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Ooty
Tour
Nestled in the brilliant green hills of the Nilgiris,
Ooty or Udhagamandalam, is one of the favourite summer
retreats of people in South India.Orchards of peaches
and plums, terraced tea plantations, and eucalyptus,
pine and wattle lining the landscape
a typical hill
station in many ways.
It is situated at a distance of 105 km away from
Coimbatore. The height of the hills in the Nilgiri range
varies between 2280 and 2290 metres, the highest peak
being Doddabetta at a height of 2623 metres.
Founded by the British in the early part of the 19th
century, Ooty is home to many Britishers
who have fallen in love with this hill station where
they discovered a little bit of England. "
such
beautiful English rain, such delicious English mud" is
how Lord Lytton-Viceroy of India from 1876-1880
described Ooty to his wife! The British influence is
visible in the handrolled cigars, chocolate and cheese
one enjoys here. You also have the popular derby, and
'hunt' held annually.
A hill station with a landscape perpetually enveloped in
mist, Ooty's beauty has a timeless appeal.
Location :
Situated at an altitude of 2,268 m in the Nilgiri
mountain ranges of Tamil Nadu.
History Of Ooty :
Udhagamandalam, The "Queen of hill station" is the
capital of Nilgiri district. It is one of the best
tourist resorts.Nilgiris is called as "Blue
Mountains".The name Nila, we know to have been used over
800 years ago since,the King of the Hoysalas Vishnu
Vardhana, who ruled from 1104 to 1141 A.D. seized the
Nilgiris Plateau.His general Ponisia recorded this fact
in 1117 A.D. with mention of Todas. The name Nilgiri was
due to the blue haze which envelopes the range with most
distant hills of considerable size.
This Nilgiri territory came into possession of East
India Company as part at the ceded lands, held by Tipu
Sultan, by the treaty of Srirangapatnam in 1799. Rev.
Jacome Forico, a priest was the first European who
visited Nilgiris in 1603 and released his notes about
the place and people of Nilgiris. In1812 surveyor
William Keys and Macmohan visited the top of the
plateau. In1818,Wish and Kindersley,Assistant and Second
Assistant to Collector of Coimbatore visited this spot
and submitted their experience report to the Collector
of Coimbatore Mr. John Sullivan. Collector Mr.John
Sullivan with his party proceeded to Nilgiri Mountain
and made camp at Dimbhatti, just north of Kotagiri in
1819 in January. Again in May 1819 he came to the Hill
of Ooty and began the construction of his bungalow at
Dimbhatti (near Kotagiri), The first European dwelling
on the hills. Then the Collector John Sullivan laid path
from Sirumugai (near-Mattupalayam) to Dimbhatti in 1829
and the work was completed in May 1823. The Best route
up to Coonoor was laid in 1830-32. Ootacamund remained
still undiscovered.
The first mention of the place occurs in a letter of
March 1821 to the Madras Gazette by an unknown
correspondent as "WOTOKYMUND". The first house was build
at Ootacamund was undoubtedly the 'Stone House' by John
Sullivan in April 1822. John Sullivan already started
flower and kitchen garden at his Dimbhatti bungalow (Kotagiri).
Also he had began at Stone House of Ooty with Scottish
Gardener Johnstone to take care of it. In 1821-22
Caption B.S. Ward surveyed and mapped the hills. Mr Ward
said in his writing that travellers temporary bungalows
were put up at Kodapamund,Nanjanna, Killur and
Yellanhali and European vegetables had been tried
including
Strawberries and apple.In 1827 Sullivan sums up the
progress of Ooty including laiding of Ooty lake. 17
European houses had been build and five more at Kotagiri.
Then later on by several Englishmen Ooty, Coonoor and
Kotagiri were developed. After 1947. the free Indian
people administrators made all developments works of
hill station and made popular health and hill tourism
resort.
Places to see :
Government Botanical Garden (2 Kms)
This garden was laid out earlier by Marquis of Tweedale,
the then governor of Madras in 1847. This garden covers
an area of 22 acres. A fossil tree trunk of 20 million
years is preserved here. The flora of the garden consist
of six section comprising varieties of tree species,
grass carpet, variety of ferns, fashioned beds laid beds
laid out in an Italian style, multi coloured flowering
plants, house ferns and orchids and nurseries. This
garden will create tourist's mind a memorable one.
Lake View
About one Km. distance, an artificial lake can be seen
with a charming look, which was formed in 1824 by Mr.
John Sullivan,the then Collector of Coimbatore. Tamil
Nadu tourism Development Corporation provided the
following facilities to the tourists.
Mini Garden
Tourists can visit this mini garden which is on the way
to the Boat House. The children amusement park is housed
here. A snack bar is also available. It is maintained by
T.T.D.C.
Doddabetta
It is the highest peak (2623 meters) in the Nilgiris and
is about 10 Kms from Ooty. It lies at the junction of
the Western & Eastern Ghats and offer beautiful vistas
of the Nilgiri Hill ranges. It is surrounded by dense
sholas. One can have a panoramic view of the landscape.
