Palakkad City Guide
Explore the bounteous nature of the park that will fascinate you and will take you on the tour of discovery.
About Silent Wildlife Sanctuary
40 km from Mannarkad in the northeastern corner of Palakkad district. The Silent Valley contains India’s last substantial stretch of tropical evergreen rain forests and it is perhaps the only vestige of a near virgin forest in the whole of the Western Ghats. Elephants, tigers, wild dog, flying squirrel and lion-tailed macaque are found here. The local name for the park is Sairandhrivanam (the forest in the valley) and had been a centre of hot debats and protests in the decades of the 70's and 80's of the 20th century. The history of the park goes way back to 1888 when the region was declared a reserved land under the Forest Act and later notified as a Reserved Forest by the Government of Madras in 1914. Though smaller in size in comparison to the other national parks in India, what makes it unique is the sylvan environment the region has along with its high altitude peaks and several rivers that run through it.
Climate
The Silent Valley National Park is a heavy rainfall region with the places in the higher altitudes getting the highest rain. The average rainfall in the region varies between 2800 and 3400 mm. The park receives most of its rainfall during the southwest monsoon from June to December. The relative humidity is considerably high during this season with the maximum at times going to 95%. April and May are the hottest months while January and February are the coolest months, though not much difference in the temperature is experienced.
Fauna
The fauna include a number of possible new species, a few very primitive animal groups, notably Caecilians (limbless amphibians) and some rare small mammals such as the peshwa's bat and hairy-winged bat.
Avifuana
About 170 species have been recorded of which 31 are migrants.
Insects
More than 100 species of butterflies and 400 species of moths. Quite a few of them are extremely rare and endemic
Best Time to Visit
September to March
Getting There
From Palghat there are frequent buses from Mannarghat(40 km). Mannarghat is connected to Mukkali (19 km) by bus. Silent Valley is 18km away from Mukkali which can be reached by Jeep or Truck.
