Mudumalai Tour Guide

Mudumalai is located in tamilnadu, India. Plan your holiday, vacations with sightseeing from real travelers. Find Mudumalai travel guides, in the thick forests of the northern Nilgiris, just 9 km across the Tamil nadu state border from bandipur, separated by the Moyar River from Karnataka, 229 km.

A little distance past Bandipur in the direction of Ooty, you’ll reach the Ari Gouder Bridge with its arched beams to the sides. Cross it and there is a check post. Pass it and you’re inside the Mudumalai National Park. Wich effectively means the contiguous forests just assume a different name beyond the bridge.

But Mudumalai has two features that its neighbour doesn’t the Moyar River and proximity to the imposing Nilgiri mountain ranges. Mudumalai is also one of the most happening sanctuaries in south India, with a large number of jungle resorts on the outskirts of the forest.

Mudumalai Sanctuary is part of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve. Evergreen forests grasslands, swamps and a wide variety of wildlife, including one of the largest pachyderm settlements in India gaur, tigers and panthers to deer, wild boar and monitor lizards can be found here. If the tiger can be a hard cat to spot, the sanctuary abounds with civets, antelopes, langurs and macaques and a lot of birds.

So how wild is Mudumalai Consider this between 1943 and 1947 this area served a a jungle warfare training camp for soldiers off to war in the jungles of Burma. Nowadays, they train elephants. Theppakadu (theppam means pond, kadu is forest), the gatway to the mudumalai wildlife sanctuary is home to an Elephant Training Camp. It’s believed that more elephants have been born here in captivity than anywhere else in the world.

Jungle Safari

While there are those who swear that the early morning ride is the best there are others who claim to have seen the best sights towards evening. The vehicles of the forest department unfortunately are quite rickety and rattle a great deal. They don’t excessively unnerve the wild animals as much as ittitate the passengers inside.

While inside the forests, observe carefully the flitting butterflies near the waterholes, the herds of elephants and spotted deer, the golden brown giant malabar squirrel, the sambhar doe, the langur high up in the branches and the ever-present, riotously coloured birds.

Theppakadu Elephant Camp

Situated right across a small iron bride on the Moyar, at the junction of the roads leading to Masinagudi, Ooty and Mysore, this is one of the biggest camps in south India. As many as 27 elephants are tended at Theppakadu. Kept here for timber logging and other such forestry chores, these elephants are brought to the camp twice a day from the forest, once in the morning and once in the evening. At about 6 pm a small pantotmime takes place. Two elephants from the camp invariably the younger ones, are led to a small Vinayaka Temple in the Vicinity. They circumambulate the shrine ringing a small bell in obeisance to the almighty.

Elephant Ride

If bus rides make you queasy, if you have spondylitis or have just had lunch, better give this activity a miss. That said the elephant is the safest and quietest way to explore the wild. The mahout manoeuvres the elephant using a subtle combination of pushes and prods. It’s any day better than the noisy van ride and much more intimate. The elephant’s ability to penetrate dense thickets is another advantage. While most elephant rides turn out fruitless in terms of spotting tigers, a sighting of chital or the flying squirrel is almost guaranteed. Ride fees Rs 122 for 4 people Timings 7 am and 3.30 pm.

Around Mudumalai

Bandipur 14 km

Take another safari through neighbouring Bandiput National Park in Karnataka. Animals roam around in pretty large numbers. Elephants, gaur, wild boar and packs of wild dogs are all spottable. Also check out the Nature Interpretation Centre.