Valparai

Valparai is a Taluk and hill station in the Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu, India. It is located 3,500 feet (1,100 m) above sea level on the Anaimalai Hills range of the Western Ghats, at a distance of 100 kilometres (62 mi) from Coimbatore and 65 kilometres (40 mi) from Pollachi and 25km away from Malakkapara, Kerala. Aliyar Dam situated at a distance of about 40 kms, Sholayar dam is not very popular but yet worth visiting, Monkey falls is a nice place for relaxing, Loam’s Sight Seeing point gives a mesmerizing view of Anamalai hills, Grass hills, as the name itself suggests is covered with grass giving a pleasant green view, which is not open to tourists and entry is strictly prohibited due to heavy poaching. Huddled in the wide-spanning biome of the Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR), the fauna in and around Valparai are at once diverse, majestic, and fierce. Veering off into the thick, lush evergreen forests can lead one to spot leopards, elephants, sambars boars, and sloth bears amongst others. Yet the forests are also home to much rarer species, unique to this part of the Western Ghats: these include but are not limited to lion-tailed macaques, flying squirrels, pangolins, and the great hornbill. Finally, in 1890, the English merchants Wintil and Nordan acquired land from the British Raj to start their plantations and, in effect, launched the coffee industry of Valparai in full-swing, The flourishing of the coffee industry led to increased urbanisation.