Place Details:
Spread across 24,000 hectares with 16 tea manufacturing units and nearly 12,000 employees, Munnar‘s Kanan Devan Hill Plantations is one of the largest tea plantations in the country today. And within this tea estate lies the Kannan Devan Tea Museum, a one-of-a-kind place to visit for anyone who is in Munnar. The museum basically shows you the history of the tea industry in Munnar. Its official name is the Tata Tea Museum, but people also call it the Nalluthanni Estate museum, which is where it is based. The hill station destination is known today for its tea estates, spread far and wide across the misty Nilgiri hills. There are, in fact, more than 50 tea estates around Munnar, but that wasn’t always the case. Munnar and its hills were an evergreen jungle until 1790, when the Duke of Wellington recognized the region’s potential. J.D. Munroe, a Scottish tea planter, was the first ever to set up a tea estate on 588 square km of land. ALSO READ: 12 breathtaking photos of Munnar that will make you want to pack your bags and leave!
Today, Munnar is essentially a tea maker’s paradise and one of the largest producers of tea in India, and the Kannan Devan Tea Museum is a ode to this connection between Munnar and the famed aromatic beverage. The museum contains old machinery, photographs and other curios that tell the tale of Munnar’s evolution as a tea estate hub. Some highlights here include the Rotorvane, the original tea roller that dates back to 1905. There is also the Pelton Wheel, which was used to supply power in the 1920s to the Kanniamallay estate. You can find a rail engine wheel used in the Kundale Valley Light Railway line that once transported material and workers between the Top Station and Munnar. The museum is just five minutes away from the Munnar town center by road, bringing in thousands of tourists every year who are curious about the hill station’s sprawling tea estates.
BEST TIME TO VISIT MUNNAR
The average minimum and maximum temperature of Munnar is as given below. The best time to visit Munnar is also specified.
