The Sahyadri Mountain range in India

© Bhushan Patil Photography/Getty Image

Monsoon awakens the sleeping mountains. Western Ghats

The Western Ghats (or the Sahyadri Mountain range) are internationally recognised as a region of immense global importance for the conservation of biological diversity, besides containing areas of high geological, cultural, and aesthetic values. A chain of mountains running parallel to India’s western coast, approximately 30-50 km inland, the Ghats traverse the states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra, and Gujarat. These mountains cover an area of around 140,000 km² in a 1,600 km long stretch that is interrupted only by the 30 km Palghat Gap.

Older than the great Himalayan Mountain chain, this mountain chain is recognised as one of the world’s eight ‘hottest hotspots’ of biological diversity. The forests of the site include some of the best representatives of non-equatorial tropical evergreen forests anywhere and are home to at least 325 globally threatened flora, fauna, bird, amphibian, reptile, and fish species. The place provides a wide choice of adventures for all nature lovers like trekkers and climbers. This range is known as the Sahyadri mountains in Maharashtra and Karnataka, Nilagiri malai in Tamil Nadu, and Sahya Parvatam in Kerala.