About Udumalpet Information
Udumalpet town is one of the famous summer resorts of Tamil Nadu, surrounded by mountains on three sides. Udumalai also known as Udumalpet is a town and a municipality in Tirupur District. The city was previously under Coimbatore district but was moved under the newly formed Tirupur district in October 2008. The change was opposed by many of the residents but it was not reverted back. In short known as Udumalai, the city is surrounded by the high mountains of Western Ghats on three sides. This Municipal town has a population of about 60,000. Udumalpet is an industrial town with number of textile, paper and farming related industries established here. Famous landmarks and monuments in and around the town includesThirumoorthy Hills, which has the Thirumurthi water reservoir that provides water supply to the town, Mariamman Temple, an old worshiping place in the town center and Amaravathi Reservoir, across Amaravathi river which provides irrigation to the agricultural lands around the town. Both Thirumoorthy Hills and Amaravathi Reservoir provide recreational activities such as boating, fishing and hiking and attract tourists from other parts of the state. Udumalpet lies between the famous temple town of Palani (35 km)and Pollachi (28 km)on the National Highway No.209. Udumalpet is also connected by a metre gauge railway line. Udumalpet assembly constituency is part of Pollachi (Lok Sabha constituency).
The town, in the 1980s and 1990s, had a well developed spinning industry but it has since declined due to labor shortages and other labor related issues. One of the biggest poultry companies in India, Suguna Poultry Ltd, was founded in this town. There are many paper manufacturing plants located alongside the Amaravathi river. Recently, surrounding areas of the town has seen a huge rise in windmill installations. The location of the town across the Palghat Gap, aids tunneling of the wind flow through the region and aids in wind power generation.
Tourism and natural beauty
The town is surrounded by hills and has a good weather throughout the year. Waterfalls in Thirumoorthy hills draw quite a few tourists. It takes half an hour to reach the falls by trekking from the Thirumoorthy temple. The Thirumoorthy temple is a scenic place with Amanalingeshwarar Thirukkoil at the foot hills. The way atop the hill is pretty exciting up to some 1 km and extremely challenging to go beyond that. It is said if you bend and crawl for about 40 meters beneath a rock behind Panchalingam, you could reach the next layer of Western Ghats, i.e., the plain between two adjacent hills and it is said that even tigers exist there.
A drive from Udumalpet to Munnar gives one unforgettable views of the Western Ghats. Chinnar is 25 km from Udumalpet and is home to the Indra Gandhi wildlife sanctuary which is famous for known for the elephants that inhabit the area. Chinnar is also the border between Tamil Nadu and Kerala. As you cross the Tamil Nadu border and enter Kerala, you can see a distinct change in the vegetation. While the Tamil Nadu areas have vegetation dominated by shrubs and thorny trees, the vegetation in Kerala is lush green with tall trees. Marayur is 20 km from Chinnar, famous for its sandalwood forests which often fall prey to poachers.
There is also a trekking route from Amaravathi dam to Kodaikanal which is frequented by the students of the Amaravathi Sainik School. The villages surrounding Udumalpet are well known for their beauty. Villages are criss-crossed by Amaravathi River and various irrigation canals. Coconut tree farms are common sight and this area is one of the leading producers of coconuts in the region. The countryside is a popular film shooting spot, providing scenic backgrounds and greenery. Thirumoorthy hills houses a beautiful dam which is a very famous shooting spot for Tamil movies and Malayalam movies. . It s name in the ancient days was ‘Udumalai’ and due to its rural atmosphere. It was also named as Pettai. In latter period it was changed as “Udumalaipettai” in Tamil. This selection grade Municipal town which has got a population of about one lakh, gets water for drinking purpose from the Thirumurthi and Amaravathy Dams situated south of Udumalpet adds beauty to its location. This is an industrial town, since a number of textile, paper and variety of industries have been established here and in the agricultural field too. The famous district tourist spot, Thirumurthi hills, which is about 21 km south of here would soon get a face lift. As both the union, state, governments have proposals. To put this spot in state and national tourist map, by launching various developments scheme, there in course if time. Coming to the spiritual aspect, this taluk has got number if famous temples. In various outstation as well. Near the SAINIK School South of here, a Boat house, Swimming Pool, Crocodile farm are situated.
As you drive past Marayur towards Munnar, you can see Anamudi, the highest mountain peak in south part of India to your right. This area also houses the Eravikulam National Park famous for its population of the Nilgiri Tahr, a mountain goat. This area offers abundant scope for mountain trekking. On the trekking route to the Anamudi peak, you can see a Trout farm. The rest of the drive towards Munnar is through neatly manicured tea estates owned byTata Tea Ltd and Waterfall Estate. The landscape is also dotted by tea factories and labor lines.