Periyar National Park is a secured zone in the district of
Idukki and Pathanamthitta in Kerala, south India. It has been established as
an elephant reserve and a tiger reserve park. The protected area covers an area
of 777 km2, out of which 350 km2 of the core zone was declared as the Periyar National Park in 1982, also known as
Periyar wildlife sanctuary.
The Periyar protected area lies in the middle of
a mountainous area of the cardamom hills. In the north and the east it is
surrounded by mountain ridges of over 1700m altitude and towards the west it
expands into a 1,200 meters high plateau. The longest river of Kerala,
Periyar, originates from the forests of the Periyar Tiger Reserve. The Periyar
wildlife sanctuary is also surrounded by Periyar Lake.
Periyar is one of the popular national parks in
southern India,
known for its elephants- here you can enjoy elephant rides through the jungle.
Flora
The trees mostly found in the entire protected
area are Vateria indica, Cullenia exarillata, Hopea parviflora, Canarium
strictum, Artocarpus hirsutus and Bischofia javanica are seen. Many of them may
be as high as 40 to 50 Metres. Eucalyptus plantation is also found at Periyar National Park. Variety of flowering plants,
seed plants, medicinal plants and species of ferns can also be seen here.
Fauna
Periyar
National Park is a great
reservoir of wildlife. For an animal lover, it is just the perfect place to go.
The fauna in the Periyar
National Park are:
Mammals
Periyar
National Park is known
for elephants and tigers. The reserve comprises of almost 53 tigers and 900
elephants. Other mammals found here are sambhar, barking deer, mouse deer,
mongoose, foxes and leopards. Four species of primates are also found at
Periyar - the rare lion-tailed macaque, the Nilgiri Langur, the common langur,
and the Bonnet Macaque.
Birds
Periyar
National Park is a great
place for bird-watching as weel – around 320 different kinds of birds can be
seen here. The birds mostly seen are darters, cormorants, kingfishers, the
great Malabar Pied Hornbill and racket-tailed Drongos.
Reptiles
There are 45 different kinds of reptiles in the
protected area which can be seen including 30 snakes, two turtle and 13 lizard
species.
Amphibians
Twenty seven different kinds of amphibians can be
seen at Periyar
National Park such as frogs and caecilians.
Where to
Stay?
There are many hotels and resorts at Thekkady.
The Kerala Tourism Development Corporation runs three hotels - Lake Palace
costs around 10,500 rupees ($250 per night) for a double room, Aranya Niwas
costs around 3,800 Rupees per night and the Periyar house costs around 2,200
rupees per night. The rates, however, change from season to season. It is,
therefore, advisable to check the rates beforehand.
Best time
to Visit Periyar
Periyar is open throughout the year and it can be
visited anytime between the months of October to June.
Boat
Cruises
Boat cruise is the best option to check out the
wildlife of Periyar Sanctuary. This facility is available at Periyar Lake
which presents excellent boating spot for tourists. Tourists can see elephants,
wild boar, Sambar Deer by the water’s edge.
How to
Reach Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary?
Air: Kochi/Cochin (200 km) and Madurai in Tamil Nadu (140 km) are the
nearest airports from Periyar.
Rail: Kottayam at a distance of 114 km is the
nearest railhead from Periyar.
Road: Kumily, the nearest town from Periyar is
well served by both state and private buses from Kottayam, Ernakulam and Madurai in Tamil Nadu.
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