Eravikulam National Park

Eravikulam protects around ninety-seven square kilometres of high shola-grassland above Munnar, including Anamudi, at 2,695 metres the highest peak in India outside the Himalaya. It holds the largest surviving population of the Nilgiri tahr, a mountain goat found only in the southern Western Ghats, and the animals in the tourist zone are habituated enough to graze beside the path. The slopes also carry Strobilanthes kunthiana, the neelakurinji, which flowers en masse once every twelve years and turns the hills blue-purple; the last mass bloom was in 2018. Access is by park bus to a set walking stretch.

History

Before 1971 the area was run as a game preserve by the Kanan Devan Hills Produce Company. The Kerala government took the land back in 1971, declared the Eravikulam-Rajamala Wildlife Sanctuary in 1975 to protect the Nilgiri tahr, and made it Kerala's first national park in 1978 (Wikipedia, Eravikulam National Park).

Highlights

• The Nilgiri tahr - habituated animals grazing beside the visitor path.
• The shola-grassland - high rolling grass with forest in the folds.
• Anamudi - India's highest peak south of the Himalaya, seen from the park.
• The neelakurinji slopes - where the twelve-year bloom occurs.

When to go

September to May; the park closes for calving from roughly February to March, and again in the monsoon. The neelakurinji bloom comes once every twelve years, most recently 2018.

Things to know

Visitors are confined to a short stretch reached by compulsory park bus, with long queues in season. Anamudi cannot be climbed by ordinary visitors. Mist frequently closes the views.

Nearby

Munnar lies south; the tea estates surround the park.

Key facts