Meghamalai (

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

: 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 genus (biology), genera ''Elettaria'' and ''Amomum'' in the family Zingiberaceae. Both genera are native to the Indian subcontinent and Indon ...

plantations and tea plantations. 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 Tamil Nadu Forest Department, formerly the Madras Forest Department, is a Government of Tamil Nadu, government department responsible for managing all the Protected areas of Tamil Nadu, protected areas and forests plus Environmental polic ...

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 district, Idukki and Pathanamthitta district, Pathanamthitta in Kerala, India. It is a renowned Project Elephant, elephant and Project Tige ...

and Grizzled Squirrel Wildlife Sanctuary 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 the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and Palakkad in the state of Kerala. It has an average elevation of with a width of . The pass is located between the ...

. 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 an Indian fast-moving consumer goods company, headquartered in Mumbai. It is a subsidiary of the Anglo-Dutch company Unilever. Its products include foods, beverages, cleaning agents, personal care products a ...

, 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 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

approved the creation of new Tiger Reserve in tamil nadu and on 11 April 2021, Meghamalai Tiger Reserve was created. Meghamalai Tiger Reserve will now comprise both the Srivilliputhur Grizzled Squirrel Wildlife Sanctuary & 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 Tiger Reserve in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. 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, via the Grizzled Squirrel Wildlife Sanctuary. 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, Madurai, Manamadurai, Paramakudi and Ramanathapuram. It originates in Varusanadu Hills, the Periyar Plateau of the Western Ghats range, ...

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,

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 ...

) 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 called spotted deer, chital deer and axis deer, is a deer species native to the Indian subcontinent. It was first described by Johann Christian Polycarp Erxleben in 1777. A moderate-sized deer, mal ...

Spotted dove The spotted dove or eastern 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 East and Southeast Asia. The species ...

* Barking deer *

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

* Mouse deer * Grizzled giant squirrel * Indian flying fox * Indian giant squirrel * Indian giant flying squirrel * Pied thrush * Black bulbul * Meghamalai rock gecko * Black baza *

White-bellied woodpecker The white-bellied woodpecker or great black woodpecker (''Dryocopus javensis'') is a woodpecker species inhabiting evergreen forests in tropical Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. It is among the largest of the Asiatic woodpeckers and nests ...

* White-bellied drongo * Drongo cuckoo * Black-naped oriole * Black-naped monarch * Black-naped hare *

Bengal tiger The Bengal tiger is a population of the ''Panthera tigris tigris'' subspecies and the nominate tiger subspecies. It ranks among the largest wild cats alive today. It is estimated to have been present in the Indian subcontinent since the Late ...

Dhole The dhole ( ; ''Cuon alpinus'') is a canid native to South, East and Southeast Asia. It is anatomically distinguished from members of the genus ''Canis'' in several aspects: its skull is convex rather than concave in profile, it lacks a third ...

* Great pied hornbill * Malabar pied hornbill * Oriental honey-buzzard * Dusky palm squirrel *

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

Tourist attractions

Tea estates and dams

The Highwavys provide a view of the entire mountain range of Varusanadu 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 near Cumbum town) are popular attractions for tourists. From the Manalar dam, one can view the deep Cumbum Valley 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 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 south-western China and nor ...

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) is a system formed by organisms in interaction with their environment. The biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Ecosystems are controlled by external ...

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 is the variability of life, life on Earth. It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability, species diversity, ecosystem diversity and Phylogenetics, phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distribut ...

Access

The Meghamalai mountain range can be approached two ways—from Theni via Chinnamanur, or Andipatti via Kandamanayakkanur. Both can be accessed by road from

Madurai Madurai ( , , ), formerly known as Madura, is a major city in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District, which is ...

and Dindigul. Theni 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 Theni, Chinnamanur and Andipatti. 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 ''Elephas'' species. It is the largest living land animal in Asia and the second largest living Elephantidae, elephantid in the world. It is char ...

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