Ghosts And Goats

An intrepid trek to the hallowed mountain of Nizhalmudi in search of the Nilgiri tahr.

- Aneesh Ramakrishnan

Mountains are magnets for myths and legends. And the mountains of Silent Valley in the Nilgiris – in the words of the famous poet Sugatha Kumari, “dark, cool and vibrating with life...the richest expression of life on earth…” – has no shortage of myths and legends. The legendary characters from the Mahabharata have an intricate connection with this seemingly mythical land, evident from the boisterous Kunthi River. But there is none as intriguing as the ghostly Nizhalmudi.

It’s hard to miss Nizhalmudi if you have visited Silent Valley. With its rocky outcrops and cliffs, a vision of the lonely mountain on the way is bound to give you an eerie feeling, and for good reason as it turns out. Nizhalmudi is located on the south-western side of Silent Valley National Park, in the buffer zone. As the name suggests, Nizhalmudi is a shady mountain. The Irula and Muduga tribes – living in villages near the peak – believe that the ghosts of their ancestors live in Nizhalmudi. With the peculiar look of the mountain, it seems only fitting.

When belief banned people from accessing Nizhalmudi, wildlife took advantage of it and the mountain became a refuge for many animals – the endangered Nilgiri tahr (Nilgiritragus hylocrius) in particular. It’s amusing for many to know that there is a mountain ungulate in the middle of a rain forest; again, a species of the grasslands.