The ancient Mangaladevi temple- the temple that opens only once a year
Published April 29, 2008 | 
Kattapana: Scores of visitors including pilgrims and tourists from both Tamil Nadu and Kerala visited the ancient Mangaladevi temple located within the Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary on the occasion of Chitrapournami day, for which the temple opens only once a year in the month of April .
Elaborate arrangements were made by the forest departments of the two States for the smooth conduct of the festival. Priests from both the states conducted separate pujas at the temple, which remained open till 5Pm. This temple is located along the jungles bordering Tamil Nadu and the festival is carried out jointly as both the States have made claims over it.
The forest path to the temple would be cleared by the forest department to facilitate the pilgrims from Tamil Nadu who reach the temple on foot. Pilgrims from Kerala reach the temple in jeeps through the Kumily-Mangaladevi route.
Time stands still in Silent Valley
Published February 27, 2008 | 
Palakkad: Silent Valley, the last of the few remaining original forests of the Western Ghats! It is a haven for an array of exotic flora fauna and is the last refugee of the lion tailed macaques. Located 40 kms away from Mannarghat town in Palakkad District, this wildlife Sanctuary, sprawling over an area of area of 90 sq. kms is famous for watching birds and butterflies as well. In these last stretches of virgin tropical evergreen forests diverse wild animals such as wild boar, flying squirrel, tigers and elephants are seen. Various types of snake, lizard and amphibian species thrive in this national park
It conveniently falls in the tourist circuit as it is not very far from the famous hill resort of Coonoor apart from many wild life sanctuaries such as Parambikulam sanctuary, the Attappadi forest range, the Choolanur Peacock Sanctuary, Eravikulam National Park ( famous for Nilgiri Tahr), Anamalai Wild Life Sanctuary and the JP Smriti Vanam. There are regular bus services from Munnar and Marayur, famous for its sandal wood forests.
Silent Valley, known locally as Sairandhrivanam (the forest in the valley) was threatened by the construction of a Hydel Power Project during the 1970′s. It was saved from being inundated by a proposed dam due to the timely intervention of environmentalists and government officials. The Silent Valley National Park is adjacent to the Attappadi Reserve Forests to the East, the Palghat and Nilambur forest divisions in the West and South and the Nilgiri Forests in the North, thereby forming a crucial elephant corridor. This biodiversity hot spot of Silent Valley was declared as a National Park in 1984 and the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve with the Silent Valley National Park as its core area, was created in 1986.
The rain forest is rich in tropical evergreen trees with teak, rosewood, amla, bamboo and semal. In addition there are tropical hill forests, sholas and temperate forests. The climate in the National Park is warm in summer and cool in winter with th mercury spanning from 35°C Max in June and dips to a moderate 20 °C in December. It receives a total annual rainfall of over 1600mm and the Southwest monsoon lasts from July to September, bringing heavy rainfall to Silent Valley.
There are many rest houses, hotels and small guest houses where the tourists can stay within Silent Valley national Park. Palakkad town offers all the conveniences of a bustling town with cyber cafes and telecommunication facilities for you to stay connected with the world outside even in the tranquil recluse of Silent Valley.
Location: Mannarghat town in Palakkad District
Best Time To Visit: September to March
Accommodation: At Mannarghat there are many small lodes apart from a PWD Rest House and the reservation authority is the Palakkad District Collector.
Transportation: Silent Valley National Park is well connected by air, rail and road. Peelamamedu Airport, at Coimbatore is the nearest airport, at a distance of 155 km from Silent Valley National Park. Olavakkode Railway Station at Palakkad, 75 km away, is the nearest railway station, which is connected to Silent Valley National Park by bus service.
Getting around: There are also regular buses from Palakkad to Mannarghat (45 kms.) Bus service connects Mannarghat to Mukkali located 22 kns away. Silent Valley, located 18 kms away from Mukkali can be accessed by Jeep or Truck.
3 Crore earmarked for eco tourism projects in Kerala
Published January 15, 2008 | 
Kuttiyadi, Kozhikode: The State Government has allocated a 3 Crore budget outlay for promoting ecotourism projects in the state for the year 2008. Tourism Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan was speaking on the occasion of the inauguration of the eco tourism spot at Janakikkad, 7 Km from kuttiyadi. This project was developed to spread awareness on ecotourism apart from offering the stunning natural spectacles to the visitors. It is located at a sprawling 131 hectares of breathtakingly beautiful land on the banks of the Kuttiyadi River without marring the natural beauty of the surroundings. Visitors would have facilities for trekking, rafting, bird-watching, butterfly tracking and bathing in the river. The Kerala Forest Department would be implementing the project, in association with the Janakikkad Forest Protection Committee.
It is proposed to start ecotourism projects at 75 selected places of which work in 47 centers has already started and nineteen projects have already thrown open to the public. Special emphasis has been given to develop the tourist spots in the Malabar region such as Peruvannamozhi, Thusharagiri and Kakkayam among others. To provide further impetus to the tourism projects in this region, the State Government has allocated almost 50 percent of the total funds. Apart from this a subsidy of 15 percent would be provided to tourism promoters and entrepreneurs making investments in Malabar. It has many untapped regions, worth exploring, which makes it a hot spot for ecotourism projects.
The Tourism Department is planning joint tourism ventures with the assistance of the departments of Forest, Environment, Water Resources, Kerala State Electricity Board Fisheries and Health. The latest entrants in the tourist map of health and hydel tourism are pointers of this new trend. With the introduction of the monsoon tourism package, Kerala has become one of the few destinations in the world that caters to tourism all through the year virtually with no lean phase.
Kerala ranks an impressive 10th position in the international tourist map with a healthy 10% increase in the arrival of tourists. While the foreign tourists accounted for 5 lakh footfalls domestic tourists amounted to 65 lakhs. These days, Indians are giving more importance to vacation plans than ever before thanks to the slashed airfares and a buoyant economy. Gone are the days when tourism used to be a privilege of a hand full of the elite and the well heeled of the society. Today the head turning catchphrase of people’s tourism has changed the conventional equations of tourism industry in the contemporary era.
To promote tourism in grass root levels government is planning to provide financial grants to promote tourism clubs in higher secondary schools. Eco tourism projects are sure to benefit the economy of Kerala as it is naturally blessed with lush green forests, hills and perennial rivers, which makes it a class apart from the umpteen cookie cutter destinations.