Nilambur

Overview

Nilambur is a town in Malappuram district, Kerala, on the Chaliyar river below the Nilgiri hills, and teak is its calling card. A Nilambur teak trip suits travellers who enjoy forestry history, a short rainforest walk and a couple of low-key museums more than a beach or a tea hill, and the cooler months of October to March are the better time.

The story starts at Conolly's Plot, about 2 km from the town, where teak planting began in the 1840s under the Malabar collector H. V. Conolly. It is widely called the world's oldest teak plantation, and a hanging bridge over the Chaliyar leads to it. The British also laid a railway line here to ship logs to Britain, and that line, now running between Nilambur Road and Shoranur, still carries slow passenger trains.

The Teak Museum stands on the campus of the Kerala Forest Research Institute and opened in 1995 as a museum given wholly to one timber. Its collection includes carved doors and furniture, a teak stump about 480 years old from the Nagarampara forest range, a small teak sailing vessel and replicas of famous trees. An 800 m nature trail alongside it passes some 50 naturally grown tree species and many Western Ghats plants.

For forest, go to Nedumkayam, about 15 km from the town, a rainforest within the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve where the Chaliyar runs past waterfalls and tribal settlements. A trek of about three hours leads to the Mundakadav waterfalls. Entry is restricted between February and April because of the fire risk, and forest-department permission applies, so check before you set out.

In town, Nilambur Kovilakam, the former residence of the Nilambur rajas, is built in traditional Kerala style. Every January it forms the setting for a festival of songs and processions held for the deity Vettakkorumakan, known as the Nilambur Pattulsavam. Nilambur teak also holds India's first geographical indication tag for forest produce.

Nilambur Road station is a few kilometres from the town, and Calicut International Airport, near Kozhikode, is the main air link. State Highway 28 connects the town with Kozhikode and Gudalur.

Known for

Teak planting from the 1840s, about 2 km from town, reached by a hanging bridge