Ajusree A S

Review of Silent Valley National Park, K...

The hills are part of highly sensitive Western Gha...

The hills are part of highly sensitive Western Ghats and was once thick dense teak forests inhabited by tribals. Later the area became popular among English planters and the area soon developed into major plantation belt. Its one of the few plantation areas in India, where multiple crops like Pepper, cardamom, tea, coffee and oranges are cultivated.Amidst the blue mountains of Nilgiris, surrounded with ridges on all sides lies the Silent Valley national park in Palakkad, Kerala - about 50km from Coimbatore. A home to some of the rare flora and fauna, this national park can be visited all year round with the exception of Fridays and somewhere between March to May when the park is closed. The weather is always pleasant in here courtesy of the natural wall of ridges around it that protects it from extreme weather events.Shielded by the Nilgiri Plateau to the North and the Mannarkad Plains to the South, the Silent Valley was named a national park in 1984. Located in the Northeast corner of Palakkad district, the valley constitutes the centerpiece of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve and was named a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 2012. A few centuries ago, before humans reached the Silent Valley, this reserve of tropical rainforests stood undisturbed and tranquil like a beautiful hidden diamond. Its silence was emphasized by the missing cicadas that usually characterized rainforests. Yet animals are plenty and the vast diversity in flora and fauna is breathtaking.