Nedumkandam

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nedumkandam is the major town and capital of Udumbanchola taluk in Idukki district of Kerala state in India. This is in the high-ranges.

Nedumkandam lies in between the Periyar wild life reserve in Thekkady and the hill station of Munnar. This is a land of migratory farmers, most of whom came from Kottayam in search of better pastures (cultivable lands) and ended up in the reserve forests, which used to be there in 1973 (That's what I remember of my childhood days), but now has disappeared into stories, giving way to the modern township. Here cardamom and pepper are the major crops.

Nedumkandam is a longish town extending along the 2 km stretch of road somewhat midway between Thekkady and Munnar. A town with a history of less than four decades. It is a testimony to the high rate of migration from the low lands of Kerala in this time span. Where elephants roamed until the early sixties there are now computer training centres,Internet cafe, Polytechnic, B.Ed College and a spate of Government offices littered among the business centres. Pepper and cardamom are the mainstays of the economy. Pepper cultivation is predominantly a Malayalee activity. Holdings are small, generally ranging from 10 cents to 5 acres and a couple of cows for a family are a rule. In the dawn hours, riders with pails of milk can be seen descending to the town from their boards in the hills around Nedumkandam. The milk, collected by societies and carted off to Kochi, Kottayam etc has sustained many a family in the lean years after their pepper vines were decimated by the wilt disease.

Cardamom farms are larger and about half of the owners are Tamilians whose parents ascended the ghats from Cumbam, Bodinaikanur areas of Tamil Nadu to cultivate the forest soils of the Cardamom Hill Reserve areas. Nearest Picnic Spots are Kailasapara, Kallumekallu,Mankuthimedu,Ramakalmedu,Neyyandimala.

Nedumkandam Fest is also conducted every year from 2007 onwards.In 2008 fest was January 26 to february 4.