The Mukkurthi Peak & National Park
Mukkurthi Peak is about 40 Kms. form Ooty. The Mukkurthi
National Park is located on the Southern corner of the
Nilgiris Plateau. The area contains a viable population
of Nilgiri Thar (Hamitragus hilocrius). The Kollaribetta
and Nilgiris Peak are other major peaks around. The area
is chained by innumberable beautiful and perennial
little streams,which fall into Bhavani Puzha. The Silent
Vally in the Western Ghat is located on the Western side
of these ranges. A fascinating feature of the Mukkurthi
Sanctuary is its endemism and relationship with
Himalayan Flora and fauna.
Hindustan Photo Films
The HPF, one of the major industrial units ot the
district, is a public sector enterprise. This unit is
located (about 5 Km away from Ooty railway station) over
a sprawling area of over 300 acres, near the Ooty
golf-links on the Ooty- Mysore road. The HPF was
inaugurated by Mrs. Indra Gandhi, Prime Minister, in
January, 1967. This industrial unit is currently
producing Indu roll films which are used for taking
photographs; Indu X-ray films, the quality of which is
acknowledged to be among the best in the world; Indu
bromide paper on which photographs are printed; and
Induaerographic for geological and defence mapping,
industrial X - ray film, laser recording film, CAT film,
special film for space photography, oscilloscope direct
print paper, photo typesetting paper and range of
chemicals for the film processing.
Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary
This Sanctuary lies at an elevation of 1140 mts in the
junction point of Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and
extends over and area of 321 sq.kms. A variety of
habitats ranging from tropical ever green forest, moist
teak forest, secondary grass lands and swamps are found.
Panther, Sambar, spotted Deer, Barking Deer, Wild
boar,Porcupine etc. The avifauna is varied with Minivets.
Hornbills, Fairy Blue Birds, Jungle Fowls etc.
Pykara
It is situated about 21 kms from Ooty, on the
Ooty-Mysore Road. The tourist attraction are well
protected fenced sholas, Toda settlements, undisturbed
grassy meadows and also a good wildlife habitat.The
Pykara Dam,Pykara falls and the reservoir attracts many
tourists.There is a forest Rest House at Pykara. a boat
House with Restaurant is available.
Deer Park
It is located at a distance of one Km. on lake road
which has Sambar, Chital and Hares besides water
birds.
The Narrow Trail
This is a journey nobody should miss. A journey where
you jostle with unimaginable crowds and squeeze into
tiny coaches, a journey where you feel you can actually
reach out and touch the elusive Nilgiris. It starts at
Mettupalayam, 46 km southeast of Ooty, where you board
the Blue Mountain Express that gets pushed by an engine
instead of being pulled!
When you hear frequent references to the Ooty mountain
train, you would somehow conjure up Lilliputian images
of people sitting in orderly, storybook fashion. That' s
sure mistake, for this small train of the Nilgiris
couldn' t be more full, with human forms oozing from
every pore! And if you still harbor rosy images, try
clambering on from Coonoor where it stops en route to
Mettupalayam. This is a precious travel tip, mind you.
But once you are on, it' s heaven. The overpowering
Nilgiri landscape has the ability to make you oblivious
of the human ocean around you and the greenery is bliss.
It' s a memorable 4. 5-hour journey, so don' t miss it
for anything.
Climate of Ooty :
Temperatures range from 25°C in summers to 5°C in the
winters.
Time to Visit Ooty :
Between November and March, avoiding high-season crowds
(April-June and September-October).
Wildlife In Ooty :
The region is a treasure of wildlife, with some animals
even native to these southern mountain ranges. There is
that deep-voiced Nilgiri langur (Presbytis johnii) with
its shiny black body and yellow-brown crown. The Nilgiri
langur happens to be one of the five langur species
found in India and Sri Lanka. These langurs of the
Nilgiris are often found in the sholas, which are
amongst their favourite haunts. It' s in the sholas that
you can also see the lion-tailed macaque.
The shy, timid and hard-to-spot Nilgiri tahr (Hemitragus
hylocrius) also has its home in these blue mountains.
This animal has pride of place in being the only wild
goat to inhabit any region south of the Himalayas. It
has a short coat, dark yellow brown in color, and
prefers to inhabit craggy regions above forest level.
The Nilgiris are home to a great variety of carnivorous
animals like tigers, panthers, jackals and hyenas.
Elephants, wildcats, civet cats, giant squirrels and
mongoose are also part of Nilgiri fauna. The Nilgiri
marten, nightjar, hill mynah, and golden oriole are some
of the region' s avifauna. In essence, this range of
mountains harbors a massive diversity of animal life.
Travel Information :
Air: Coimbatore, 105 km from Ooty, is the nearest
airport. Indian Airlines has flight to Coimbatore from
Bangalore, Cochin and Madras.
Train : The Blue Mountain Express to Ooty is from
Mettupalayam (47 km). Mettupalayam can be reached from
Coimbatore by the Tea Garden Express.
Road : All important towns of Tamil nadu, Kerala and
Karnataka are well connected to Ooty.
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Travel Agents & Tour Operators in Ooty
offers online booking for Ooty hotels at discounted
rates. We also provide reservations and information of
all luxury hotels in Ooty, five star hotels in Ooty,
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Ooty , India. We also provide other travel services
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