Valparai

Valparai is a Taluk and hill station in the Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu, India. It is located above sea level on the Anaimalai Hills range of the Western Ghats, at a distance of from Coimbatore and from Pollachi. There are 40 hairpin bends on the way up to Valparai from Azhiyar. While major portions of the land are owned by private tea companies, large forest areas continue to be out of bounds. As of 2011, the town had a population of 70,859.HistoryEarliest records of this area are from the year 1846 when Ramasamy Mudaliyar started coffee plantation here. In 1864, the Karnatic Coffee Company began their coffee plantation here but they could not make it profitable, hence they sold part of their land. In 1875, the roads and guest houses were built by soldiers for the visit of England’s Prince of Wales, the future Edward VII. Soldiers were posted here and horses and elephants were used for this purpose. However, the visit was eventually cancelled. In 1890, W. Wintil and Nordan bought a huge portion of land in Valparai from the Madras State Government under the British Raj. Wintil deforested the area and planted tea and coffee. He was assisted by Carwer Marsh, an experienced planter for a salary of 250 rupees.