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Valley Of Silence - Silent Valley National Park with Kalkundu Waterfalls

View from the top of the watchtower at Sairandhri. A closer inspection can reveal the old suspension bridge ( Look for a shadow )

This is the closest national park to my home in Melattur and is extremely close to the school where I studied from my 1st standard to 10th. I studied in Little Flower Central School , Karuvarakundu from where I could see the peaks of Silent valley. The school is located on top of a hill covered with rubber plantations (Rubber Estates). With the altitude advantage of the hill and the 3 stories below our classroom , we could see the entire Kalkund Valley and the arc of mountains , particularly  the Mt Koomban which is the dominant peak visible from the town.

Keralam Kundu Waterfalls at Kalkundu

Since I was an outstanding student , I had to stand out of the classroom as a punishment for a myriad of reasons. I used to get the company of my friends from the nearby Kalkund valley , to whom I used to ask about their life in the wilderness. They used to tell stories of wild animals roaming around there house , particularly pythons, porcupines, wild boars and elephants. Some of them used to bring quills of porcupines and wild fruits to our class so that we outsiders could have a look at them. At that time a machine that can show an image while typing "Porcupine Quill" was beyond our imagination. We used to enjoy seeing and feeling them as if we were watching Avatar 3D..... :-)

I never believed my Kalkund friends when they used to tell me that some portions of Kalkund is part of the world famous Silent Valley National Park. Only with the advent of Google Maps I could finally understand that the watch tower at Silent Valley is only 9 kilometers away from the Keralam Kundu Waterfalls in Kalkundu. The first time I went to Kalkundu was in 2012 with my cousins. We had to trek through rubber plantations and reach the waterfall climbing vertical cliffs like Spider man.

I was also bitten by a leech on that day. The location though remote and unforgiving , had a lot of young boys who where playing in the water by jumping from the top of the waterfall. It not a very high waterfall , but a mistake from that height is extremely deadly. The rocks below the waterfall are very slippery and the only way to walk is on the sandy floor. The bottom part of the waterfall is infamous for gold nuggets as the Geological Survey of India has classified the rocks around Silent Valley as having high gold content.

Now the Kerala Tourism Development Corporation (KTDC) has funded for the construction of road to the Keralam Kundu Waterfalls along with a bridge for tourists. The bridge was inaugurated by A P Anil Kumar , the tourism minister of Kerala on September 27th 2015. The road to the park is still rocky and an Off road race was conducted in 2014.

Even though the Waterfalls is close to Silent Valley , we cannot go inside it without permission from the Silent Valley National Park office at Mukkali. 2 Kms from the Keralam Kundu Waterfalls , we can reach Poochi Paara ( Poochi = Butterfly/fly  , Para = Rock ). The only way to reach the location for tourists is to circle the mountain and go to the other side of the forest , where the official entrance to the park is situated.

The main entrance to the Silent Valley National Park is situated at Mukkali , Mannarkkad , which is in the Palakkad district of Kerala. From Mukkali , we will have to reach the Silent Valley Information Centre , from where we can choose to go in to the park by bus or jeep or go for a trek. The ticket for one person is 300 Rs as of 31st October 2015. Some times you will also have to pay an entrance fee if you are a foreigner and also will have to take a ticket for your camera.

The park is one of the last natural habitats of the endangered Lion Tailed Macaques (Macaca silenus). This animal was the reason for the Save Silent Valley Movement  of 1977, one of the biggest environmental debates in the world.

Since the park is close to my home I have went there in both jeep and bus. ("Jeep" means SUV in India). The main focus of the trip will be the endangered Lion Tailed Maccaque , which triggered the Silent Valley Movement , one of the greatest conservation struggles of modern era.

Lion Tailed......This is the lion like tail of the macaque

The park is called Silent Valley because of the absence of Cicadas. Most of the park consists of dense evergreen forests and mountains. Some other mammals which we can easily spot in the park are the endangered Nilgiri Langur , which is also endemic to the Western Ghats like the Lion Tailed Macaque , and the Malabar Giant Squirrel. On the way to the park , its easy find another species of macaque that is also endemic to the western ghats. Its the common bonnet macaque , which like to live on the edges of the national park. Malabar Giant Squirrels also are easily seen on the way to Mukkali.



The vehicle will take you only up to Sairandhri , where there is a watch tower. From the top of the watch tower , we can get a better view of the forests around. We can see the river Kunthi , which forms the border of Palakkad & Malappuram districts of Kerala. Since Kalkund is on the other side of Kunthi river , it is located in Malappuram district.

