Palani Hills

Mountain range in India

The Palani Hills are a mountain range in the southern Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The Palani Hills are an eastward extension of the Western Ghats ranges, which run parallel to the west coast of India. The Palani Hills adjoin with the high Anamalai range on the west and extend east into the plains of Tamil Nadu, covering an area of The highest part of the range is in the southwest, and reaches 1,800 2,500 metres (5,906 8,202 feet) elevation; the eastern extension of the range is made up of hills 1,000 1,500 m (3,281 4,921 ft) high. It is also home to the main temple of Murugan, who is worshipped as a major deity in Tamil Nadu. The Palani Hills Wildlife Sanctuary and National Park is a proposed protected area in Dindigul District, Tamil Nadu. The park will be an upgrade and expansion of the Palani Kodaikanal Wildlife Sanctuary which was to be established in 2008. The park includes about 36% of the in the Palani Hills. The park is located between latitude 10°7'–10°28' N and longitude 77°16'–77°46' E. Central location is east northeast of Silver Cascade Waterfall and E X NE of Kodaikanal Lake.

The Palani Hills derive their name from the ancient temple town of Palani (பழநி in Tamil) located at the northern base of the hills. In 1906, the great undulating plateau on top of the Palanis comprising four forest ranges were consolidated under the Indian Forest Act of 1878 and designated by the British Government as a single reserve forest, from Kodaikanal town to the Kerala state border in the west and the Bodinayakkanur town limits to the south, and given the name of the Ampthill Downs. It was over 53 square miles (137 km2) in extent and about one quarter of it then consisted of sholas and three quarters was open, rolling, grassy downs. The Ampthill Downs area is now named Upper Palani Shola Reserved Forest and totals (36,000 acres) of forest land. It is the largest reserve forest division in the Palani Hills. The core of the proposed Kodaikanal Wildlife Sanctuary awaiting government notification is located in this division. In 1988, the new Kodaikanal Berijam Wildlife Sanctuary was included in the protected area proposals considered to be of national priority status by the Wildlife Institute of India. In the early 1990s, the Tamil Nadu Forest Department submitted a proposal to the State government to protect much of the Palani Hills by declaring the area a wildlife sanctuary or a national park. The proposed park area includes only reserve forest land. These forests are already among the protected areas of Tamil Nadu. Their upgrade to Wildlife Sanctuary and National Park will increase their IUCN status from level VI Protected Area with Sustainable Use of Natural Resources to IV Habitat/Species Management Area or II National Park and improve the habitat and wildlife conservation of the area. The sanctuary has been under consideration of the Government of India in consultation with the Government of Tamil Nadu since 1999. The actual park boundaries have not been finalized. In 2007, proposals for declaration of Kodaikanal Wildlife Sanctuary were under consideration of the Government. On 13 August 2012, in an apparent change away from plans for notification of parts of the Palani Hills as a separate wildlife sanctuary, the Tamil Nadu Gazette notification attached parts of Kodaikanal and Dindigul divisions of reserve forests to the buffer zone of Annamalai Tiger Reserve. About 5155.42 hectares of forest land belonging to Palani Hills Northern Slope, Andipatty reserve forest, 4,344.53 acres in Kudraiyar block forest and 5,548.49 hectares in Mannavanur Range in Kodaikanal will be included in the buffer zone. The villages and hamlets that now form part of the Palani Hills buffer zone are Poondi, Mannavanur, Kilavarai, Polur, Kavunchi, Kumbur, Kilanavayal, Kukkal, Pazhamputhur and Puthurpuram. The increasingly important economic role of Eco tourism, including trekking, hiking, camping, mountaineering, rock climbing and bird watching may help the local populace to welcome this new Protected area. It remains to be seen whether the Wildlife Sanctuary and National Park will stimulate or stifle commercial development and tourism. The decision to finally establish the park must balance short term financial benefits of the status quo versus long term stability of the natural and human community.

Vandaravu peak is the highest peak in the Palani hills. The range lies between the Cumbum Valley on the south, which is drained by the Vaigai River and its upper tributaries, and the Kongunadu region to the north. The northern slopes are drained by the Shanmukha River, Nanganji River, and Kodavanar River, which are tributaries of the Kaveri River. The range lies mostly within Dindigul district, except in the western portion, where it forms the boundary between Dindigul district and Theni district to the south and Idukki District to the south west. The hill station of Kodaikanal lies in the southern central portion of the range. Palani Hills joined with Anamalai Hills and Cardamom Hills at Anamudi peak in Kerala state. Vattavada in Kerala is a part of Palani hills. The Palni Hills are an eastward spur of the Western Ghats with a maximum east–west length of , and a north–south width of Area is These hills rise in steep escarpments to a high undulating plateau ranging from to over elevation. The western extremity of the park is contiguous with the Manjampatti Valley core area of the Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary and National Park and with The Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary in Kerala. The Kurinjimala Sanctuary in Kerala borders the southwestern corner of the park. These Wildlife Sanctuaries are adjacent to the recently established Eravikulam National Park. The park area includes only reserve forest land, including Palni Hills Northern Slope East, Kallar, Palni Hills Southern Slope East, Upper Palni Shola, Allinagaram, and Palni Hills Northern Slope West Reserve Forests in the Dindigul and Kodaikanal Forest Divisions.

