Periyar National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary is one of the most popular tourist attractions in South India, its center is a lake built by British engineers in 1895 for irrigation and water supply for the city of Madurai. Established in 1934, this beautiful park is home to numerous mammals, including large numbers of Indian elephants, wild boars, otters, lion-tailed monkeys, and more than 20 free-roaming Bengal tigers. Bird watching is a very popular activity, you can often see species such as darts, storks, kingfishers, hornbills and long-tailed storks, as well as many interesting species of butterflies.
The best way to enjoy the magnificent mountainous landscape of the park is to take a boat ride on the lake or a guided hike up the mountain, the latter gives visitors the opportunity to face the elephants and observe other wild animals from the tower observation deck and observation deck.