Valparai 7th Heaven

Valparai is a hill station in Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu. It is located 3,500 feet above sea level on the Anaimalai Hills range of the Western Ghats, at a distance of 100 km from Coimbatore and 65 km from Pollachi. There are 40 hairpin bends on the way to Valparai from Azhiyar. While major portions of the land is owned by private tea companies, large forest areas continue to be out of bounds.The Government of Tamil Nadu in collaboration with ITDC initiated Tourism promotion through infrastructure development including Resort hotels and Amusement parks to attract tourists.

The area of the sanctuary is 958 sq. kms. Various kinds of fauna like elephant, gaur, tiger, panther, sloth bear, deer, wild bear, wild dog, porcupine, flying squirrel, jackal, pangolin, civet cat and birds like rocket-tailed drongo, re-whiskered bulbul, black headed oriole, tree pie, spotted dove, green pigeon, etc. are found on the best spots. The Amaravathy reservoir in the Anamalais has a large number of crocodiles. There are also many places of scenic beauty such as Karainshola, Anaikunthi shola, grass hills, water falls, groves, teak forests, estates, dams and reservoirs.

Photo by @aerial_holic