Burliar (also Burliyar and Varaliyaru) is a Panchayat village in

Coonoor Coonoor (), is a taluk and a municipal town of the Nilgiris district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. As of 2011, the town had a population of 45,494. The town sits at the south-east corner of the Nilgiri plateau, and at the head of the Coonoo ...

Taluk A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluk, or taluka () is a local unit of administrative division in India and Pakistan. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administrative ...

The Nilgiris District The Nīlgiris district is one of the 38 districts in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Nilgiri () is the name given to a range of mountains spread across the borders among the states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala. The Nilgiri Hi ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

, India. Situated on the ghat road from Mettupalayam to Coonoor, Burliar is a popular rest stop with several small shops and restaurants. It has a government horticulture farm that was started in 1871.

History

horticulture Horticulture (from ) is the art and science of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, trees, shrubs and ornamental plants. Horticulture is commonly associated with the more professional and technical aspects of plant cultivation on a smaller and mo ...

farm, ''Burliar Gardens'', was started in 1871 by K.B. Thomas, the then Collector of Coimbatore and Nilgiris. This was subsequently converted into today's State Horticulture Farm. Over 100 years ago, Burliar was the first place in Asia, besides the Malayan archipelago, where

mangosteen Mangosteen (''Garcinia mangostana''), also known as the purple mangosteen, is a tropical evergreen tree with edible fruit native to Island Southeast Asia, from the Malay Peninsula to Borneo. It has been cultivated extensively in tropical Asia ...

and

nutmeg Nutmeg is the seed, or the ground spice derived from the seed, of several tree species of the genus '' Myristica''; fragrant nutmeg or true nutmeg ('' M. fragrans'') is a dark-leaved evergreen tree cultivated for two spices derived from its fru ...

were introduced and flourished.

Durian The durian () is the edible fruit of several tree species belonging to the genus ''Durio''. There are 30 recognized species, at least nine of which produce edible fruit. ''Durio zibethinus'', native to Borneo and Sumatra, is the only species ...

was introduced in 1898. In 1876–77, two plants of Liberian coffee and some

mahogany Mahogany is a straight- grained, reddish-brown timber of three tropical hardwood species of the genus ''Swietenia'', indigenous to the AmericasBridgewater, Samuel (2012). ''A Natural History of Belize: Inside the Maya Forest''. Austin: Universit ...

were planted in the Burliar Gardens. A total of 1,013 fruit plants were issued by the Gardens. During that year, the fruit trees were leased out to a contractor, thus keeping the expenditure low.

Geography

Burliar is situated on National Highway NH 181 between Mettupalayam(Coimbatore) and

on the Coonoor Ghat Road at an altitude of above mean sea level. It is located in a tropical to sub-tropical climatic zone. It is near the border between

and the

Coimbatore District Coimbatore District is one of the 38 districts in the state of Tamil Nadu in India. Coimbatore is the administrative headquarters of the district. It is one of the most industrialized districts and a major textile, industrial, commercial, educa ...

Demographics

As per the Census of India 2011, Burliar with a total area of had a population of 3,676 in 1,085 households. Females constitute 51.1% of the population, and 10.04% of the people are in the age group 0–6 years. The literacy rate is 70.0%, with male literacy of 75.9% being higher than female literacy of 64.3%. Scheduled Castes comprise 38.1% of the population while Scheduled Tribes are 10.5%.

Amenities

Annai Velankanni Burliar Nilgiris Feb24 A7C 09584

Traffic checkpost

Burliar has one of three checkposts setup by the Nilgiris District police for monitoring traffic into the Nilgiris District. During the peak tourist season, the inflow and outflow of traffic at these checkposts is used to predict congestion in Coonoor or Udhagamandalam, the major towns of the district.

Annai Velankanni Church

Annai Velankanni Church is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

shrine located in Burliar. The shrine is administered by the parish priest of St. Sebastian's Church, Coonnoor.

Economy

Burliar is best known as a rest stop on this

Ghat Road Ghat Roads are access routes into the mountainous Western Ghats, Western and Eastern Ghats, mountain ranges of the Indian subcontinent. These roads are remarkable feats of engineering, and most were constructed during the British Raj. Ghat Roads ...

. Most people are employed in the running of small shops and restaurants that cater to the needs of travelers. When the road has been closed (for example due to landslides), many of the villagers have left to seek other employment elsewhere. Besides catering to travelers, Burliar is largely agrarian. About 33.5% of the total area of is devoted to agriculture and horticulture, while 47.2% remains forested.

State Horticulture farm

This 150-year old horticulture farm has an area of about divided into 68 terraces. Spices and fruits are grown. Spices grown include

clove Cloves are the aromatic flower buds of a tree in the family Myrtaceae, ''Syzygium aromaticum'' (). They are native to the Maluku Islands, or Moluccas, in Indonesia, and are commonly used as a spice, flavoring, or Aroma compound, fragrance in fin ...

, nutmeg,

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, biscuits, b ...

pepper Pepper(s) may refer to: Food and spice * Piperaceae or the pepper family, a large family of flowering plants ** Black pepper ** Long pepper ** Kampot pepper * ''Capsicum'' or pepper, a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanacea ...

, and

vanilla Vanilla is a spice derived from orchids of the genus ''Vanilla (genus), Vanilla'', primarily obtained from pods of the flat-leaved vanilla (''Vanilla planifolia, V. planifolia''). ''Vanilla'' is not Autogamy, autogamous, so pollination ...

. Fruits grown include mangosteen,

jackfruit The jackfruit or ''nangka'' (''Artocarpus heterophyllus'') is a species of tree in the Common fig, fig, mulberry, and breadfruit family (Moraceae). The jackfruit is the largest tree fruit, reaching as much as in weight, in length, and in d ...

, durian,

litchi Lychee ( , ; ''Litchi chinensis''; ) is a monotypic taxon and the sole member in the genus ''Litchi'' in the soapberry family, Sapindaceae. There are three distinct subspecies of lychee. The most common is the Indochinese lychee found in So ...

, longsal,

carambola Carambola, also known as star fruit, is the fruit of '' Averrhoa carambola'', a species of tree native to tropical Southeast Asia. The edible fruit has distinctive ridges running down its sides (usually 5–6). When cut in cross-section, it re ...

grapefruit The grapefruit (''Citrus'' × ''paradisi'') is a subtropical citrus tree known for its relatively large, sour to semi-sweet, somewhat bitter fruit. The flesh of the fruit is segmented and varies in color from pale yellow to dark red. Grapefru ...

, rose apple and

mango A mango is an edible stone fruit produced by the tropical tree '' Mangifera indica''. It originated from the region between northwestern Myanmar, Bangladesh, and northeastern India. ''M. indica'' has been cultivated in South and Southeast As ...

References

{{Nilgiris district Villages in Nilgiris district