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The Spice Garden of Kerala

If you are looking for a perfect tourist place to spend your holidays with your family or with your partner to have some quality romantic time, far away from all the rush and busy schedules of urban life, here’re the nature resorts in Kerala, which could be the best answer for your all such queries.

Being one of the districts in high-range in Kerala, Idukki gives you the perfect climate for a few days out from the hectic jobs to breathe some fresh air and there are many resorts in Idukki which can serve your wishes in that manner.

In 1998 a place named Kuttambuzha was added to Ernakulum district which made Idukki the second largest district in Kerala in terms of geographical area though it's the smallest in terms of population. The district is rich in forests and thus known as the ‘spice garden of Kerala’.

The whole district is a mountainous terrain with several river valleys and some deep canyons. The entire northern part of the district is much higher than the other parts and contains many mountains and peaks including the highest peak of western Ghat, the Anamudi. There are around 13 peaks in Idukki which exceed a height of 200 mts.

The valleys of Idukki were enriched with spices and had high demands even centuries ago. The wide variety of spices irrespective of the taste, the quality and demand where huge and it had customers from all around the world. This legacy makes Kerala, ‘the spice garden if India’ and Idukki becomes ‘the spice garden of Kerala’. Apart from Idukki, Wayanad is the other district which cultivates spices. The majorly exported spice was pepper and which was known as ‘black gold’ at that time. Other aromatic spice like cardamom and few more exotic spices are also cultivated and exported.

The history of spice export from Kerala began centuries ago. The Egyptians and Babylonians were the first to trade with us and which opens the business door to the Middle East countries with our state. The spice route thus opened by the Egyptians reached Greek-Roman people and even before the Christian time these Indian, especially Kerala spices were called ‘Eastern spices’ by the western countries. Later the Arabs were coming to us for direct trade and following them the Portuguese, the Dutch and eventually the British came to us for trading. Black pepper, Cinnamon, Ginger, Turmeric, Glove and Nutmeg were the most cultivated spices in Kerala. These were tasty, precious and healthy too. The nutmeg is one of the ingredients in cosmetics.

Idukki has a large area of dense forest and shola forests. The hill area is highly vulnerable to floods and Idukki is now considered as the climate changing hotspot along with few more other districts. The researches show that the change in climate and landslides may lead to deforestation. The large scale constructions are also a reason for this landslides and climatic changes.

Thekkady, Munnar and Vagamon are some famous tourist spots in the district which used to welcome a lot of tourists every year despite the climate and season. Thekkady is a forest area and shares borders with Tamil nadu, the neighbouring state. Thekkady has a dense evergreen and semi-evergreen landscape including thick forest and savanna grasslands. It has a wide variety of species including tiger, lion-tailed macaques, elephants, sambars and Nilgiri langurs.

The artificial lake formed by the Mullaperiyar dam across the Periyar river is the most attractive spot in thekkady as the elephants, bison and deers are used to come down to this lake to drink water. This forest area which was formerly known as the Periyar wildlife sanctuary was then upgraded to the Periyar tiger reserve in 1978. Idukki is the most significant sport in the tourist map of Kerala as it welcomes more travellers every year than the other stations in the state. Hence it has many resorts and hotels running around each tourist spot who offer many facilities to the guests. Thekkady has numerous nearby attractions which can make your visit to Thekkady more worthy. Murikkady is such a place which is just 5 km away from Thekkady. Murikkady is known for the pepper, cardamom cultivation in large scale along with large coffee plantations. A daytime picnic here is highly recommended as Murikkady has an excellent atmosphere to spend some quality time with family and friends.

Peermade is another hill top around 44 km away from Thekkady and a fantastic place to pay a visit. This beauty on the top is around 1100 km above sea level and a must visit place.

There’s a 1000 year old temple, which is around 15 km away from Thekkady located in the Periyar Tiger Reserve, the Mangala Devi temple where the Goddess Mangaladevi is the main diety and this historic architecture was made during the Pandya dynasty.

Ramakkalmedu is another hill station not so long from Thekkady and its scenic beauty and the pleasant climate throughout the year makes it mesmerizing and ideal to have a pleasant vacation visit. You can also see the huge statues of Kuravan and Kurathi who are somehow connected to the construction of Idukki dam. Ramakkalmedu got its name from a story that it’s believed that lord Rama, has set his foot on this hill, during his search for lady Sita, who was then abducted by Ravana, the king of Lanka. The specialty of this place is the non-stopping blow of wind throughout the year despite the season, at a speed of 35 km/h. So the farms nearby Ramakkalmedu established few windmills and the electricity produced are transferred to Kerala State Electricity Board. Ramakkalmedu is known as Asia’s largest wind blowing area.

When it comes to the facilities for staying in Thekkady, there are many natural resorts and jungle resorts there. Mystic Mayapott is one of the best jungle resorts in Kerala which can provide an exceptional experience with a perfect blend with nature’s tone at the same time fitted with all security and comfort to the guests. The trekking, short walks through the jungle and nearby streams are few attractions which can make it one of the best resorts in Kerala for the family.

“A Balcony view to the spice capital of God’s own country from the best plantation resort in Kerala"