X-Nico

5 unusual facts about Nilgiri mountains


Abraham Wald

Wald and his wife died in an airplane crash in the Nilgiri mountains, in southern India, while on an extensive lecture tour at the invitation of the Indian government.

Black-chinned Laughingthrush

The Black-chinned Laughingthrush (Trochalopteron cachinnans) is a species of Laughingthrush endemic to the high elevation areas of the Nilgiris and adjoining hill ranges in Peninsular India.

Mary of the Passion

Growth reached a point where she was able to staff a new convent in Oocatamund (Udhagamandalam), Tamil Nadu, a popular hill station deep in the Nilgiri mountains, located in the Vicariate Apostolic of Diocese of Coimbatore, established under the authority of the Paris Foreign Missions Society.

Nilgiri mountains

The first recorded use of the word Nila applied to this region can be traced to 1117 AD in the report of a general of Vishnuvardhana, King of Hoysalas, who in reference to his enemies, claimed to have “frightened the Todas, driven the Kangas underground, slaughtered the Pallavas, put to death the Malayalas, terrified King Kala and then proceeded to offer the peak of Nila Mountain (presumably Dodabetta) to Lakshmi, Goddess of Wealth.

Rattus satarae

It is native to the northern Western Ghats in India where it is split between three regions, Satara in Maharashtra, the Nilgiri mountains in Tamil Nadu and Kodagu district in Karnataka.


Trimeresurus strigatus

Found in the hills of southern India, Trimeresurus strigatus is distributed in the Nilgiri, Anaimalai, Palni, Tinnevelly, and Shevaroy Hills of the Eastern Ghats at elevations of 3,000-6,000 ft (900-1,800 m) (M.A. Smith, 1943).


see also

Ooty railway station

The heritage Nilgiri Mountain railway takes almost two hours of journey to travel down to town of Mettupalayam in Coimbatore at the foothill of Nilgiri mountains.