Located
16 kms from Munnar, this
gorgeous hill station symbolises nature in her pristine glory. The crisp
and cool mountain air heavily laden with the fragrance of wild flowers and
rare herbs is any nature lover's paradise.
The Sita Devi Lake offers rejuvenating springs of mineral water and is
also a favourite picnic spot among tourists. Besides the expansive tea
plantations, a spice garden run by the district tourism promotion council
nurtures a wide variety of spices.
The idyllic hill station with its velvet lawns, exotic flora and fauna
and the cool mountain air offers a rare experience to visitors. The Sita
Devi Lake is an ideal place for trout fishing.
Irresistibly green slopes touching the sky at a thousand metres. Silent
clusters of slender red and blue gum trees. A lovely, little lake hidden
within the rolling hills. This is Devikulam. A dainty town sixteen
kilometres southwest of Munnar.
A perfect picture of fairy-tale enchantment. The legend has it that once
Sita Devi, the holy consort of Lord Rama, came down to frolic in the lake
and the place came to be spoken about as 'Devikulam' (meaning the lake of
the goddess), ever since.
Chinnar
Wildlife Sanctuary:
North of Devikulam, around 60 kms away, sprawls the
Chinnar
Wildlife Sanctuary. With a sandalwood forest on the nearer end, it
falls away as a thorny, rain-shadowed scrub jungle found nowhere else in
Kerala.
This is where one could find the highly endangered species of both the
Grizzled Giant Squirrel (last worldwide count: less than 200) and the Star
Tortoise, in addition to a large population of Gaur.
Deep within the sanctuary, one comes across the massive Thoovanam Falls
on the river Chinnar.
Recently erected watchtowers rise high above the vegetation and permit a
fascinating view of the game.
The ascent to Devikulam from Cochin takes 4 ½ hours (149 kms), while from Kottayam one can reach there in just under 4 hours (132 kms).