History
: Until 1790, Munnar and the surrounding area were forests covered, when
they were first recognized by the European known as Duke of Wellington.
Later in the year 1870, a subordinate of the ruler of Travancore, leased 588
sq. km of land to a Scottish tea planter named J.D. Munro, who was the
lawyer in the employee of the Travancore Government. The first tea sapling
was planted by A.H. Sharp at Parvathi, which is currently the part of
Sevenmullay estate. Presently the whole area is covered by the mile and
miles of lush tea gardens, owned by the various private companies. Tourists Activities :
Venture through the tea gardens :
Beautiful landscapes, scenic environment and scented tea leaves is what makes nature walk here a pleasurable one. While taking thew walk spot 'Neelakurinji' a flower, which blooms after every twelve years. Once here, you get the opportunity to witness the picking of tea leaves to their packages in the tea factories. If you want you can yourself collect the fresh tea leaves from the gardens and take back home as souvenirs.
For the tourists information, Munnar itself is the most popular and picturesque hill stations of Kerala, located 1600 to 1800meters above the sea level. It is popularly known as the 'Kashmir of South India'. The peaceful environment and perfect serenity makes it a famous hot spot among the tourists from all around the globe. Along with the valleys, mountain streams and tea plantations there is lot more to discover in its surrounding area.
Visit to the Munnar Tea Museum :
Tourists can make a visit to the famous tea museum opened by the Tata Tea group. The museum puts light on the important fact and figures about the growth of the tea plantations in Munnar. It contains curios, old photographs, machineries and other things which have been used since long time. It provides the first hand experience to the tourists about the tea processing and the operations that go into the making of black tea. Some of the major items that are displayed at the museum are the original tea roller, used in earlier time around 1905, than the 'Pelton Wheel', which was used in the power generation plant in the 1920's, a rail engine wheel of the Kumdale Valley Light Railway.
Flora and Fauna :
You can engage yourself in exploring the exotic flora and fauna of Munnar. Visitors can make a excursion trip to the nearby Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary, Eravikulam National Park, Rajamala, and Silent Valley National Park. Here you may have encounter with the rare species of mountain goat Nilgiri Tahr or Ibex, elephants, tigers, lion tailed macaque, flying squirrel, Nilgiri wood pigeon and many more.
