The Woodhouse Mansion, Valparai.........

Gone are the days of using horse carts, bullock carts and the ropeway to reach Valparai. Today we have an excellent ghat road, which comprises of 40 hairpin bends starting from the Aliyar Dam. On the way up, one gets a breathtaking view of not only the dam but also of Pollachi and Coimbatore. Another picturesque approach to the Anamalais is via Chalakudi from Kerala where one passes Athirapally falls, also known as mini Niagara.

Valparai is an upcoming tourist destination ( thanks to the overcrowded Munnar) famous for its natural beauty and wild life. Valparai is located 3800 feet above sea level on the Annamalai Hills, a mountain range on the Western Ghats, which can be reached from Coimbatore via Pollachi and from Chalakudi via Athirapally-Malakkappara . A small plantation town, the people of Valparai are mainly plantation workers who live within the tea, coffee and cinchona plantations that make up the area. 80% of Valparai is tea cultivation which is owned by big companies like Wood Briar, TATA, BPTC, Parry Agro etc.

A snippet from history............ In 1864, Karnatic Coffee Company and some other people asked the Madras Government to provide some land for cultivation in the Anamalais. Government accepted the proposal and sold the waste land for Rs. 5.00 per acre. In the initial stages, Planters cultivated coffee. But they were not able to get the desired yield of coffee, which had a huge market. So the Karnatic Coffee Company sold some parts of the land to some people. Now one part of the area is called Waverly Estate and another part is called Water Falls Estate. MR. Carwer Marsh, a great planter from Essex, UK, is considered the father of Valparai. He surveyed the whole land and made a feasibility study of growing tea in this region and stood as a backbone for the poor and needy. We can see his statue sent by his wife from UK, standing majestically in Kavarakkal Estate on Valparai- Pollachi Road.




Woodhouse Mansion at the Puthuthotam estate. Puthuthotam is one of the oldest tea estates in this region. Earlier they cultivated coffee but later switched to tea. Still will can see a few old coffee bushes in front of the bungalow. The whole bungalow is built of wood; you won’t find any traces of other building materials in the main structure than wood. It is believed that Lord Rippon (1850’s) & Lord Mountbatten ( 1930’s) stayed in this bungalow during their visit to this hill station. Now it is with the Wood Briar group who owns the majority of the area. This bungalow is used as their company official guest house. They have let some 50 acres around this bungalow to grow wild as natural forest, which attracts bisons & much endangered lion-tailed macaques to hover around this bungalow.



Tourism Aspect………Knowing the scope of tourism in this area, Wood Briar group is promoting 3 of their bungalows for tourists- Stanmore Bungalow( Restored Directors Bungalow , 03 Massive Bedroom), Monica Bungalow & Villa Fair Winds Bungalow( both restored managers Bungalow with 3 bedrooms each). Location wise Stanmore and Monica are nice… far from the madding crowd. As Stanmore was director’s bungalow, it has got massive lawns where they arrange bonfire and barbeque at night. Another highlight is chef Ranga who makes wonderful dishes, mainly desserts. The way he takes care of the guests is some thing very special. He keeps moving between these 3 bungalows, so make sure that you stay in the. . A Villa Fair wind is also a nice bungalow but bungalow here is close to the town which might get noisy.




Wildlife……………It’s a real feast to eyes …spotting bison is something we can guarantee 100%. I have sighted herds of elephants during my day treks, then lion tailed monkeys( got the opportunity to feed them once, which is very very rare because they always prefer to be at a height of 100 ft from ground, hornbills, wild boars, barking deer, King Cobra and the VIP…..Leopards as Valparai is bordering the Indira Gandhi national Park.





Apart from wildlife, Valparai also provides scope for treks, camping and picnics with its mountainous landscape and gurgling streams all around. For tourists from Kerala, the drive from Chalakudi to Valparai is breath taking as we have to travel through dense forest for more than 40 Kms.
Wish to know more about this place….? Mail to fenjacob@gmail.com


Have a good day ahead!!!!!!