Most beautiful temple in India

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St. Stephan's church : This is the oldest church in Nilgiris. Its huge wooden beams came from the palace of Tipu Sultan in Srirangapatanam and were hauled the 120 km by a team of elephants. The cemetery has graves of John Sullivan, founder of Ooty. Church is near the Charing Cross.

Botanical garden : This beautiful garden (Admission Rs 3, camera Rs 30) has numerous mature species as well as Italian and Japanese sections. There is also a fossilised tee trunk believed to be around 20 million years old. It is further 1 km north from the Charing Cross.

The highest point near Ooty is Dodebetta peak (2636 m, 10 km).

Tribal Research centre & museum : The museum has models of various hill tribes. Take an Emerald bus from TRC stop for the museum (11 km, Saturday and Sunday closed).

Ooty has regular bus connections to Coimbatore (Rs 37, 3 hour) and Mysore (Rs 69, 4 hour) via Mudumalai national park at Theppakadu (Rs 23, 2.5 hour). There is a shot and arduous route to Mysore via Masinagudi on the Sighur Ghat road (Rs 10, 1.5 hour, 36 km). Government minibuses run on this route and tackles the 36 hairpin bends.

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Mudumalai national park (Admission Rs 30, Dec to June) is the best place in Tamil Nadu for wildlife viewing. It is home to chital (spotted deer), gaur, tiger, panther, wild boar, sloth bear, otter, crocodile and wild elephants numbering around 600. Heavy rain is common in Oct and Nov. Minibus tours (Rs 35 per person for 45 min, 15 km) run from 7 am to 9 am and 3 pm to 6 pm around the outskirts of the park. Masinagudi is the nearest village (7 km from Theppakadu). Bus runs at every two hour. Trekking can be done outside the national park.



Tirunelveli - Kantimati and Nellaipapper temples, Tiruchendur shore temple (13 km).

Kuttalam waterfalls : Near Tenkasi on the Kerala border.

Hogenakal waterfalls : On Salem - Hosur road near Karnataka border.