This district's name is
suposed to have been derived from the malayalam word ' Idukku'
meaning a narrow gorge. About 1500 sq ft of it's area is
rserved forest, much of which is home to a variety of flora
and fauna. For the people of Kerala, Idukki is always
associated with power generation, since 60% of the state's
power needs come from the hydroelectric power station at
Moolamattom. The district area is about 5019 sqkm.
Idukki
Arch Dam is world's second and Asia's first Arch Dam
constructed across the Kuravan & Kurathi hills. It is 650 ft
in breadth and 550 ft in height and this lies close to the
much smaller Cheruthoni barrage. To the west is the Kulamavu
Dam. The underground Power House at Moolamattam is another
attraction.
"Thekkady" the Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary, lies 60 km
away from Idukki, 190 km from Kochi. The sancuary is the
natural habitat of elephants, deer, bison and wild boar. It is
also a tiger reserve. It is India's largest Sanctuary covering
over 750sq km of forests. There are oppoptunities for
trekking, elephant rides and boating.It is expected to be
declared as a bird Sanctuary in the near future with 246 types
of native birds and 40 varieties of migratory flock. The
Thekkady sanctuary is one of the best in the country for
watching and photographing wild life. Thekkadi is almost on
the border with state of Tamil Nadu State.
"Munnar"
a beautiful, peaceful hill station covered with tea
plantations, 133 km from Kochi. 17 km from Munnar lies the
Eravikulam National Park. It can be reached only through
trekking. In this area can be found the Nilgiris tahr, an
endangered species.Over twelve varieties of spices including
ginger, garlic, cardamom, vannilla, pepper, cinnamon, coffee,
tea, clove and nutmeg is cultivated in Munnar and its
neighbouring villages.
"Peermade" 43 km before Thekkady,
lies the former summer palace of the Travancore maharajas.
This cool and tiny hill station is full of rubber, tea and
spice plantations