Ponmudi Tourism

Ponmudi is blessed with scenic splendor and natural beauty. It has a carpet of thick tropical forest that rolls down to the foot of the hill range. A variety of wildlife inhabits the hills. The valley offers vistas of the hills and access to the Kallar River. Sightseeing in and around Ponmudi includes Ponmudi Waterfalls, Deer Park, River Kallar, Meenmutty Falls and Peppara Wildlife Sanctuary. Apart from sightseeing, Ponmudi is also famous for Ayurvedic medical treatments.

Along with other attractions, another main attraction in the region is Agasthyarkoodam, which is one of the highest peaks in the Western Ghat, with the highest peak at 1,868 m. Agasthyarkoodam peak is in the form of a sharp cone and is considered a heaven of rare herbs and medicinal plants. This peak is famous for its wilderness, and can be accessed only with the Forest Department's permission. Ponmudi is host to 283 species of birds, many of which are endangered and threatened. Birds endemic to this region include the painted bush quail, Malabar grey hornbill, Wayanad laughing thrush, broad-tailed grass bird and Nilgiri pipit. The grasslands of Ponmudi are the breeding grounds of the broad-tailed grass bird, a threatened species.

The way to Ponmudi itself offers magnificent pictures of nature’s beauty and the views of mountains are really enticing. You can experience the calmness in local villages here and the natural springs, vivacious singing birds, flickering butterflies and vast tea plantations sprinkled with small pretty cottages are doubtlessly a feast to the eyes. The Travancore kings were the very first to build rest houses here. It was built for their summer retreat and only those from the royal family were allowed to stay there.

There are a lot of sightseeing places here availing leverage to the scope of Ponmudi tourism. A vast variety of orchids decorating the landscape is one of the main attractions. You can also enjoy the scenic allure of carefully maintained plantations like rubber, pepper tea, cardamom etc. The invigorating rubber milk streaming out from rubber trees dropping into coconut shells is a common sight here. In almost every house here you can see plentiful rubber mats hanging.