Valparai

Valparai (originally known as Poonachimalai) is a Taluk and hill station in the Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu, India. It consists of Anamalai Tiger Reserve (earlier known as Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary and National Park (IGWLS&NP) and prior to that as Anaimalai Wildlife Sanctuary). It is located above sea level on the Anaimalai Hills range of the Western Ghats. There are a total of 56 estates here. The game of football is very popular here. State level competitions are held every year. The foothill starts exactly from Monkey Falls which is at a distance of to Valparai. The route to Valparai from the foothills consists of 40 hairpin bends. The Kerala state border town of Malakkappara is at a distance of 27 kilometres from Valparai. While major portions of the land are owned by private tea companies, large forest areas continue to be out of bounds. Earliest records of this area are from the year 1846 when K. Ramasamy Mudaliyar started a coffee plantation here. In 1864, the Karnatic Coffee Company began their coffee plantation here but they could not make it profitable, hence they sold part of their land. In 1875, the roads and guest houses were built by soldiers for the visit of England's Prince of Wales, the future Edward VII. Soldiers were posted here and horses and elephants were used for this purpose. However, the visit was eventually cancelled. In 1890, W. Wintil and Nordan bought a huge portion of land in Valparai from the Madras State Government under the British Raj. Wintil deforested the area and planted tea and coffee. He was assisted by Carver Marsh, an experienced planter for a salary of 250 rupees. Valparai receives rainfall throughout the year. The typical temperature range in Valparai is 25 °C (max) to 15 °C (min) in summer and ( and 15 °C (max) to 10 °C (min) in winter. Valparai is located at . It is a mid-elevation hill station (Ootacamund is considerably higher) and has an average elevation of . It is close to the border with Thrissur district of the Kerala state.