marayur-munnar

Marayur:the spiritual centre for ancient Buddhist

Marayur claims to be a part of a Stone Age civilization that is as

old as 10,000 B.C It is also home to a later period of large

scale dolmen-building  People migrated from Tamil Nadu to

this area when the Madurai king Thirumalainaicker was

defeated by Tippu Sultan, in the eighteenth century CE. The

migrants created five villages, being Kanthalloor, Keezhanthur,

Karayur, Marayur and Kottakudi. These villages were called the

"Anju nadu", literally meaning “five lands”

      Marayur was a well developed settlement in kerala. Even

before 2000 years old .muniyaras [room of sage] indicate this

fact. some historians claim that is as a burial chambers. but its

not true. actually it was a meditation point for the Buddhist

monks.buddhist history of marayur is in associated with early

chera dynasty. Keezhanthur was the head quarters of

cheras.the they moved to karur when chegutuva’s period. We

can see many historical monuments about these era.

Sandalwood forest
Marayoor has a natural sandalwood forest with around 65,000 trees. The sandalwood of Marayoor is said to be of high quality. 

There is a ‘Sandalwood Regeneration Experimental Plot’ here from where one can learn more on the fragrant tree. The State Forest Department runs a sandalwood depot here where travellers can see the processing of sandalwood. Those who still haven’t got enough to satisfy their curiosity can take a refreshing stroll in the forest, but only after taking permission from the Forest Department

Pambar River
Another interesting sight in Marayoor would be a scenic river called Pambar which flows between the villages of Marayoor and Kanthalloor. Kerala has 44 rivers and the Pambar is one of the three rivers which flow towards the east.  Pambar originates in the Anamudi hills.
Watch Moods of Marayoor

Marayoor sarkara
Marayoor and the nearby Kanthalloor are famous for a special variety of solid molasses produced here. The ‘Marayoor sarkara’, as it is known in the market, is of high quality with 97 percent sugar content. Marayoor falls in the rain shadow region and the quality of the molasses is attributed to the specialty in temperature and the ph value of the earth. 

Though earlier sugarcane was cultivated in around 2,500 acres, today it has shrunk to around 1,500 acres. Molasses production is a cottage industry here. Don’t forget to taste it travellers, if you have planned a visit to Marayoor. And also, if you are lucky enough to reach Marayoor in the sugarcane harvest season, you can watch how the sarkara balls are made. If you want to take home some sweet balls, there are several local outlets here. 

Ezhuthupara
Ezhuthupara, located inside the Marayoor Forest Range is a prehistoric site where cave paintings can be seen. Such cave paintings have not yet been discovered in any other part of the state and the site has been declared as a protected monument by the State Archaeological Department. 

The paintings here are of two types – those drawn with reddish brown soil having iron minerals in different colours and those drawn with white clay soil.  

 rock painting marayur