COME AND ENJOY NATURE TO THE FULLEST

Marayoor is one of the famous tourist spots in the Idukki District of Kerala state, South India. It is the land where nature, history and culture merge harmoniously into tourism. 42 kilometers north of Munnar through the Udumalppetta route, Marayoor is the only place in Kerala that has natural sandal wood forests. Ancient dolmens and rock paintings in Marayoor tell the story of a muted history dating back to the Stone Age. In 1991 Marayoor had a population of 9,590.

Name and Legend The name Marayoor is said to be derived from two words “mara” and “oor”, in Tamil and Malayalam languages “mara” means hidden and “oor” means land. Legend has it the great Pandavas of Mahabharata epic, had stayed in the area during their exile and so the place was named as ‘Maranjirunna oor’ or the land (they) hide. Later it became the land’s name “Marayoor.” Another argument is that the name Marayoor is derived from the words “mala” and “oor”, “mala” means mountain and “oor” means land, hence it was meant to be “the land of the mountains”, as the land is surrounded by mountains. Some scholars toyed with the idea that it can be both “mara” and “mala” as the name Marayoor could be interpreted as the land hidden by the mountains. There is no reason to give any credit to the story regarding Pandavas. Mara means cover and Mala means mountain. As such the argument of equivalence of mara and mala is out of question.

The most probable meaning of the place name is the Uru (Village) of Maravars (A tribe lived in this area during the turn of Christian Era, who used to attack travelers for looting, hiding in the forest. The word meaning is 'people who hides', They were traditionally members of the army of tribal chiefs and the Maharajas of Chera, Chola and Pandya).


Marayoor has more than 1000 species of flowering plants and is a well known repository of medicinal plants. There are 114 endemics and Aibizia lathamii, a critically endangered tree has been recently reported from the dry frosts. Chinnar the wildlife sanctuary in Marayoor has recorded the largest number of reptilian fauna in Kerala including the mugger crocodile. With 225 recorded species of birds, it is one of the richest areas of south India in avian diversity.

The forests in Marayoor preserve the population of the endangered Grizzled Giant Squirrel. The rare white bison has been recently reported in Chinnar wildlife sanctuary. Other important mammals found are elephant, tiger, leopard, guar, sambar, spotted deer, Nilgiri tar, common langur, bonnet macaque etc. The phenomenon of butterfly migration occurs in between the monsoons.