Kodaikanal
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Kodaikanal (also known as Kodai) is a hill station on the southern tip of the upper Palani Hills in Dindigul District of the state of Tamil Nadu in southern India. Kodai is also a minor tourist attraction, and many of the locals make their living through tourist services. Kodaikanal is sometimes referred to as "Princess of Hill stations".
General information
There 32,931 inhabitants in Kodai (according to the 2001 census) on 21.45 km². The languages spoken in Kodai are Tamil and English. The best time for traveling is April to June and September to October; however, the town can be visited throughout the year. The temperature is quite constant during the year: around 20°C in summer and 17°C in winter. On summer evenings you should wear light woolens, in the winter heavy ones. The average rainfall is 1650 mm.Geography
Kodaikanal is located at a latitude of 10°7' N to 10°20' N and a longitude of 77°16' E to 77°45' E. and is situated at an altitude of about 2,133 metres (6,998 feet) above sea level. It is also a popular tourist destination, with an artificial lake [link], and numerous scenic mountain view points[link]including Coaker's Walk, which has magnificent views down to the plains. Next to the lake is Bryant Park, a botanic garden. To the South is Mount Perumal, a hill which resembles an extinct volcano.Infrastructure
The nearest airports are Madurai, Trichy and Coimbatore. There are several temples, mosques and churches in the town. There are numerous hotels of all grades, various restaurants, six banks and three hospitals.Close to Kodai is the Physical Observatory. Its director John Evershed discovered the phenomenon of radial motion in sunspots, now known as the Evershed effect.
Kodaikanal is also renowned for the Kodaikanal International School. There are five further schools (two of them teaching in Tamil), two colleges and the Mother Theresa University.
There is an excellent bazaar where one can buy woollen material, flowers, vegetables, handmade articles, hot snacks, children toys, medicinal herbs and oils. The cosmopolitan nature of Kodai is evident at the market place where it is not uncommon to see Scandinavian backpackers, retired French tourists and people from other parts of India enjoying fresh pastries served by Tibetan refugees.
External links
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