Sandalwood Forest of Marayoor

The video is of the sandalwood (Santalum album) forest at Marayoor, a short trip from Munnar, the charming hill station in Kerala. The Marayoor sandal is regarded as the best in the world.

Spread over an area of 93 sq km the reserve forest here has over 60,000 trees. This is the only natural sandalwood forest in the state. Permission is required from the state Forest Department to enter the forest. However travellers can visit the ‘Sandalwood regeneration experimental plot’, which is good enough to satisfy their curiosity about the fragrant tree.

The state Forest Department runs a sandalwood depot here where travelers can learn the treatment, classification and processing of sandal.

Marayoor is an archaeological hot spot too for its 2,000-year-old megalithic monuments. It is about 40 kms from Munnar in the Idukki district of Kerala.