We can trek to an old suspension bridge on the river Kunthi from Sairandhri  through leach infested grounds. Unless you are visiting the park in mid summer , you are almost guaranteed to experience a leach bite. The bite does not hurt like a mosquito or ant bite. The animal will apply a local anesthetic which prevents you from feeling the bite. Don't forget to take some table salt to help you out of leach bites. Once those blood suckers attach to your skin , don't pull the leech by its body. It may regurgitate the contents in its body and may lead to infection. You can either let the leech finish its drinking and let go by itself (SCARY..??) or put some salt over it and then it will let go by itself.

A fallen tree on the way to river 'Kunthi'

Please don't carry small kids to the Kunthipuza trek during rainy season as the kids may get scared and start screaming seeing blood flowing like water from the leech bite. Usually when we get a small cut , the blood will clot within a minute. But leeches have an anti coagulant in their saliva called Hirudin. This means that blood flow after leach bite will look like water flowing out of a punctured water bottle. Leaches are the reason why the nearby town is called Attappadi as "Atta" means leech in Malayalam ( "Attai" in Tamil) so you can expect at least one byte if you are planning a trip to here.

Angry Green Vine Snake On the Way to Sairandhri

I haven't counted the number of bytes I have from around Silent Valley. The first day I went there , I didn't had salt and have got about 20 leaches on my shoes (wet season) , which I managed to snap out of my shoes. about 6 unseen leaches climbed over to my legs and I never knew they where there and saw them only after completing the trip. So far , none of them have become infected or itchy. It will heal in about 4 days and wont even leave a mark.

Jeep Safari with German tourists

Seeing any large animals is based on pure luck. Don't exptect to see large mammals in the park as it is extremely rare. Spotted deers , which you can see in abundance in many other national parks are non existent in these dense evergreen forests. They thrive only in grasslands and deciduous forests. A tiger has its range in the route to Sairandhri . It has marked its territory by claw marks on a tree near the entrance to the core zone.

100 Feet high  Rajeev Gandhi watch tower at Sairandhri

In order to see Lion tailed macaques , you will have to reach the information center by about 7:30 am and go for the first safari. By mid noon , the animals will go to deeper forest and will be less active. If your objective is to photograph animals , go in a jeep and don't go by the bus. For casual visitors , the extra price of the jeep safari is hard to be justified unless you are having a group of 5 to 7 individuals.

Leech Bite - These guys are very very very common and at least one bite is guaranteed if you are to visit Silent Valley with out adequate preparation. For the least , carry a small packet of salt. Unlike a mosquito or ant bite , the bite of a leech is painless as it applies a local anesthetic , which makes you totally unable to sense pain. Even you don't feel it crawling on your body. I have got bitten about 8 times on my last visit. The wounds healed by themselves and didn't cause any discomfort

IMPORTANT:   Always book your visit in advance. Pre book your visit in the Silent Valley Information Centre Phone number. This is one of the few national parks where large scale tourism is discouraged. You will also have to carry food with you as there are no shops once you go inside the park. There are some shops at Mukkali.

Tiger Claw Marks - Tigers mark their territory by standing on their rear legs and putting their body weight on to the front claws creating an up to down scratch mark . This marking along with scent marking is used by tigers to mark their territory. Only some special kinds of trees are used by them as very hardwood trees are harder to scratch with their claws.

A trek to Butterfly Rock in Kalkundu is avilable ( "Poochi para" trek). (7.5 Km)

Old suspension bridge across Kunthi river

Also this jungle is also home to some terrorists called Maoists ,who have recently burned a Forest Department's 4x4 SUV and have attacked KFC Mc Donalds shop in Palakkad. The attack was supposedly a reaction to the corruption by local governments towards tribal people. Encounters between Maoists and police is rare but on the rise during the last two years.

Kunti River

A new special forces team armed with automatic rifles, named "Thunder Bolt" has been trained for encounters inside forests and they where trained in the Jungles of Silent Valley. Their patrol vehicles are some times seen in the roads around Silent Valley.

Anginda Peak 

Magical Trails - The Karien Shola

Most of the people who are venturing in to the wild usually resort only to a short jungle safari usually conducted in a safari vehicle,which follows a strict safari route. Its easy and safe, as you are armored from the animals outside and the soft and cushy seats will provide you a comfy ride through the wild. This is most suited if you are on a busy schedule or having a family trip with your kids.

 Karien Shola

Unlike the African savannas which all of us might have seen in popular TV channels, where most of the terrain is less treacherous and have less number of trees in the landscape, the Western Ghats has a three dimensional terrain with hills mountains and cliffs making any car/bus safari a nightmare. Moreover,these areas are covered by impenetrable rain-forests and gets covered in fog during a major part of the year.

