Filled with Great Attractions , Thekkady is near the border town of Kumily , and is world famous for its Wildlife Sanctuary . Thekkady (Idukki district) is a town near Periyar National Park, an important tourist attraction in the Kerala state of India.[1] The name Thekkady is derived from the word “thekku” which means teak.

Thekkady is situated about 257 km (160 mi) from Trivandrum, 145 km from Cochin International Airport and 114 km from Kottayam railway station. It is 4 km from Kumily, a plantation town on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border. The sanctuary is famous for its dense evergreen, semi-evergreen, moist deciduous forests and savanna grass lands.
Thekkady is home to herds of elephants, sambar, tigers, gaur, lion-tailed macaques and Nilgiri langurs. Due to the density of the forest, sightings of elephants and especially tigers are a probability. The Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary is spread across 700 km2 of which 350 km2 is thick evergreen forest. The wildlife sanctuary was declared a tiger reserve in 1978. The splendid artificial lake formed by the Mullaperiyar Dam across the Periyar River adds to the charm of the park. The greatest attractions of Periyar are the herds of wild elephants, deer and bison that come down to drink in the lake. The sanctuary can be accessed by trekking, boating or jeep safari.

Thekkady is considered a haven for natural spices such as black pepper, cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg, nutmace, ginger, and clove.
Thekkady is famous for the wildlife sanctuary located here. There is boating facility at Thekkady where the boat will take you around the Wildlife Sanctuary through the Periyar Lake. One can see wild animals during this boat ride but need to be very quiet. Mullapperiyar dam can also be seen during this boat ride. Note that, Mullapperiyar dam and Periyar wildlife sanctuary can be seen only during this boat ride and cannot be accessed by road.

For a guest who opts for one night accommodation, try to reach Thekkady as early as possible and get tickets for boating in lake. Ticket availability depends on the rush on that particular day. Advance booking is possible through KTDC .
Once you enter into Tiger reserve, you can see a temple called Mangaladevi and moving forward will take you to the boating area. This travel is through lot of greenery.