Queen of the Nilgiris — the Toy Train climbs through eucalyptus and tea estates to a colonial hill station where the British built a botanical garden, raced horses, and invented the Nilgiri tea blend
Ooty (officially Udhagamandalam, pop. 90,000) sits at 2,240 meters in the Nilgiri Hills of Tamil Nadu — the highest point in South India accessible by a UNESCO-listed mountain railway. The Nilgiri Mountain Railway (1908, diesel since 2005) runs from Mettupalayam (at sea level) to Ooty in a five-hour climb through 16 tunnels, 208 bridges, and tea estates — the most spectacular train ride in South India. The Nilgiris (literally 'Blue Mountains', named for the Neelakurinji flower that blooms once every 12 years, turning the hills violet-blue) are home to four indigenous hill tribes — Toda, Kota,…
The Nilgiri Hills were inhabited by the Toda people (pastoral herders) and other tribal communities long before British contact; British surveyor John Sullivan reached the area in 1819 and recognized its potential as a hill retreat for the Madras administration, building the first European house at Ooty in 1822. The town became the 'summer capital of Madras' — government offices, the judiciary, and the Governor relocated here from April to October each year during the hot season, bringing European social life (horse racing, lawn tennis, balls) to an altitude where the temperature rarely excee…