India GOMunnar: where it is and what it is famous for
Munnar is a town in the Idukki district of Kerala, in South India, at about 1,600 m in the Western Ghats and roughly 130 km by road from Kochi. It is famous for its tea estates, which cover the hills around the town, for the Nilgiri tahr of Eravikulam National Park, and for the neelakurinji, a shrub that turns the slopes blue once every twelve years.
Munnar is in the state of Kerala (South India).
elevation1,600mHigh in the Western Ghats, endless corrugated tea gardens roll away into mist, waterfalls and the odd colonial bungalow. The coolest, greenest escape in the south: hill walks, tea estates, and slopes that turn blue with the once-in-twelve-years neelakurinji bloom.
Where Munnar is
Munnar lies in the High Range of Kerala, close to the border with Tamil Nadu: at Top Station, about 32 km away, the tea country ends at a cliff over the Theni plains on the Tamil side. The surrounding region lies between about 1,450 and 2,695 m.
The name means "three rivers" in Malayalam: the town stands where three mountain streams meet, the Muthirapuzha, the Nallathanni and the Kundala.
The nearest airport is Kochi (COK), about 110 km by road; the state buses from Ernakulam cover 130 km, most of it climbing. There is no railway station in Munnar: the nearest is Bodinayakkanur in Tamil Nadu, about 68 km away, and in Kerala trains stop at Aluva, about 110 km. Details: how to get to Munnar.
What Munnar is famous for
Tea
Tea plantations cover about 24,000 hectares. Most estates belong to Kanan Devan Hills Plantations (KDHP), which took over from Tata Tea in 2005 and calls itself the largest employee-owned tea company in the world, with more than 12,500 worker-shareholders. Its estates run from about 3,200 to 6,450 feet. Nearby Kolukkumalai, at roughly 2,200 m, is widely cited as the highest tea plantation in the world.
The Nilgiri tahr
This wild mountain goat lives only in the southern Western Ghats, and Eravikulam National Park, about 13 km from town, holds its largest surviving population. In the park's tourism zone at Rajamala the tahr graze a few metres from the path.
Neelakurinji
A shrub of the high grasslands that flowers en masse once every twelve years. Its blooms are recorded every twelve years from 1838 to 2018, the cycle followed in Eravikulam; a second population, on Chokramudi and at Korandakkad near Mattupetty, bloomed in 2002 and 2014 and keeps its own twelve-year rhythm.
The highest peaks of the south
Anamudi, 2,695 m, the highest peak in South India, is in the Munnar hills. Meesapulimala, 2,640 m, is commonly cited as the second highest in the Western Ghats, and unlike Anamudi it can be climbed on a guided trek.
A short history
The hills were home to the Muthuvan community long before the plantations; the Muthuvan worshipped at the Sri Subramanya Temple in Old Munnar before the tea era. The first survey of the terrain was made in 1816–1817. Later, at the request of the Governor of Madras, Colonel Douglas Hamilton explored the hill country, and wrote of the High Range that its views were the grandest he had ever seen.
In 1879 John Daniel Munro and his partners began clearing forest near Devikulam, and through the 1880s Europeans laid out tea estates across the hills. The Kanan Devan Hills company was registered in 1897. From 1902 a monorail, rebuilt in 1908 as the narrow-gauge Kundala Valley Railway, carried tea from Munnar to Top Station, where an aerial ropeway lowered it into Tamil Nadu; the great flood of 1924 destroyed the line, and it was never rebuilt. CSI Christ Church, built by the planters in 1910, survives from that time. Tata and Finlay took over the estates in 1964, and in 2005 they passed to the employee-owned KDHP.
More facts
- Languages — Malayalam and Tamil; English is enough in tourist places.
- Climate — Cool all year: average highs of 21–26 °C. About 2,700 mm of rain falls in a year, most of it from June to November. More: best time to visit Munnar.
- Within 100 km — Marayoor, about 40 km away, has megalithic dolmens and Kerala's only natural sandalwood forest; Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary is 55–60 km; Vattavada, a vegetable-farming village, is about 45 km. More: day trips from Munnar.
FAQ
Munnar is in which state?
Kerala, in South India. Munnar is in the Idukki district, close to the border with Tamil Nadu.
Which district is Munnar in?
Idukki district, Kerala.
What is Munnar famous for?
Tea estates, the Nilgiri tahr of Eravikulam National Park, the neelakurinji that blooms once every twelve years, and treks to some of the highest peaks in South India.
How far is Munnar from Kochi?
About 130 km by road from Kochi (Ernakulam), and about 110 km from Kochi airport.
What does the name Munnar mean?
"Three rivers" in Malayalam: the town stands where the Muthirapuzha, Nallathanni and Kundala streams meet.
How high is Munnar?
The town is at about 1,600 m above sea level; the surrounding hills rise to 2,695 m at Anamudi.
Facts checked: 15 October 2026. Prices and hours are approximate; check locally.
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