2659m? (Kerala), 2nd Highest point in South India

India / Tamil Nadu / Bodinayakkanur /
 mountain, summit
This peak lies to the immediate north of Meesapulimala, the popular trekking peak. It can be seen clearly from the summit of Meesapulimala when looking towards Yellapatti village (as shown in anilsworldat.blogspot.com/2010_03_01_archive.html ). It lies along the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border and appears to be higher than the better known Meesapulimala. Google Earth indicates a height of 2640m. The Survey of India website www.surveykshan.gov.in also shows the peak to be above the 2660m contour, giving credibility to the claims that this peak is the second highest peak in South India (higher than Meesapulimala and Doddabetta)

The peak can be easily confused with Meesapulimala as they are very close to each other. However, the Meesapulimala trek as per the sources given in the earlier update goes to the peak about 1 km south from here. Both the peaks are located at the edge of a steep cliff overlooking Tamil Nadu.

The height, if confirmed, would also make this peak the highest point in the Vaigai River Basin.

Earlier Update:

The peak is now identified correctly as Meesapulimala. The approach is from Kerala as it has a steep cliff overlooking Tamilnadu and forms a border at the edge. Many sources:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meesapulimala
www.trackfinder.in/services/holidays-and-travel/clouds-...
www.getyourguide.com/kerala-l741/trek-meesapulimala-ful...
travspire.com/experiences/trek-to-meesapulimala/

Tags:
Munnar (just 20 kms from)
Rhodo Valley
Silent Valley (edge of)
Kolukkumalai Tea Garden
Arivikad Tea Factory
Mattupetty

First Post (updated to compensate for dead link):

Unnamed peak in this place on now unaccessible KDHP "Tea sanctuary map" lists 2659m (8724ft) altitude. That map was a better (legible, and with more altitudes included) version of this map: kdhptea.com/plantation_map.html,
US Army Map (1954) (www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/ams/india/nc-43-08.jpg) of this area labels this mountain as "Manna Malai", and gives an altitude of 8724ft (2659m), North of an altitude only entry (8661 ft), presumably that of Meesapuli Malai.

Google terrain view (contour map) gives credibility to these altitude claims. A path, visible in Google map images, seemingly runs along the ridge (the highest point), which would be consistant with a trail that connects border markers, and indicates that the summit is shared by Kerala and Tamilnadu. There is no indication of a trail along the cliff line, which would be an alternate border feature consistant with British border mapping conventions (and US Army map). This border originally marked the boundaries of Madras (British India) and Travancore-Cochin (Native State).
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   10°5'51"N   77°12'9"E

