The story of Munnar
A little history and culture, in brief.
Surveyors mapped these hills in the 1810s. Planters arrived decades later. Tea took to the cool slopes.
John Munro leased the Kannan Devan hills in 1877. Estates spread across the ridges. A tea company grew powerful.
Munnar is now Kerala's hill retreat. Green estates roll to the horizon. The rare kurinji blooms every twelve years.
Tribal communities lived here first. Planters reshaped the hills. Estates rose across the ridges.
The kurinji flower is legendary. It blooms once in twelve years. Whole hillsides turn blue.
The hills were surveyed for teak. Then tea proved better. Estates spread across the ridges.
A ropeway once carried the tea. It ran down to the plains. Trucks later took over.
Elephants still roam the parks. The Nilgiri tahr clings to cliffs. Wildlife shares the slopes.
Mist rolls in each afternoon. It cloaks the tea in white. Then lifts to reveal green.
The tahr cling to sheer cliffs. Eravikulam protects them. They are shy but curious.
Estates run like clockwork still. Pickers move down the rows. The leaf goes to auction.
Sources: Munnar — Wikipedia · Kerala Tourism · Munnar · Eravikulam National Park · Mattupetty Dam.