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Thenmala
Thenmala is a small village at the foothills of Western Ghats and predominantly
a forest area. The famous Shenduruney Wildlife Sanctuary is the most
important ecotourism resource of Thenmala Ecotourism. This Wildlife
Sanctuary is of about 100 sq. km. and harbors large varieties of flora
and fauna.
Thenmala : "Then + Mala" , i.e. in local parlance "Then"
means honey and "Mala" means hillock i.e. it mean honey hills.
The honey collected from Thenmala forest region is of good quality and
of high medicinal value because of the unique floristic composition
of the forests.
The Shenduruny forest - declared a wildlife sanctuary in 1984 gets its
name from an endemic species of tree called Chenkuruny (Gluta travancoria).
In the central region of this moist, mixed deciduous forest, spread
over hilly terrain of over 100 sq km, is the 26 sq km artificial lake
formed by the Parappar dam built across the Shenduruny and Kulathupuzha
rivers.?
But beautiful surroundings guaranteed to give those exhausted batteries
a recharge is not all that the forest is famous for. According to some
recent archaeological studies, Shenduruny was the cradle of one of the
oldest river valley civilizations in India
Getting there
By road: 66 km from Kollam town on the Kollam - Shencotta Road,
in Pathanapuram taluk of Kollam district.
Nearest railway station: Thenmala connected with Chennai, Mumbai,
Delhi and Kashmir.
Nearest airport: Thiruvananthapuram 72 km away.
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