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George Joseph

Peermade is a small beautifulplantation town located to thesouth of the Idukki district.Blessed by the fragrance ofcardamom and spices, the

beautifull green mountains crowned withmist make the place an ideal spot for a visit.The place got its name from the name of aSufi saint called Peer Mohammad. Themeaning of the word Peermade is ‘the Hill

of Peer’. The famous tourist destinationsnamely Thekkady and Vagamon are verynear to Peermade.

The place is known as Kerala’s OwnOoty. It stands at an altitude of more than1000 meters above the sea level. The climateis always pleasant here. The place is ideal foradventure sports like mountaineering,trekking and cycling. Now sophisticatedsports like paragliding too is done here. Thesecond highest peak of south India is located

A Heaven Away From

here, after the one at Munnar calledAnamudi. The main attractions here includetea plantations, viewpoints, waterfalls,architectural wonders etc. So the next timeyou plan your outing, include Peermade.Get yourselves relaxed by the breathtakingsights of huge mountains, waterfalls, lakesand much more.

The place was covered by thick forestsbefore a hundred years; the onlycommunity who lived here were the wild

T o u r i s m

Natural beauty in abundance.

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animals and the tribal. Archaeologists have found thatpeople have been living here even during the very ancienttime. It was found that the hills were once colonized byNeolithic people. Though there are not many written recordsfor this, traces of their cultural remains can still be seen oftenalong the hills.

The whole work of transforming these hills to a humanadaptable environment was done under a CMS missionarynamely Henry Baker who belonged to the Baker family ofEngland, chiefly known for their contributions in the fieldof education. He used to visit the foothills of this placecalled Mundakayam on the request of the tribal people uphill,for uplifting their community. Henry Baker was a strongadventurous man. He loved travelling through the jungles

and he used to visit the tribal colonies uphill. He loved the placevery much, and that resulted into the very idea of transformingthe hills into plantations. He started plantations with the grantswhich he got from his family in England. Soon many people wererequired to work in the plantations and they were brought fromTamil Nadu.

The first plantation which was tried was coffee with the seedsbrought from Wayanad. But soon there was a trouble; the coffeeplantations were affected by a leaf disease, called Hemalia Vextratix,by which the leaf turns to dark colour and dries up and so thecoffee were abandoned. Just after that tea was cultivated

m HeavenThe place is known asKerala’s Own Ooty. Itstands at an altitude ofmore than 1000 metersabove the sea level. Theclimate is alwayspleasant here. The placeis ideal for adventuresports likemountaineering, trekkingand cycling.

Enchanting waterfalls

Flora and Fauna

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experimentally in about 10 acres. Tea bushwas brought to Peermade from Nilgiris. Asit was a grand success tea plantations weredone all around Peermade, and even nowtea remains to hold the major plantationshare.

Later, many others including J.JMurphy and Richardson followed him andstarted plantation estates, and soon thewhole area became an active plantation belt.As more and more people were required towork in these plantations, more and morepeople were bought from the plains. At thattime there being no roads, bullock carts wereused to carry goods. Sometimes they werecarried as head loads to Mundakayam andby motor vehicles to Kottayam and toEngland via ship.

In 1912, there was a long rainy seasonwhich induced landslides killing a largenumber of people. The living condition ofthe people here was very bad, as they had towork for about twelve hours a day, and therewere no medical facilities.

Walking along the steep curved roads

surrounded by beautiful tea plantationsitself is relief to our mind. Waterfalls atValangankanam, which falls from a heightof about 75 meters to the roadside is exciting.It is very lovely to spend here watching thebeauty of the falls and the hills nearby. It isabout eight kilometres away from Peermade.To enjoy the most out of a visit, you mustmove by foot or a cycle.

Hills and viewpoints: Trishanku hills,which is just four kilometres away fromPeermade, at Kuttikkanam, is a land massentirely covered by green grass. The greatestof all is the spectacular sunset. It was saidthat earlier the places up to the costal regionlike Alapuzha was visible from here.

Amrthamedu, the second highest peakof south India, after the Anamudy atMunnar is visible from here. The mount isan ideal point for trekking. Another twomain view points are the places calledPanchalimedu and Parunthumpara. AtParunthumpara, about 11 kilometres awayfrom Peermade there is a very large stretchof rock surrounded by trenches on three

sides. From here we can get a view of thegreat holy fire at Sabarimala.

Architecture: One of the architecturalmarvels here is the Velankanni Mathachurch located at Pattumala which wasabout eight kilometres away from Peermade.The whole place is surrounded by beautifultea gardens and hills. The church is builtentirely of granite and was built in thegothic style of architecture.

Many old bunglows built by Europeansare now turned into stay homes. There weget a view of the old European style ofarchitecture with beautifully decoratedinteriors. There is an old palace, the summerpalace of the Travancore Maharajar atKuttikkanam. Flower garden located atPattumala is just seven kilometres fromPeermade. There are more than a hundredvarieties of flowers here shining in vividcolours. Hundreds of tourists arrive heredaily mostly to see the flowers, butsometimes to pose with the flowers.

The place is easily reachable. It is on theNH 220. It is just 75 kilometres away from

Wading through tea plantations

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Kottayam exactly 9° 35' North 76° 59' East. It is just 36kilometres away from Thekkady, the famous tourist place. Thenearest railway station is at Kottayam. There are buses frequentlyfrom Kottayam to this place. Even the roads to this place arevery beautiful. The roads to the hill rise from the planes ofMalanad (meaning land of hills) of Mundakayam, the townalong the foothills. The plantations switch from rubber andpaddy at the lowlands to cardamom and tea at the highlands.The major plantations here are tea, but there are others tooincluding spices like pepper, vanilla, cloves, cardamom etc. Fruitsand vegetables like cabbage, oranges, strawberry etc are also grownhere.

AccomodationThere are many hotels at Kuttikkanam. Also there are more

than a dozen of resorts and old bunglow. Most of the hotels takethe tourists for an adventurous ride or site seeing.

Peermade is more and more becoming as a centre of educationand meditation. More than a dozen of colleges and schools arethere near Peermade, in which students from other parts of Keralaand outside Kerala come for studies. Most of the educationalinstitutions are located at Kuttikkanam, which is a plantationtown situated four kilometres away from Peermade.

ARCHITECTURAL MARVEL- ARCHITECTURAL MARVEL- ARCHITECTURAL MARVEL- ARCHITECTURAL MARVEL- ARCHITECTURAL MARVEL- Pattumala Church

WRAPPED IN MISTWRAPPED IN MISTWRAPPED IN MISTWRAPPED IN MISTWRAPPED IN MIST : the majestic mountains of Peermade