Wagamon
Encyclopedia
Vagamon is a hill station
Hill station
A hill station is a town located at a higher elevation than the nearby plain or valley. The term was used mostly in colonial Asia , but also in Africa , for towns founded by European colonial rulers as refuges from the summer heat, up where temperatures are cooler...

 located in Kottayam
Kottayam
Kottayam is a city in the Indian state of Kerala, spread over an area of 55.40 km2. It is the administrative capital of the Kottayam district. Kottayam Kottayam (Malayalam: കോട്ടയം) is a city in the Indian state of Kerala, spread over an area of 55.40 km2. It is the administrative...

-Idukki border of Idukki district of Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....

, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. It has a cool climate with the temperature between 10-23°C during a summer midday. It is situated 1,100 metre above sea level.

Kurisumala monastery is a famous hill station and pilgrimage
Pilgrimage
A pilgrimage is a journey or search of great moral or spiritual significance. Typically, it is a journey to a shrine or other location of importance to a person's beliefs and faith...

 center for the Nazrani Catholics where cross
Cross
A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two lines or bars perpendicular to each other, dividing one or two of the lines in half. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally; if they run obliquely, the design is technically termed a saltire, although the arms of a saltire need not meet...

 put-up in each sub hill stations. The nearby Kurisumala Ashram is an abode of calm and spiritual delight. This hill area includes 12 sub mounds where pilgrim
Pilgrim
A pilgrim is a traveler who is on a journey to a holy place. Typically, this is a physical journeying to some place of special significance to the adherent of a particular religious belief system...

s visit. Travelers can enjoy trekking and climbing this high hill. The area is fully surrounded with Tea
Tea
Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by adding cured leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant to hot water. The term also refers to the plant itself. After water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world...

 estates and lakes. Indo-Swiss Project dairy farms is situated on the hill. The hill dairy farm, managed by the Kurisumala monks. Vagamon is surrounded by three hills namely, 'Thangal hill', 'Murugan hill' and 'Kurisumala'. Other attractions include Tea estates, pine
Pine
Pines are trees in the genus Pinus ,in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.-Etymology:...

 forests, grass lands, meadows, mist and shola forests
Shola
Sholas are patches of stunted evergreen tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forest found in valleys amid rolling grassland in the higher montane regions of South India. These patches of shola forest are found mainly in the valleys and are usually separated from one another by undulating...

, the famous suicide point of ‘Thangal hill’, a peculiar rock formation at Thangal Para, a dairy farm in Kurisumala and the Live Stock Board. Vagamon is at the fringe of the Western Ghats
Western Ghats
The Western Ghats, Western Ghauts or the Sahyādri is a mountain range along the western side of India. It runs north to south along the western edge of the Deccan Plateau, and separates the plateau from a narrow coastal plain along the Arabian Sea. The Western Ghats block rainfall to the Deccan...

 and the foot hills on its lower side reach up to Teekoy
Teekoy
Teekoy is a Southern Indian village, situated in the eastern part of Kottayam district in Kerala, between Vagamon, Erattupetta and Thalanadu.-Geoography:...

 with a gradual descent. Traveling by the hill highway in this section is an exhilarating experience with deep valleys and magnificent views all around. Vagamon presents very spectacular views with an ethereal touch.
Vagamon's charm is worth experiencing and is indeed one of the must see places for tourists. One speciality of Vagamon is that you will never get tired of Vagamon as each day or visit will display the varied moods of nature and climatic differences; the mist you can touch, the rain drops, the gentle breeze or the golden hue in December-January which will be greatly rewarding and soothing for you and that can romanticize your mind and thoughts. You can easily be humbled by nature and its a not -so- completely -lost pristine condition here. The trees and shrubs in Vagamon give it an added attraction.

Vagamon is located 39 km from Thodupuzha
Thodupuzha
Thodupuzha is a town and a municipality in Idukki district in the Indian state of Kerala, spread over an area of 35.43 km2. It is 62 km from Ernakulam. Geographical Classification of Thodupuzha Region is Midland or Idanad....

, 33 km away from Palai, 45 km from Kumily
Kumily
Kumily is a town in the Cardamom Hills near Thekkady and the Periyar Tiger Reserve, in the Idukki District of Kerala State in South India. It is a major tourist destination and a spices trading center....

, 22 km from Kuttikanam and about 65 km from Kottayam. Cochin International Airport
Cochin International Airport
Cochin International Airport is an international airport located in Nedumbassery, a suburb on the outskirts of the city of Kochi about northeast of downtown Kochi, in the state of Kerala, India. It is the busiest and largest airport in the state of Kerala...

 is the nearest airport while the closest railway station is Kottayam. There are many fine resorts available in the surrounding areas with affordable cost for trekkers. This beautiful hill area is located in Idukki district.

Feature films in Vagamon

Song sequences of many South Indian films are shot in Vagamon. Recently, the Naseeruddin Shah starrer - The Blueberry Hunt - was shot in Vagamon and surrounding areas.

Issues

In August 2008, the Kerala Police
Kerala Police
The Kerala State Police is the law enforcement agency for the state of Kerala, India. Kerala Police has its headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram, the state capital. The Police training college was set up by Travancore Maharaja in Thiruvananthapuram in mid 20th centuary. In 2004,a larger Kerala...

 said it had begun investigations two months back into a training camp organized in December 2007 by the banned SIMI
Students Islamic Movement of India
The Students Islamic Movement of India is an Islamic student organization that was formed in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, in April 1977. The stated mission of SIMI is the ‘liberation of India’ from Western materialistic cultural influence and to convert its Muslim society to live according to Muslim...

activist in Thangalpara, a rocky landscape accessible only by foot adjacent to Vagamon hills.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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