WHY KANTHALLOOR?

Among the beauty of nature, one of the spectacular beauties is the Western Ghats. Kanthalloor is the largest escarpment in southern India. It covers an area of 160000km2. The fascinating beauty of purplish blue flower Storbilanthes Kunthiana or Kurinji or Neelakurinji flowers blossom only once in 12 years in the forest of western ghats. The running river, slithering falls, waving tress, chirping birds, captivating clouds, gleamy sunshine, soothing sunlight, dazzling back waters, flourishing forest, exquisite beauty of animals, blooming meadow flush with colourful flowers, etc can be seen all together in one place in the world.

Kanthalloor is a village located in devikulam taluk of Idukki district in the Indian state of Kerala. It covers a total area of 116.29 km2 and is situated at around 1525 m above sea level. Adi Dravidar tribes live in 5 villages namely keezhanthoor, kanthalloor, perumalai, puthoor, guganathapuram. These villages are called “Anju Nadu” which literally means five lands.

The culture and the habits of the people living in the village is a mixture of Tamil and Malayalam Dravidian ethnolinguistic group. A central trend is formed from two different habits of people just like two streams come together to form a river. Acres of land stretching across kanthalloor village is famous for the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, crops and it rejuvenates the love of nature. Summer is seen only during the month of February, March, and May whereas cloudy, breezy, and winter climate is seen in the rest of the months.

Kanthaloor is famous for its wide variety of crops which are not seen in the other parts of Kerala. During the winter season some vegetables like beans, carrots, cabbage, garlic, green chili, tomato, red onion, sweet potatoes are cultivated and yielded in good quantity. Kanthalloor is the only place in South India where apples are grown and tourists reaches there to taste the real essence of apples from the courtyard. There is no season in kanthalloor without a ripened fruit available and it includes strawberry, blackberry, orange, plum, peach, passion fruit, tree tomato, sabarchil, sugar apple, guava, pomegranate, papaya, banana are also cultivated.

Kanthalloor has magnificent looking 7 nation parks, 3 waterfalls ,3 dams, and more than 10 shooting spots to visit. Most importantly ancient paleolithic rock paintings in caves are the most attracted tourist spots.

On the whole, kanthalloor is a breathtaking mixture of marvelous mountains, fragrant flowers, treasured trees, precious plants, charming culture and beautiful shooting spots, etc.

KANTHALOOR ROUTES

From cochin international airport to kanthalloor the only route is the roadway through NH85, approximately 175.5 km and the estimated time to reach the destination is 5 hr 18 min.

From Coimbatore international airport to kanthalloor the only route is road way through NH83 (130.8 km) and estimated time to reach the destiny is 3 hour 26 mins.