- Anaimalai Hills
The Anaimalai Hills ( _ta. ஆனைமலை) or Anamala Hills (in Malayalam) is a range of mountains in the
Western Ghats inTamil Nadu andKerala states ofSouth India . The name "Anaimalai" derives from the Tamil word 'Anai' meaning elephant [Fabricius, Johann Philipp. (1972) "J. P. Fabricius's Tamil and English dictionary", 4th ed., rev. and enl. Tranquebar: Evangelical Lutheran Mission Pub. House, retrieved 6/18/2007 [http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/romadict.pl?page=37&table=fabricius&display=simple anai (āṉai), an elephant] ] and 'Malai' meaning hill, thus Elephant Hill. The highest peak of the Anaimalai Hills isAnamudi , 2,695 metres (8,842 ft), located in theIdukki district of Kerala. It is the highest peak in India, south of theHimalaya s.The Western Ghats, Anamalai Sub-Cluster, including the Anaimalai Hills, is under consideration by the
UNESCO World Heritage Committee for selection as aWorld Heritage Site .UNESCO, World Heritage sites, Tentative lists, Western Ghats sub cluster, Niligiris. retrieved 4/20/2007 [http://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/2103/ World Heritage sites, Tentative lists] ]Geography
These hills are located between 10° 13' and 10° 31' N. and 76° 52' and 77° 23' E., central point: coord|10|22|N|77|07.5|E|type:mountains, forming a portion of the Western Ghats, north of where this range is broken by the
Palghat Gap , south of theNilgiri Hills . They constitute the meeting point of theWestern Ghats and theEastern Ghats . They border the state ofKerala on the Southwest and theCardamom Hills to the southeast. To the east are thePalni Hills . Their geological formation is metamorphicgneiss , veined withfelspar andquartz , and interspersed with reddish porphyrite. [1911 Encyclopedia Britannica [http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/ALM_ANC/ANAMALAI_HILLS.html ANAMALAI HILLS] ] Twelve Major forest types are found in the area which are now fragmented by many coffee and tea plantations on the lower slopes and teak plantations higher up.Monsoon rains are heavy. Annual rainfall varies from 2,000 mm to 5,000 mm in the area. [Sajeev T.K. et.al., "Management of Forests in India for Biological Diversity and Forest Productivity- A New Perspective", WII-USDA Forest Service Collaborative Project Grant No. FG-In-780 (In-FS-120), Volume III (ACA) [http://www.wii.gov.in/download/volume3(ACA).pdf Anaimalai Conservation Area] .] There are several large dams are in the area including: Aliayar Dam, Amaravathi Dam, Kaddambarrai dam, Neerar Dam, Sholayar Dam (one of the biggest of its kinds in Asia) Mannambhally Dam, and the largest capacity dam in India, theParambikulam Dam .Fauna
Anaimalai hills are known for their abundant wildlife.
Eravikulam National Park ,Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary ,Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary and the adjacent The Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary and National Park in these hills are well known for elephants. Numerous wildlife species can be seen including elephants,gaur , water buffaloes, tigers, panthers,sloth bear s,pangolin s,Black-headed Oriole s, crocodiles, Green Pigeons, civet cats,Dhole , Sambar and 31 groups of endangeredlion-tailed macaque s. [Singh M, Singh M, Kumar MA, Kumara HN, Sharma AK, Kaumanns W. (2002) "Distribution, population structure, and conservation of lion-tailed macarques (Macaca silenus) in the Anaimalai Hills, Western Ghats, India", Am J Primatol, Jun;57(2):91-102. [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12111684&dopt=Abstract Abstract] ] , [H. N. Kumara, M. Ananda Kumar, A. K. Sharma, H. S. Sushma, Mridula Singh and Mewa Singh (11/10/2004) "Diversity and management of wild mammals in tea gardens in the rainforest regions of the Western Ghats, India: A case study from a tea estate in the Anaimalai Hills" CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 87, NO. 9, retrieved 6/18/2007 [http://www.ias.ac.in/currsci/nov102004/1282.pdf PDF] ] Birds seen include Pied hornbill, Red Whiskered Bulbul and Drongo.Visitor information
Anaimalai hills are a
trek king destination in the Western Ghats. The best time to visit this place is during November to mid May. The nearest airport is inCoimbatore and the nearest railway station is in the nearest city,Pollachi .ee also
See
Annamalai Hill for the hill and temple atThiruvannamalai inTamil Nadu References
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