ERAVIKULAM NATIONAL PARK TOURISM

Lying under the vast blanket of plateau mist, with its careless magnificence, Eravikulam national park is considered as  the gem of  south India.   It spreads for about 97km square of area surrounded by tea plantations and grasslands blessing its viewers  with a  bountiful chalice of beauty.

TOURISM AND FAUNA

Eravikulam is the first national park in Kerala and is best known for being home to over 750 Nilgiri tahrs an endangered species of Indian fauna.   The park is closed for some time at the start of the year due to the calving of tahrs. Apart from nilgiri tahrs , eravikulam also nurtures for about 132 different species of birds, 101 species of butterflies and 19 species of amphibians.People can watch these animals roaming carefree from the rajamalai region which is the tourism zone of the area.Echo point is a popular viewpoint here.

NEELAKURINJI

The most stunning and unparalleled highlight of munnar must be the flowering of neelakurinji flowers. These beautiful blue-violet flowers bless us with its appearance only once in twelve years transforming the entire hill with its sheer magnificence.  The next sighting is expected in the year 2018.

ERAVILKULAM – MUNNARS TOURISM HUB

Munnar is attracting tourists from all over the world ever since the 1870s when the tea plantations started and Eravikulam national park is the hotspot of Munnar tourism.Munnar is also the home of a variety of orchids, languars and Indian bisons. There have been reports that a new species of frog was recently found and named raorchestes resplendens.Eravikulam  also  hoards south Indias  highest peak of southern region ,Anamudi here. It has a height of about 2695 meter

HISTORY OF ERAVIKULAM TOURISM

It started of   as a game reserve owned by the Kannan Devan hill produce company till 1971. This stunning piece of high land had been a source of attraction for travelers from all around the world. Col. Douglas Hamilton described the beauty of Eravikulam in the early 1854.  Later the land was divided among various members of the society and crops like coffee and cinchona was cultivated. It took a few more years before tea began to be cultivated. it was slowly realized that tea is the crop that best grows in this geography. Eravikulam was also the favorite hunting reserve of many English men.The government of Kerala declared the place as eravikulam –rajamalai national park in 1975. It was upgraded to national park in 1978. Now eravikulam is under one of the six protected areas under wildlife division, Munnar.The park management takes severe measures in the prevention of pollution, littering and other illegal activities around the area as there has been an exponential shift in the number of visitors since last few years.