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Butterfly Walk: Navamalai
Balakrishnan R
Navamalai is a small village located 13 kilometres south of Kottur- Malayandipattinam in Pollachi Taluk of Coimbatore Dis-
trict .It has one of the hydroelectric power houses of Tamil Nadu Electricity Board known as Aliyar Power House, it is one of
the main hydro-electric power production bases built along the river Aliyar. One has to take the road opposite to Monkey falls
located on the uphill Ghat road on the Pollachi-Valparai road & travel downhill around six Kms to reach there. Elevation: 39 m
(128 ft) there is a forest check post at the entrance & Permission is required to enter. Many thanks to Mr. Mahesh the resort
owner, who facilitated our stay & obtained the required permissions.
As the name suggests, it is surrounded by nine mountains [Navamalai means in Tamil "Nine Mountains"] of Western Ghats.
The River Aliyar falls from the high mountains and starts its journey through the plains from this small beautiful village. The
southern end of Aliyar Dam touches the village. There are many other streams in the mountains all of which pass through the
village before joining the river Aliyar. The mountains are very green and the forests have rare trees and plants. It is now part of
Indira Gandhi Wild Park. The history of Navamalai is one of exploitation of natural habitat, environment, tribals and forests.
PATTAMPOOCHI
A TNBS MAGAZINE
WINGS 2 VEINS 3
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