Comments

  • This is clearly Meesapulimala Peak, the second highest peak after Anamudi (2695 m) - both in Kerala. I have been here in 2002. I am not sure about the convention in deciding where a place belongs to. But clearly this peak is accessible only from the Kerala side and there is a steep cliff facing Tamilnadu. The name Meesapalimala is derived from Meesa or Misha meaning "moustache" in local. The shape of the cliff is like a moustache sloping gently towards north & south from the top. It is however quite possible that the peak is also named Manna Malai by people on the Tamilnadu side.
  • thanks for the SoI info. someone needs to mount an expedition ...
  • You make a sensible cases Thariash. I would say SOI would use old maps rather than mount an expedition to re-map, and the border follows the top of the cliffs, per convention, as that area would be of little use to Tamilnadu if it were not accessible from Tamilnadu. The question remains, is the top of the cliffs the highest point in Tamilnadu?..I see a 2620 m contour towards the south of the "top" that is close enough to be part of a cliff. Doddabetta is listed at 2637m.
  • Doddabetta? You mean Meesapulimala is listed at 2637m in the SoI maps. It is also shown to be on the border of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Doddabetta is shown at 2633m. Anyway, you are right in that SoI does not really need to go through loops to get the accurate height of this particular peak. Using old maps might be enough, but an expedition to this peak is not really that big a deal. It's fairly close to Meesapulimala and surveying it should be pretty easy. The border normally would pass through the watershed divide line or the cliff edge line, although it is not strictly necessary. Now that I am looking at the SoI map carefully, I think I can even see a 2660m contour line around the highest point of the peak and the border going right over it. This is interesting!!
  • I divided this summit originally, and made a case for the other side as possibly being the highest point in TN, but it is not divided in my mind(!) -- thus the Doddabetti altitude -- which I just got from a google search, which returned wikipedia & 2637m from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doddabetta That may be the (correct) conversion of 8650ft on the US army map posted there. Meesapuli Malai is listed as 8661ft on US Army maps (see link above in main article or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meesapulimala). I anonymously left a lot of information at that web page's "talk" page. Corrections next? Maybe SOI is using a less accurate conversion factor for updating it's existing British-era maps in feet to meters? I cannot get any SoI info -- maybe it is blocked to overseas computers?? Or too clumsy for me to use?? Definitely does not support my Chrome browser. But the controversy on this side seems to be if this is really Meesapulymalai which I think we agree it is not. Using the SOI numbers you report, even the true Meesapuly Malai (which does have a border marker at the top per some blog I read) shared summit south of here is higher than Doddabetti. Top of cliff line altitude (if that is the border) of this mountain remains uncertain. I am just surprised such a high and possibly significant mountain remains nameless and relatively unknown.
  • Ahh.. I see where the problem is. SoI website (http://www.surveykshan.gov.in/) works only on Internet Explorer. It won't work on Chrome. I thought you were quoting the Doddabetta altitude from the SoI maps. 3 things are pretty clear to me from all the observations. 1) This peak is not Meesapulimala (you and I agree on that), but a higher peak about a km north of Meesapulimala. 2) This unnamed peak either lies on the border of Tamil Nadu and Kerala or is pretty close to it. In any case, the SoI maps show it to be higher than 2660m, which makes this the second highest peak in the entire Western Ghats. And yes, I agree with you regarding the curious lack of acknowledgement of this peak 3) (This point is not related to this peak) Irrespective of which source we use to quote the altitude of Meesapulimala or Doddabetta, Meesapulimala is just that little bit higher than Doddabetta. Since Meesapulimala also lies on the Kerala - Tamil Nadu border, at the very least Doddabetta cannot be taken as the highest peak of Tamil Nadu.
  • More evidence that this peak is NOT Messapullimalai, and is higher than the Messapulli Malai that people are being guided to (1 Km south of here). http://www.usandeep.com/trekking/meesapulimala2.html
  • Why clearly? Meesa = "moustache", Puli= Tiger, therefore Tiger's Whiskers Mountain(?), as you say has a distinctive appearance. But this peak is behind it, and probably hidden from view from most anywhere, except nearby peaks, thus acquiring no name based on appearances from the Kerala side. Meesapuli's distinctive appearance is visible some distance away in the Kerala valley below it to the south and west.
  • I think it is more of the fact that this peak has a flat top ridge, whereas Meesapulimala is more of a rounded cone at the top, which "might" make it appear more prominent than this peak. I have checked the Survey of India (SoI) website. Meesapulimala is clearly marked with a height of 2637 m as the peak south of this one. No name or height is given to this peak. However, it is pretty clearly above the 2640 m contour line. It is quite strange though, as to why SoI has not clearly marked the height of this peak, when it quite likely is the second highest peak in the whole of south India and possibly is the highest in Tamil Nadu. The location of the highest point of this peak on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border is less clear. In the SoI maps, the border is shown to leave the highest crest of this peak (which is marked by a trail and curves slightly to the west before curving back again to the east) at its southern end and follow a northward line slightly the east of the crest before rejoining it maybe after 400m or so. I think there is a little bit of area slightly to the east of the crest that is relatively flat and has been included within Kerala. The Tamil Nadu area begins where the actual cliff plunges down the the east. So I am not sure whether the highest point of the crest is on the border or entirely in Kerala. Also regarding the name Manna Malai, the SoI map gives the location of Manna Malai more than a km to the west from this peak. It might possibly be for a nearby "sub-peak" (height 2614 m) that can be seen during the Meesapulimala trek.
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This article was last modified 9 years ago