Mountains, Hills in kerala

The Sahya Mountains which form part of the Western Ghats is the main mountain range in Kerala.It influenced our History in more ways than one.It provides the ‘body’ tothe state of Kerala.It protected the state from political invasions that hit South India till the18th century.It guards the eastern frontier.In this sense,Sahya range may be called as theGreat Sentinel of the East.It safeguarded the territorial integrity of the land.It was thesource of most of the rivers of Kerala.It provided mountain passes for traffic betweenKerala and neighbouring states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.The forest in the Ghat is asource of wealth to the state.Some of the peaks important from the political and religiouspoints of view are situated in the Western Ghats.The Anamudi peak (8841) in the Ghatrepresents the highest point in India-south of the Himalayas. The Agastyakutam, thesouthernmost peak in the Western Ghats figures in the popular legend of Agastya.The Hills are so many in Kerala.From Ezhimala in the north to Mahendragiri in theSouth, we have innumerable hills. Among the hills, mention may be made ofVavvimala,Vatamala, Puralimala, KalladiKotan, Nelliampathy, Pothundi, Anamala, Elamala,Peerumedu, Sabarimala, Ponmudi, Agastykutam and Aruvamozhi.These hills haveinfluenced our history in more ways than one.Ezhimala was the seat of a flourishing kingdom during the early centuries of theChristian era.As it is jutting in to the sea, it was a well known land mark for ancientmariners.The Puralimala was the headquarters of Pazhassi Raja for a long time and ishailed as the ‘Aravallis of Malabar’.The Brahmagiri in Wayanad is important as Thirunellitemple is located here.The Sabari hills are famous for the Sastha shrine, one of the mostimportant centers of Hindu pilgrimage in the state.The Malayattur hills is famous as acentre of Christian pilgrimage associated with St. Thomas.