The HILLS

Kotagiri

                     Kota-Keri' means the street or lines of the house of the Kotas, was, once used to be the summer resort of the British. The kotta settlement there was shifted to Aggal hamlet (2kms away) after the government had acquired the land in 1911. There is a temple dedicated to Kamataraya deity and the annual festival which falls on Arudra Darshan day is of great importance to all the Kotas. Quieter and still untouched by commercialisation, Kotagiri offers its visitors to some of nature's most spectacular views like Kodanad view point, Longwood shola, Rangaswamy pillar and peak and Catherine falls. The places also boasts of lush green golf course. Dotted around the area with many tea plantations and a few coffee plantations, Kottagiri is also an important centre of tea industry like Coonoor. The hill station has the status of being the first place in the hills to which road was made from Sirumugai via Dena in the year 1819. 

Tourist Attractions at Kotagiri

               Consist of two water falls, Catherine Falls, also known as St. Catherine's Falls is about 12 km from Kotagiri and is approximately 7 km from Aravenu on the Kotagiri- Mettupalayam Road. From Aravenu, one has to go via Moon Road to reach Catherine Falls. It's crossed by the Mettupalayam Ooty road beyond the mountains and forms the upper stream of the Kallar river. It is named after Catherine, the wife of M.D.Cockburn, the pioneer coffee planter of Kotagiri and Yercaud. Falls from 250 feet high, this is located amidst of thick forest which gives a magnificent panoramic view of the forests, waylaid by tea gardens reaching as far as Kallar Nellithorai basin. The falls is the upper course of the Gaddhehaadahalla stream which drains the Kallar basin. One can see the Dolphin's Nose of Coonoor across the mighty gap in the hills

******************************************************

Agasthyakoodam

             Agasthyakoodam is a part of the Sahyadri range (Western Ghats) of mountains, Agasthyakoodam, at a height of 1,890 m above sea level, is the second highest peak in Kerala. Teeming with wildlife, the forests of Agasthyakoodam abound in rare medicinal herbs and plants, and brilliantly hued orchids.

  

     A bird watcher’s paradise, this legendary mountain is accessible by foot from Kotoor, near Neyyar Dam, as also from Bonakkad. Trek, where even the very air is supposed to have healing properties. It is believed that sage Agasthya, the mythological character lived here.

         Women are not allowed up the peak and permission is required to trek. The season from December to April is advocated for trekking, for which a forest pass has to be obtained the wildlife office in Thiruvananthapuram