LOCATION

Ketti is a small village in the Nilgiri Mountains in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Situated at a height of 7,000 feet, Ketti is on the road to Coonoor from Ooty.

CLIMATE

Ketti has a beautiful climate and the place is suitable for visit in all seasons except monsoons. During summers, the temperature is rarely higher than 25°C or lower than 10°C. Winters are distinctly cooler with a high of 21°C and a low of 5°C.

PAST

There is not much of known history about Ketti. It is a relatively new destination and better known for its tribes and tea plantation. Tea plantation was introduced for the first time in the Ketti valley in 1835. This was perhaps the first time when tea plantation was started in south India and commercial plantation in south India also started from Ketti. After the successful trial of commercial tea plantation here, the process was introduced in the other parts of the Nilgiris.

SITES TO VISIT

Ketti is a picturesque village nestled in the Nilgiri hills of Tamil Nadu near Ootacamund or Ooty. Once in the village, one soon adapts to the ‘early to bed, early to rise’ mode. Even before the sun has risen, the village wakes up. Cowbells resonate musically across the valley while smoke spirals skywards from the tiled houses below. A walk around the village can be an invigorating afternoon occupation for the tourists, winding up above stately buildings such as the Sunny Bank within the boundary of Ooty town. When night falls, one will delight in the unbelievable clusters of stars that seem just an arm's length away.

The idyllic mountain village of Ketti is home to tribes such as the Todas and the Badagas, who even now continue with their traditional tribal way of life. Ketti represents a rural lifestyle that revolves around caring for livestock, and cultivation of vegetables. The scenery is idyllic in the Ketti valley and the weather salubrious.

Also at hand for the visitor to Ketti is a wealth of natural beauty in the Wenlock Downs, the Municipal Gardens and the Dodabetta Peak at 2, 623 m, the highest in the Nilgiri Mountains.

SITES NEARBY

Called the ‘Queen of Hill Stations’ and better known as Ooty, the picturesque green Udhagamandalam or Ootacamund is the most popular hill station in south India. Located in the Western Ghats at a height of 2,240 m, Udhagamandalam is the headquarters of the Nilgiri district where the two Ghats (western and eastern) meet.

Situated at an altitude of 2,000 ft and near Ketti is Coonoor, a small town with an equable climate that has made it a popular hill resort in its own right. The main attraction is the Sim's Park, a small well-maintained botanical garden that has several rare varieties of plants that are not found in the other hill stations. View points and picnic spots around Coonoor include Lambs Rock, Lady Canning's Seat, and Dolphin's Nose.

WHERE TO STAY

There are many deluxe and semi deluxe residential options available in and around Ketti like Lovedale and Ootacamund.

HOW TO REACH

By Air

The airport nearest to Ketti is at Coimbatore around 100 km away. There are direct bus services from Ketti and Ootacamund to Coimbatore.

By Rail

Ketti is a part of the now famous Nilgiri Railway with its locomotive trains. Railways link Ketti with nearby places like Coonoor and Ootacamund.

By Road

Ketti is easily reached by good, all-weather roads from Ootacamund and Coimbatore within Tamil Nadu in the south and with Bangalore via the Madhumalai-Bandipur Game Sanctuary and Mysore in Karnataka to the north