The lower elevations of the Palani Hills, between 250 and 1,000 m (820 3,281 ft), are part of the South Western Ghats moist deciduous forests ecoregion. Above 1,000 m (3,281 ft), the deciduous forests transition to the evergreen South Western Ghats montane rain forests. In the highest portions of the range, above 2,000 m (6,562 ft), the montane rainforests give way to shola grassland mosaic, made up of frost tolerant montane grasslands interspersed with pockets of stunted shola forests. The hills extend into Kerala as Pampadum Shola National Park.

The Palani Hills are currently subject to increasing development pressure as it is under developed for a long time. The Palani Hills Conservation Council, a non governmental organization headquartered in Kodaikanal, was founded in 1985. In the early 1990s the Tamil Nadu Forest Department proposed to the Tamil Nadu state government that much of the range be granted protected status as a wildlife sanctuary or Palani Hills Wildlife Sanctuary and National Park.

The Palani Hills are formed of pre Cambrian gneisses, charnockites and schists; they are among the oldest mountain ranges in India. The park is an eastward extension of the Western Ghats hills formed by separation of the India Madagascar Seychelles blocks of East Gondwana in the Early Cretaceous period about 120 million years ago. It is surrounded to the north, east and south by the Deccan Plateau formed later in the massive Deccan Traps eruption 66 million years ago as India drifted over the Reunion Hotspot.

The Palani Hills have a montane tropical monsoon climate which varies from west to east. Generally, as one proceeds from the Kerala border in the west to the foothills in the east, average rainfall decreases and temperature increases. Compared to the Deccan plateau and the southwestern coastal plains, temperatures vary from moderate to quite cool. In the central Palani Hills at Kodaikanal, during March to May, the temperature range is between The temperature can rise to a high of During December to February it is between In January, night temperatures sometimes drop below freezing, and thin ice is seen on lake edges in the early morning. The average annual rainfall is , mostly during the north east monsoon.

Nomadic Paliyan tribes people have been seen living in some of the several caves in Manjampatti Valley. Paliyan people can be seen near Kukal Cave. The Tamil speaking Pulayan are referred to as the MalaPulayans, a group categorized as scheduled caste by State government of Tamil Nadu. Their traditional livelihood is foraging yams and small gaming in the nearby forest areas combined with cultivation of several species of minor millets in small plots located near their hamlets to meet their subsistence requirements. They live in small hamlets in huts and government constructed colonies. The sedentary life started with the construction of group houses by the government in the early sixties. The community is vertically divided into two sub divisions called Koora and Kanni, further subdivided into 47 sub sects. Each sub sect is called Kootams, which regulates certain social events. Each kootam has its own deity, which is common to the entire group and once yearly the members of the same kootam assemble to worship the deity. Many native tribals in the Palani Hills have partially assimilated modern culture but are marginalized on the fringes of society. Their social, economic and physical survival has become a difficult challenge for them and several public and private agencies. Their ancient culture in this area is well documented,. Relics and artifacts of the Paliyan tribes people can be seen in the Shenbaganur Museum.

The Palani hills are the easternmost part of the Western Ghats of India, which is one of the 25 biodiversity hotspots of the world. Some of the very rare and endangered plants and animals of India are found here. including intact relics of primary indigenous vegetation and a large number of non native plants. The hills may be divided into four distinct vertical zones comprising distinct Ecoregions with a wide diversity of Endemic species. The foothills from consist mostly of Deccan thorn scrub forests and South Deccan Plateau dry deciduous forests. There is also some evergreen forest along streams and rivers at these altitudes. Between is dominated by South Western Ghats moist deciduous forests accompanied by shrub savannah, although most has been converted to plantations. From are upper montane slopes characterised by shola grassland mosaic, composed of frost tolerant montane grasslands on the hills interspersed with pockets of dense shola forests in the valleys. This is an undulating plateau interspersed with occasional peaks. Peaks rising to over with total area of and average elevation of consist mostly of montane grasslands interspersed with sholas. The grassland component is now largely replaced by forest plantations of wattle, pine and some eucalyptus .

The Kodaikanal Division Forest Office offers a book called Kodaikanal Beauty in Wilderness, which has a list and map of local treks in the Kodaikanal area. Several trekking destinations are accessible from the Kodaikanal–Munnar Road. Permission from the Forest Department is necessary to visit areas deep inside the forests and for trekking in forests. Forest rest houses are available with advance reservation at Kodaikkanal, Poombarai, Kukkal, Kavunji, Berijam and Devadanapatty. Contact: District Forest officer, Kodaikkanal Forest Division, Kodaikanal, Dindigal District, Tamil Nadu, India. (open 10 am to 6 pm) Phone : 91 4542 240287