkandam * St. Sebastian's Higher Secondary School Nedumkandam * Karuna School Of Nursing Nedumkandam * Holy Cross Senior Secondary School Nedumkandam * University College Of Nursing Nedumkandam * Vijaya Matha Senior Secondary School Thookkupalam * S.D.A Residential English High School Nedumkandam * Govt. Vocational Higher Secondary School Nedumkandam *Asha Bhavan Special School Nedumkandam

Places of worship

References

{{Northern Travancore Cities and towns in Idukki district