Attappadi - largest tribal settlement in Kerala - കേരള സഞ്ചാരി.കോം

Situated on the north-eastern side of Palakkad district and spread over an area of 745 sq km. Attappady or Attappadi is one of the largest tribal settlements in the State. The grandiloquence of this great symphony of forests, rivers and mountains is awe inspiring.
Attappadi Reserve Forest is a protected area comprising 249 km² of land covering the westernmost part of the 745 km² Attappadi block of Mannarghat Taluk in Palakkad district of Kerala, south India.

Attappadi is an extensive mountain valley at the headwaters of the Bhavani River nestled below the Nilgiri Hills of the Western Ghats. It is bordered to the east by Coimbatore district in Tamil Nadu, on the north by the Nilgiris, south by the Palghat taluk and on the west by Karimba-I and II, Pottassery-I and II, and Mannarghat revenue villages of Mannarghat taluk of the Palghat District and Ernad taluk of the Malappuram district.

Attappadi Reserve Forest is an informal buffer zone bordering the Silent Valley National Park to the West. There are 192 hamlets in Attapadi. The population of the valley is mostly Muduga, Irula, Kurumba tribal people, a few Badagas and a section of settlers from Tamil Nadu and Other Districts of Kerala. This valley falls under the Kannada speaking region as per the linguistic survey and history of Colonel Wilks. The local governments of Attappadi are the Agali, Puthur and Sholayur Grama Panchayats.

Places to visit in Attappadi

Silent valley national park:
Silent valley national Park is located 70 kms from Coimbatore and 40 kms from mannarkkad. This park can be a boast to natural lovers and wild life adventurists.Silent valley national park is known for its rich biodiversity and has a huge collection of flowering plants numbering to 1000 species, more than 211 species of birds are sighted in this place out of which 15 species are claimed to be endemic to western Ghats to name.
Karuvera Waterfalls:
This waterfall comes under the buffer zone of silent valley national park; we have to walk from the mukkali to Karuvera waterfalls with the permission of forest office at mukkali.
Malleswara Mudi:
Malleswara Mudi is the highest peak of the attapadi hills; Shivratri day is very auspicious and considered to be the start of harvest season among the tribes in attapadi. Only people from tribal community are allowed to climb the Malleswara Mudi during shivaratri day.
Niligiri Bio Sphere Park:
In this park you can find the various trees, birds and animals found in the attapadi hills. The park is open to public.
Varamadimala:
This beautiful mountain has a history relating to Mahabharata says villagers
Perumal Mudi:
Perumal Mudi or Ramar Kovil is located in the forest areas of tamilnadu accessible by the PWD road by moolagangal and followed by trek of 6 kms to the temple.
Kunthi River:
This River Kunthi never turns browns whether in monsoon or summer says the local tribe and has huge herbal remedies too. the water is always crystal clear in nature. Forest department normally conducts daily treks and Jeep safaris, the safari starts from Mukkali to Sairandhri from Sairandhri to river Kunti there is a trek route which is of 3 kms. For the safari we have to take prior permission from forest wild life warden.

Transportation

There are frequent local buses from Anakkatti village in Attappadi to the nearest town of Nelippathy (16 km) and Mannarghat (38 km)Sholayur.

Nearest railway station: Palakkad about 40 km from Mannarkkad and Coimbatore in the neighbouring state of Tamilnadu, about 50 km from Agali
Nearest airport: Coimbatore in neighbouring State of Tamilnadu about 55 km from Palakkad

Accomodation facility

There are private lodges with boarding and lodging facilities in and around Agali and Goolikadavau. The PWD Guest house and the guest house at AHADS can also be utilised for accommodation.

Festivals in Attappadi

The Sivarathri festival is celebrated at the chemmannur Malleswaran temple by the tribals during the month of February/March. The Malleswaran peak is worshipped as a gigantic Shivalinga by the adivasis who celebrate the Sivarathri festival there with great fervour.

At the Ayyappan temple in Agali, Ayyappan Vilakku is celebrated in January.The vishu festival is celebrated at pattimalam in sree vandikotti mariyamma thune temple. rangan is the moopan of pattimalam who lead the all programames.all programes comes under the (gess club).