Eravikulam National Park

Eravikulam National Park is a protected high-altitude reserve in Kerala, India, on the western Ghats near the hill station of Munnar, preserving montane grasslands and shola forest. The park covers an upland area that includes steep slopes, rolling grasslands and forest pockets and is noted for high-elevation biodiversity.

The principal wildlife attraction is the Nilgiri tahr, a mountain ungulate endemic to the Western Ghats, and the park is one of the key sites for its conservation. Visitors also come to see the periodic mass flowering of Neelakurinji (Strobilanthes kunthiana) across the grasslands, a phenomenon that recurs approximately every 12 years.

The area was designated a national park in 1978 to protect the unique montane habitats and the species they support, including a range of endemic plants and animals. Management focuses on habitat protection, monitoring of tahr populations and regulated visitor access to minimise disturbance.

The park lies close to Munnar in Idukki district; Rajamala is the main visitor zone and viewpoint within the park, and the summit of Anamudi (about 2,695 m) is within the protected area.

• Establishment and size: Declared a national park in 1978, the protected area covers roughly 97 square kilometres of high-altitude shola-grassland habitat.
• Wildlife and flowering: The park is best known for its population of the Nilgiri tahr and for seasonal blooms of Neelakurinji, which flowers across the grasslands in a roughly 12-year cycle.

What to See #

• Rajamala: The Rajamala grasslands and viewpoint where visitors commonly see Nilgiri tahr and access short park trails.
• Anamudi: Anamudi, the highest peak in South India at about 2,695 metres, which lies within the park's boundaries and dominates the local skyline.