Mundakayam is a small town in Kottayam District

Kottayam district

Kottayam is one of the 14 districts in the state of Kerala, India. The district has its headquarters at Kottayam town, located at 9.36° N and 76.17° E. According to the 1991 census, it is the first district to achieve highest literacy rate in the whole of India...

 of Kerala

Kerala

or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....

 state, South India

South India

South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area...

. It is the gateway to the high ranges of Kerala, and is at the border of Kottayam and Idukki districts. It is here that the high ranges of south Kerala start. It is one of the most developed towns in Kerala, with rubber

Rubber

Natural rubber, also called India rubber or caoutchouc, is an elastomer that was originally derived from latex, a milky colloid produced by some plants. The plants would be ‘tapped’, that is, an incision made into the bark of the tree and the sticky, milk colored latex sap collected and refined...

 plantations, and greenery. The river Manimala runs through Mundakayam. Nearby locations include Panchalimedu, Kuttikkanam

Kuttikkanam

Kuttikkanam, is a village in Idukki district, Kerala, southern India. It is above sea level and surrounded by lush green tea plantations. It is within the territory of Peermade-History:...

, 15 km drive from Mundakayam town and is around 3500 feet above sea level, Peermade

Peermade

Peermade, also transliterated as Perumade, Peerumed, Peerumade or Peermede, is a hill station in the state of Kerala, India...

 and Thekkady

Thekkady

Thekkady is the location of the Periyar National Park, which is an important tourist attraction in the Kerala state of India.- Overview :...

.

How to Reach

• Angamaly - Muvattupuzha -Thodupuzha-Erattupetta-Kanjirappally- Mundakayam
• Thiruvananthapuram - Kottarakkara - Adoor - Pathanamthitta - Ranni - Erumeli - Mundakayam
• Kottayam - Ponkunnam - Kanjirappally - Mundakayam
• Kochi/Cochin - Piravom - Pala - Kanjirappally - Mundakayam
• Sabarimala - Pampa - Erumeli - Vandanpathal
  Vandanpathal
  Vandanpathal is a small village located in the district of Kottayam, Kerala.-Economy:The mainstay of the people is agriculture, especially the cash crop, rubber. When the latex price crashed many farmers switched to vanilla. Apart from rubber, other major crops include coriander, ginger and...
  
   - Mundakayam

Mundakayam is exactly 55 km from Kottayam to the East and 56 km from Kumily

Kumily

Kumily is a town in the Cardamom Hills near Thekkady and the Periyar Tiger Reserve, in the Idukki District of Kerala State in South India. It is a major tourist destination and a spices trading center....

 to the West. The NH 220 (Kollam

Kollam

Kollam , often anglicized as ', is a city in the Indian state of Kerala. The city lies on the banks of Ashtamudi Lake on the Arabian sea coast and is situated about north of the state capital, Thiruvananthapuram...

 - Theni

Theni

Theni is a town in the Western Tamil Nadu state of South India. It is the headquarters of Theni District. It is known for the large-scale trading of Cardamom, Cotton, Grapes, chilli and Textiles. It hosts the second largest weekly market in Tamil Nadu and the fourth largest in South India...

 National Highway) passes through Mundakayam.
Mundakayam is a land of coffee

Coffee

Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...

, pepper

Black pepper

Black pepper is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit, known as a peppercorn when dried, is approximately in diameter, dark red when fully mature, and, like all drupes, contains a single seed...

, cocoa and natural rubber

Rubber

Natural rubber, also called India rubber or caoutchouc, is an elastomer that was originally derived from latex, a milky colloid produced by some plants. The plants would be ‘tapped’, that is, an incision made into the bark of the tree and the sticky, milk colored latex sap collected and refined...

. The rubber plantations in India had originated from Mundakayam, which was introduced by Mr. J.J.Murphy around 1910. An All India Agricultural

Agriculture

Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...

 & Industrial Exhibition was held here in 1967 which was inaugurated by Hindi film maestro Sunil Dutt.
Malayala Manorama Daily

Malayala Manorama

Malayala Manorama is a daily news paper, in Malayalam language, published in the state of Kerala, India. It was first published as a weekly on 14 March 1890, and currently has a readership of over 16 million . The Malayalam word "manorama" roughly translates to "entertainer"...

once listed Mundakayam as the place with the highest cost of living in India. It is still included in the list of places whose consumer price indices are published by the Indian government Union Labour Ministry at regular intervals.