Called the 'Queen of Hill Stations' picturesque,
green Udhagamandalam
better known as Ooty is the most popular hill station
in the South. Located in the Western ghats at a height of
2240m, Udhagamandalam is the headquarters of the Nilgiris
district where the two ghats meet. Nature has been generous
with this region which is by far the most beautiful in the
state. Apart from coffee andtea plantations, trees like
conifers, eucalyptus, pine and wattle dot the hillside in
Udhagamandalam and its environs. Summer temperature is rarely
higher than 25°c with a minimum of 10°c and winter is are
distinctly cooler with a high of 21°c and a low 5°c. Curiously
enough, this slice of paradise remained unknown to the great
southern dynasties and it took the British to discover it
in the early 1800s. They were however, not the first inhabitants
of this land as a tribe called Todas had been living there
long before the British came, claiming that the Nilgiris
had been their home since time immemorial. But the credit
for modernising Udhagamandalam and making it accessible
goes to the British who constructed the first railway line
in the area and made it the summer capital of the Madras
Presidency.
About Udhagamandalam
:
Settlement in Udhagamandalam began in 1822 with the construction
of the Stone House by John Sullivan,
the then Collector of Coimbatore. The bungalow which is
locally called Kal Bangla is one of the landmarks of Udhagamandalam
and is now the Chamber of the Principal of the Government
Arts College. Not many years after the construction of
the Stone House, several other English cottages with pretty
gardens, large bungalows of top officials in the Government
are built.
Even today the atmosphere of the
Raj lingers in places like the Club where
snooker was invented by a subaltern named Neville Chamberlain,
the Nilgiri Library with its rare and
valuable collection of books on Udhagamandalam and St.Stephen's
Church which was Udhagamandalam's first
church.
The cemetery near the church has
the oldest British tombstones in the town and include
those of John Sullivan's wife and daughter among other
prominent personalities.
South Indian
Tea has gained recognition far and wide. India is the
fifth largest tea producing belt in the world after China.
In 1991, South India exported 50 million kg to over 30
countries. Tea and Tourism Festival is celebrated in the
Nilgiris Jointly by the Department of Tourism, Government
of Tamil Nadu and Ministry of Tourism, Government of Tamil
Nadu and Ministry of Tourism, Government of India in every
January/February. Cultural programmes, visits to Tea Estates
and factories, fun and frolic etc., mark this celebrations.
Come to Nilgiris, during this festival, when tea lovers
from all over the world converge. An occasion not to be
missed.
