LYING IN THE WESTERN Ghats at 5200 feet above sea level, Munnar, surrounded by tea gardens (plantations), is in the Indian state of Kerala, whose official language is Malayalam. The town’s name is derived from both the Malayalam and the Tamil words meaning ‘three rivers’. Indeed, three rivers meet in the heart of the town.

 

Munnar is close to Kerala’s border with its neighbouring state Tamil Nadu. Since tea begun to be grown around Munnar in the 1880s, Tamils came to the district to work on the then British owned plantations. However, even before that there was a substantial number of Tamils living in the area that became Munnar in the early nineteenth century.

 

So, it is not surprising that there are plenty of Tamil speakers in the Munnar area. 44% of the population were Tamil speakers 2011; the rest were Malayalam speakers. During our first few hours after our arrival in Munnar, I noticed a large number of election posters. Many of these were either only in Tamil or, less frequently,  bilingual: Tamil a day Malayalam.

 

The man who drove us from Fort Kochi to Munnar, where he resides, told us that he is Tamil, not a Malayali. Also, he mentioned that in the flat coastal parts of Kerala, there are many Christians,  whereas in Munnar, people are mainly Hindu. This might well be the case, but in addition to a large mandir, I have seen several large churches and a large masjid in the town.

 

Within the state of Kerala,  Tamil speakers account for less than two percent of the population. Most of them live either around Munnar or around Palakkad.

 

As to whether the Tamils and Malayalis get on with one another in Munnar, I have no idea.