Niligiris District

Photo courtesy:http://www.nilgiris.tn.gov.in
The Niligiris District

The Niligiris district comprises of Panthalur,Gudalur,Udhagamandalam,Kothagiri,Conoor and Kundah.The Niligiris is very dear to me as i have memories of visiting Ooty, annually when i was a child.I remember tourisng Ooty with my parents,grandparents and my brother.As i am a dog lover i used to visit Ooty annually for the dog shows combied with the annual flower show in Ooty.I had a brief visit to Conoor as my friend who lives there hosted me a visit there with her family.It was a memorable visit during my college days.
Ooty is the most famous in the Niligiris.Ooty is also known as Udhagamandalam is the "Queen of hill stations" and the capital of Nilgiris district.Nilgiris - "Blue Mountains"used to be a summer getaway for the Britishers during the colonial days.Ooty is situated at an altitude of 2,240 meters above sea level.Ooty was discovered by the Britishers in the year 1819,the roads connecting Coimbatore(Mettupalayam) to Ooty was laid by Mr. John Sullivan(the then Collector of Coimbatore),Mr. S.R.Lushington(the then Governor) and few others.The inhabitants of Ooty speak the native Badaga language.Apart from Badaga,languages like Tamil, Kannada, Hindi, Malayalam and English are also spoken.The toy train that starts from Mettupalayam to Conoor is a unique expience to view the tea estates and greenery of the Niligiri mountains.Ooty has numerous tea estates that eventually made it famous.The annual "Tea and Tourism festival" attracts large crowds.

Photo courtesy:http://www.nilgiris.com
Toy train

The localites in the Niligiris celebrate the thaipoosam in Elk Hill Murugan Temple (February), Bookkapuram Mariamman Annual Festival (February), Ooty Mariamman Temple Festival (April) and the Coonoor Mariamman Temple Festival (April).Apart from that the boat races and boat Pageantry in Ooty (May),flower show in Ooty (May) and fruit show in Coonoor (May) are visited by both national and the international tourists.