Wayanad

Wayanad sits at seven hundred to two thousand metres on the Kerala side of the Western Ghats, cooler and wetter than the coast below, planted with coffee, pepper, cardamom, tea and areca. Chembra peak, the district's highest at about 2,100 metres, is climbed past a small lake shaped roughly like a heart. Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary adjoins Bandipur and Nagarhole, so elephants move between them freely. Edakkal caves hold prehistoric petroglyphs, Banasura Sagar is an earth dam with islands in its reservoir, and Adivasi communities including the Paniya and Kurichiya live across the district.

History

The name comes from vayal nadu, "the land of paddy fields". People are believed to have lived here from at least 1,000 BCE, the Edakkal Caves hold rock engravings of the Neolithic age, and in its early recorded history the area was part of the Ezhimala kingdom of the Nannans, whose descendants came to be known as the Kolathiris (Wikipedia, Wayanad district).

Highlights

• The spice and coffee estates - pepper, cardamom and coffee across the hills.
• Chembra peak - a climb past the heart-shaped lake to the district's highest point.
• The wildlife sanctuary - elephants moving between three states' reserves.
• Banasura Sagar - the earth dam reservoir with wooded islands.

When to go

October to May; the monsoon is very heavy with landslide risk, and 2024 saw severe landslides in the district. Chembra is closed periodically for fire risk or restoration.

What to expect

Chembra access is capped and sometimes closed entirely. Monsoon landslides have closed roads and affected communities badly in recent years. Elephant movement through plantations makes some areas restricted after dark.

Nearby

Edakkal caves lie in the district; Kozhikode is west.

Key facts