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Kodaikanal is a hill town in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It’s set in an area of granite cliffs, forested valleys, lakes, waterfalls and grassy hills. At 2,000 meters above sea level, the town centers around man-made, star-shaped Kodaikanal Lake, bordered by evergreen forest. Rowing boats can be hired, and hikers and cyclists follow the 5k Lake Road path around the shore.
It is not known who first used this name or what they intended it to mean.The word Kodaikanal is an amalgamation of two words: kodai and kanal. The Tamil language has at least four possible interpretations of the name Kodaikanal.By pronouncing the first syllable of Kodaikanal with a long Tamil 'O', as in koe-dei, it means "summer", whilst the final two syllables kanal can mean "to see", rendering Kodaikanal as a "place to see in summer". Kodaikanal is a summer forest, and it is a place that the first missionaries used as a refuge to escape the overbearing and mosquito-ridden heat of the plains — a place that they would have counted on seeing in the summer!
History
The earliest residents of Kodaikanal were the Palaiyar tribal people. The earliest specific references to Kodaikanal and the Palani Hills are found in Tamil Sangam literature of the early Common era.Modern Kodaikanal was established by American Christian missionaries and British bureaucrats in 1845, as a refuge from the high temperatures and tropical diseases of the plains.In the 20th century a few elite Indians came to realise the value of this enchanting hill station and started relocating here
Tourism has been impacted by industrial pollution issues including the closure of a mercury factory owned by Unilever's Indian subsidiary Hindustan Unilever after evidence of widespread mercury pollution.To date no proper clean-up operation has been mounted. The issue gained prominence in early 2015 when "Kodaikanal Won't", a rap music about mercury pollution in the region went viral globally getting more than a million views in 4 days.The town of Kodaikanal sits on a plateau above the southern escarpment of the upper Palani Hills at 2,133 metres (6,998 ft), between the Parappar and Gundar Valleys. These hills form the eastward spur of the Western Ghats on the Western side of South India. It has an irregular basin as its heartland, the centre of which is now Kodaikanal Lake a 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) circumference manmade lake. A few kilometers away from Kodaikanal a small village named Vattakanal is located in the Dindigul District on the southern tip of the upper Palani hills in the state of Tamil Nadu, along the eastern coast of the Western Ghats. Vattakanal is better known as 'Vatta' by most or 'Little Israel' by the villagers that observe a large number of Israeli tourists who flock there from October onwards.
| state |
Tamil Nadu,India |
| Country |
India |
| Area |
21.45 km2 (8.28 sq mi) |
| Languages spoken |
Tamil,Bagada,English |
| Currency |
Ruppee |