Malabar giant squirrel  ( Ratufa indica )

In my case,the thrill of being in the wild did not come from any safaris , but through a short trek through the deciduous forests of  Parambikulam to a patch of evergreen Shola forests locally called as The Karien Shola. I never had any experience in trekking through any rain-forests before and it was indeed a very unique experience to me.


It was a holiday for my collage due to 'Srikrishna Jayanthi' , the birthday of the Hindu god Krishna. I was having regular class on the next day and hence couldn't go to my homeland , which was my usual practice. At  Coimbatore, it was power-cut season and the sheer number of power-cuts was too annoying to me (Up to 16 hours per day of electric power blackout did existed in Coimbatore at that time) . Sitting in my room therefore was not an option for me. It was time fore me to execute my plan-B...

So, what is plan-B...?

Take my camera and get lost in the jungles in the neighborhood...:-) Luckily, I was having my camera with all of it batteries fully charged. But still, it was raining slightly on the outside. But the climate got overridden my by over-confidence that the rains would eventually vanish. But I had to reach there to understand that I was wrong.....
As I reached the information center at Anappady , I was surprised to see that I was the only visitor that day. It was raining heavily and was not a tourist season in Kerala. There was no safari that day due to lack of tourists and all I could do was to trek through the jungle trails. I had no other choice and I cashed my bill for the Karien Shola Trail. 

Drosera indica - An insectivorous plant

After having my lunch, I was accompanied by my friend & guide , Mr Sashi , a young and energetic member from the forest department. We started walking from the information center through the tarmac towards the gateway. Then we entered in to a deciduous patch of forest through a rocky terrain. The rain was fairly heavy and the visibility was reducing. We could see two elephants on the way and had to wait for some time until our road was cleared. My guide was trying to clear the route by making loud noises and calls. I was a little scared and did keep a distance from them.

As the route got cleared, we moved on. As we reached the Karien Shola, the rain ceased for a while. The forest canopy became more thick and it seemed as if there was very little light down there. The Shola was filled with thick undergrowth and a multitude of sounds. The guide showed me a Malabar Giant Squirrel, running around on the top canopy. It was very big in comparison to an ordinary palm squirrel found in my house and its sound was so loud. It took a look over us for a moment and I could grab a shot.

Elephants On the road

Suddenly, some thing felt so wrong.I looked at my shoes and OMG my legs were covered by leaches. Some 20 leaches over me and climbing up. I never knew that leaches were so extreme and was not prepared to face them. It was so tough to get off from my shoes and pants. You can never blow them away like a mosquito nor you can pick'em using your hand. I was totally scared seeing them climbing up so fast. The only way I had was to strike them using my index finger repeatedly as if I was playing caroms. The strike has to be delivered just at the very moment they move. Even though, one did grip on my nail and no shaking of  could get it off from my finger. I took my memory card cover and swatted it. Some way I got them off.

My Guide - Mr Sashi

Luckily, I had a good pair of socks and shoes and since I followed the instructions from my guide to put socks over my pants, I was not bitten by any of those blood suckers.They were so big and was dark brown to red in color.The easy way to get rid of them is by sprinkling salt on them. But , I was not expecting them and didn't had any salt with me.

Female Scarlet Minivet  (Pericrocotus flammeus)

As we ventured further, we could see a White bellied woodpecker, the largest of its kind on a tree nearby.Also we could spot birds like the White bellied treepie, Malabar grey horn bill Scarlet minivet,Malabar parakeet,Malabar whistling thrush and many other birds.

Ceylon Frogmouth - (Batrachostomus moniliger)

Sambar deer were also spotted during the trail and we were amazed to find some pug-marks of the majestic Bengal Tiger on our way. From there, he took me to the bottom of a tree,were this pair of Ceylon frog-mouths (Batrachostomus moniliger) were photographed.

Peninsular Rock Agama  (Psammophilus dorsalis)

From there, we started our trek back to the information center. As we moved in to a large open area covered by rocks,I felt as if there is a movement on the rocks. As I looked closer, I could spot a small lizard called as the Peninsular Rock Agama (Psammophilus dorsalis). It is camouflaged as a piece of rock and hence is very tough to find. But there were lots of them on the rocks out here, that it was easy for me to find and photograph them. Moreover, the one that's in the photo was just circling around the same rock even when I chased it for a while.

Indian Pond Heron (Ardeola grayii)

After the trek, as we reached back to the information center, we were welcomed by a pair of Indian pond herons in the garden adjoining the information center. In total, I was charged INR 500 Rs for the trek and a I strongly recommend the trek for everybody who want to experience the tranquility of the evergreen shoals of the western ghats .