Tourist Places To Visit In Masinagudi

Masinagudi is a picturesque little town lying somewhere between Ooty and Thepakkadu, which has the entry and the forest office of the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve. Mudumalai Reserve lies on the southern fringes of Masinagudi and the beautiful Moyar River winds through the borders of the town.

Masinagudi, with its tribal hamlets, flora and fauna endemic to the region and the most beautiful landscape is a lovely place to spend your holidays in. Masinagudi has many places to visit; from virgin forest lands, little temples and nature reserves, to pristine streams and waterfalls.

Spread over 321 sq. km, Mudumalai Tiger Reserve is situated in Mudumalai, the ancient hill ranges of the Nilgiris district.

Mudumalai Tiger Reserve and Bandipur National Park are significant ecoconservation units of the Nilgiris Biosphere Reserve. Renowned for its numbers of elephants, as well as Royal Bengal tigers, leopards and smaller mammals apart from about 260 species of birds that include a variety of woodpeckers, jungle fowl, peacocks and hornbills, the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve is a very fascinating place that is a must visit.

Mudumalai is about 21 km from Masinagudi.

Bandipur National Park is located on the Ooty – Mysore highway in Karnataka, surrounded by the beautiful mountain ranges of the Western Ghats. Spread over 874 sq.km, the Bandipur National Park has a good number of elephants, tigers, panthers, guar, smaller mammals and plethora of bird species including the green pigeons and peafowl, and you would find eagles and ospreys in winter.

Bandipur National Park was once the private hunting ground of the Maharajas of Mysore and was formed into a sanctuary called Venugopala Wildlife Park in 1931. The region was broadened into the Bandipur National Park in 1974, which was later linked with the Project Tiger movement. And Bandipur Tiger Reserve became one of the most significant tiger regions of the country, along with the adjoining Nagarhole National Park.

Bandipur National Park is about 20 km from Masinagudi.

At the foothills of the Nilgiris, is a quaint, pictorial village called Bokkapuram. Apart from providing ample opportunities to sight animals, the village has several temples that you can visit. Vibhuti Malai Murugan Temple for instance, sits on a small hillock in Bokkapuram, and the temple can be hiked up to. Once on top of the hillock, you can get a cool view of the countryside around, including Bandipur, Mudumalai and Wayanad.

Bokkapuram is about 5 km from Masinagudi.

Take a holiday weekend getaway from Masinagudi to Coonoor, a picturesque hill station as beautiful as Ooty, just a little smaller. There are a number of places you can visit in Coonoor like the Catherine and Laws waterfalls, Dolphin’s Nose and Lamb’s Rock Viewpoints, the ancient Droog Fort associated with the military of Tipu Sultan and the vast plantations. Call on the tea and chocolate factories, trek up the slopes to watch the birds or hop onto the Nilgiri Toy Train for a ride to Ooty.

Coonoor is about 48 km from Masinagudi.

Siriyur or the auspicious village is a little hamlet close to the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve. The annual festival at the Siriyur Amman temple gathers crowds of pilgrims from the tribal hamlets along Ooty and Masinagudi. Siriyur is said to have been a fortress long ago and was the site of archaeological ruins dating back to the early 1800s. The path that leads to the temple is through reserve forest area and one needs prior permission from the forest department for a visit, though the festival time needs no permit. Set amidst the jungle clearing, with an occasional deer or peacock sauntering about, the temple is such a good place to visit.

The Siriyur Amman Temple is a Badaga shrine with a Badaga priest, and festival times (February - March) are real traditional and solemn with fire walking ceremonies and prayers.

Siriyur is about 20 km from Masinagudi.

Thepakkadu Elephant Camp is run by the Tamil Nadu Forest Department to house and train elephants into 'kumkis' that are used to chase away, control or rescue wild elephants. Visitors are allowed to watch the elephants for a short duration in the mornings and evenings and its fun watching the elephants being bathed and scrubbed in the river or fed their daily rations. You might even get an opportunity to feed the elephants.

Thepakkadu Elephant Camp is a little away from the Thepakkadu reception centre and you will have to buy tickets to visit the camp. The camp is open for visitors from 8.30 am – 9.00 am and from 5.30 pm – 6.00 pm.

Mariamman Temple at Bokkapuram is one of the most major temples of Masinagudi, which is patronised by the natives and tribals of places like Masinagudi, Moyar and Aanaikatty. Surrounded by lush forests and hills at the back drop, the small temple is such a serene place to visit and offer worship.

The Bokkapuram Mariamman Temple festival (February – March) attracts thousands of devotees from the state along with people from the neighbouring states of Karnataka and Kerala. The grand forest celebration concludes with a temple car festival. Special festival buses to the Mariamman Temple are run from Ooty and Gudalur on the occasion.