History
Lying adjacent to the Annamalai Wildlife Sanctuary, the 285 sq km stretch of forest known as the Parambikulam Sanctuary is one of Kerala’s premier wildlife reserves. Parambikulam lies in the Annamalai Hills, south of the Palghat Gap in the Western Ghats. The area’s hilly and rocky, drained by several rivers, including the Parambikulam, the Sholayar and the Thekkedy.
Thickly forested with stands of bamboo, sandalwood, rosewood and teak, the sanctuary has some marshy land and scattered patches of grassland. Parambikulam was once home to some of south India’s finest stands of teak; most of these, however, have now been replaced by teak plantations.
Little remains of the original teak forests, other than the famous Kannimari teak tree, the largest in Asia. The tree is about 5 km from Thunakadavu, and is one of Parambikulam’s prime attractions.
Parambikulam’s animal species include many of India’s most prominent mammals: tigers, leopards, wild dogs, sloth bears, elephants, wild boar, barking deer, spotted deer, langurs and macaques. Parambikulam is also home to Kerala’s largest population of gaur. Besides these, civet, chevrotain, pangolin, crocodile, jungle cat, porcupine and some 140 species of birds are found in the sanctuary. Although the larger cats are few and far between, gaur, monkeys and deer are fairly common in the sanctuary.
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Best time to visit
Parambikulam is open throughout the year, but is best avoided during the monsoon. Between June and August, the monsoon rains lash Parambikulam, making hillsides unstable and causing slush, mosquitoes, drippy roofs and other nuisances.
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