Udhagamandalam (Ooty) -a scenic hill station and best tourist place in Tamilnadu
Udhagamandalam, a beautiful hill station of Tamilnadu is famous for its scenic beauty world-wide. Ooty attracts a lot of tourists towards itself every year.In this article of yours, you are going to get information about this scenic hill station, its history,Weather, best time to visit Ooty, Places to visit in Ooty and how to reach Udhagandalam.
Basic information about Udhagamandalam (Ooty), Tamilnadu
Udhagamandalam also pronounced as Ooty , is one of the most beautiful hill stations of southern India and thereby known as " Queen of Hills". Udhagamandalam is established in the Nilgiri Hills (Blue Mountains) at an height of 2240m from the sea level. This town of Tamilnadu is well connected with the rest of country through rail, air and road links and attracts a lot of tourists because of its scenic beauty. Its beauty is the cause of its economy now a days. Ooty is one of the most famous and attractive tourist place in the country. During the Colonial days, Ooty is used to be the popular weekend destination for the Britishers. If you are looking for Ooty travel guide, here it is!!
There are lot of places to see in Ooty and one of the most popular attraction is the mountain train journey on a ratchet and pinion track and provides a lot of hair-raising curves, tea gardens, splashing streams. If you are in Ooty then by going through Kallar to Coonoor, you can see the fantastic change in vegetation. Ooty is famous because of its tea gardens also. On most of the routes to Ooty, dense forests and beautiful grasslands welcomes the tourists. One can say that, Ooty is the best place for nature lovers. It is located at a distance of 105km from Coimbatore and 539km from Chennai, state capital. There are lot of beautiful flowers, sparkling fresh vegetations, sceneries, lofty mountains, dense forests in this tourist spot. According to 1993 census, the population of Ooty is about 81,763. Ooty is spread over an area of 36sq.km.History of Ooty
Ooty is located in the foothills of Nilgiri hills which is better known as "Blue Mountains". It is not known yet that whether this name comes from the obscure blue smoke by the Eucalyptus trees or from the Kurunji flower. Kurungi flowers blooms whole over the year on the slopes of mountains. Till now no historical proof is found about Ooty to be a part of any dynasty. Firstly, Tipu Sultan extends the boundary of town Ooty.
Actually this town was occupied by the Todas with other groups also. The place which is known as "Old Ooty" now a days are also occupied by the Todas and then later they establish tea gardens, teak trees in Ooty. For the Madras Presidency, Ooty served as the summer capital and is the place which is most visited by the Britishers in Colonial days. Because of its scenic beauty, it is known as the "Queen of hill stations".
Weather of Ooty in all seasons
Temperature of this town is relatively homogeneous and calm whole over the year. The maximum temperature recorded in the town is 25 degree Celsius and the minimum temperature recorded is about 2 degree Celsius till now. The average rainfall in this town is about 121 cms. If you want to visit this town, then the best time is between April to May and again from September to November. People of this place usually wear light woolen clothes during Summer season and heavy woolen clothes in Winter season.
Temperature in Summer season: 25 degree Celsius (Maximum)
10 degree Celsius (Minimum)
Temperature in Winter Season: 21 degree Celsius (Maximum)
5 degree Celsius (Minimum)
Tourist Places in Ooty
There are lot of places to see in Ooty. In Ooty you can enjoy the beauty of this place. Some of the most visited tourist places are discussed below. So for more information kindly read the article:Botanical Gardens
This garden of Ooty is very popular among the tourists and spread over an area of 50 acres. Botanical Gardens lies on the highest point of Ooty, Doddabetta peak. This garden was established in 1848 by the Marquis of Tweeddale. In this garden, you can easily find a lot of plants of different species. In Botanical garden, there is also a tree trunk which is about 20 million years old. In the eastern part, there is a wooden house, sometimes known as Toda Mund.Ooty lake
Ooty lake is an artificial lake about 1km away from the town. Ooty lake is developed by John Sullivan in 1824 and then by the collector of Coimbatore. About 1 km from this lake, there is a deer park, which is worth visiting. Ooty lake is about 2.75kms in length and is stretched in " l " shape. Ooty lake is located just behind is the Central Bus Stand. During Summer season, boat races are organized in this lake.Rose Garden
Rose Garden is spread over an area of 10 acres and is located 1km away from the Charring Cross. In this garden there are about 200 variety of roses. This garden of Ooty is situated on the way to boathouse. Now a days, Rose garden of Ooty is having large number of rose collection whole over the country. From "Nila Maadam, you can see the entire garden.Doddabetta peak
A highest peak in the Nilgiris which is about 10kms away from Ooty is Doddabetta. Doddabetta peak is situated between the Western ghats and Eastern ghats and provides a spectacular view of Nilgiri hill ranges. It is situated at an altitude of2,623m from the sea level. From this peak, one can see the far off areas also.St. Stephen Church
This church of Ooty is located in the hilly area on the club road and is the oldest church of the town. This church was built by Tipu Sultan in 1799. The history of this church dates back to the 19th century. The foundation stone was laid on 1829 of April.How to reach Ooty
Ooty is well connected with rest of the country through air, rail and road links. If you want to reach Ooty then kindly read the following information:
Ooty by Air
Ooty is well connected with rest of the world by air mean. If you want to reach Ooty then the nearest airport to this town is the Coimbatore airport which takes about 3.1/2 hours to reach Ooty. Coimbatore airport offers lot of flights from major cities of country like Chennai, Mumbai, Banglore and also offers international flights to and from Colombo, Singapore etc. If you are on Coimbatore airport then by the mean of private taxis you can reach Ooty.
Ooty by Train
Ooty is well connected with rest of the world through rail link. Visiting Ooty, theQueen of Hill stations by train is an awesome journey. The nearest railway station to Ooty is at Mettupalayam. The train which links Ooty with Chennai, state capital is known as Nilgiris Express or also Blue Mountain Express. This train is very small and can accommodate very less number of passengers. There are many other trains to this part of Tamilnadu also.
Ooty by Road
Ooty is well connected to rest of the country by road links too. Ooty is about 89kms away from Coimbatore, 160kms from Mysore, 187kms from Calicut, 290kms from Banglore, 281kms from Cochin, 302kms from Trichyand 256kms from Kodaikanal (via Coimbatore, Palani). There are lot of buses which will take you to Ooty. Ooty is the right place for nature lovers.
