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Ooty Tourism

House in the Mountains
State : Tamil Nadu
District: Nilgiri
Type of Tourism : Hill Station
Area : 36 Sq. Km.
Population : 93,921 (As per Indian census- 2001)
Altitude : 7,347 feet (2,240 meters)
Best Tourist Season : September to November and April to June
Languages spoken : Tamil, Kannada, English, Hindi
Telephone Code : India (0423), International (+91)
Pin Code : 643001 To 643232
Clothing recommended : Heavy Woolen and extremely warm in winter. Light Woolen and warm in summer
What to buy : Tea, Spices, Home Made Chocolates, Eucalyptus Oil, Herbal Oil, Gourmet Cheese, Varkey (traditional Ooty Biscuits), Bee Honey, Bee Wax, Toda embroideries, Handicraft items, etc.
Food Specialties : South Indian Items, Chinese/Indo-Chinese food, Varkey, Home Made Chocolates, Buns, Pizza, Burgers, Cakes, Other Bakery items, Tea.
Local transportation : Auto Rickshaws, Tourist Cabs, Taxis, Town Buses (TTDC)
Shopping Tips : The special items listed above can be purchased from numerous stores set up in the town. You just have to make sure that the products you buy are of good quality and you get them for reasonable prices. To avoid any loss you can go to authentic shops only. Shivani Stores, Green Shop, C – Store, etc are some of the reputed shops where Ooty Special Items are sold at moderate rates. Plus, you can always try your bargaining capabilities.


About Ooty

Ooty, the ‘Queen of Hill Stations’ and the ‘Paradise on the Earth’ is nestled in the gorgeous and pulchritudinous Nilgiri mountain ranges in western ghats. The original Epithet of Ooty was Udhagamandalam, which means ‘house in the mountains’. With the colonization of India, the name Udhagamandalam got anglicized and it became Ootacamund. The short form of Ootacamund is Ooty.
The Nilgiri Mountain Ranges widely acknowledged as the ‘Blue Mountains’ are regarded to be older than the Himalayas. The Nilgiri Mountain Ranges are entitled as Blue Mountains after the famous ‘kurunji’ flowers that blossom once in every 12 years and furbish the hill slops with their azure tincture. Doddabetta Peak of Nilgiri Mountain Ranges that belongs to Ooty region is the highest peak in South India.
The malachite lofty mountains, landscapes enveloped with burgeoning tea plantations, sparkling brooks, cascading cataracts, lakes and rejuvenating pleasant weather of Ooty attract plethora of tourists all round the year. Famous for its Summer Flower Festival, oil industry and tea industry, Ooty is one of the most sought after tourist’s destination in south India. Along with Ootacamund, one must visit Coonoor and Kotagiri which are situated quite close to Ooty.

History Of Ooty

The rulers of various royal dynasties namely Chera, Ganga and Hoysala reined The Nilgiri Mountain Ranges over the years. King Vishnuvardhana of Hoysala dynasty was the last king amongst them to rule Ooty who was defeated by Tipu Sultan. Tipu Sultan was over powered by British army in 18th century and thereafter Nilgiri ranges came under British control. The first European to visit Nilgiri Ranges was Jacome Forico who wrote a book describing the magnitude and enticing beauty of this renowned hill station - Ooty.
The early inhibitors of Udhagamandalam were the tribal creeds called Todas. Later, Udhagamandalam was taken over by John Sullivan: then governor of Coimbatore from Them. The elegant Nilgiri mountain ranges blanketed with mystic blue allured the British to no extent and a charming headland in the lap of nature was evolved as a hill station and a holiday resort. The Governor John Sullivan played an important role in promoting this place and in 1819 this holiday resort was christened as Ootacamund. Sullivan encouraged the cultivation of tea on the sloping hills and plantation of teak & Chinchona trees and also built houses and roads here.
Ooty was anointed as the summer capital of the presidency of Madras and British officials retreated to this place during summer. For the first time Ooty was cited in the Madras gazette in the year 1821 when Ooty was spelled as ‘Wotokymund’. This is regarded to be the first official registration of Ooty as regency. Today Ooty; rightly called the ‘Queen of Hill Stations’ is considered to be one of the most popular hill stations of India.