Nilgiri Hills

Nilgiri Mountains

The Nilgiri Hills or Nilgiri Mountains is a mountain range in southern India. Theosophical Society founder Helena Petrovna Blavatsky wrote about them in Mysterious Tribes of the Blue Hills, also known as the Magicians of the Blue Hills.

According to Geoffrey Hodson, Rishi Agastya was associated with the Nilgiri Hills.

Ootacamund

The most prominent city in the hills is Ootacamund (Udhagamandalam), called "Ooty" by the British raj who flocked there to avoid the summer heat. It served as the summer capital of the Madras Presidency and is still a resort. In Blavatsky's day, the town could be reached by several mountain roads, but it did not have railway access until the 20th century.

Toda people

For hundreds of years the hills were occupied by the Toda people, a Dravidian tribe who raised water buffalo. The population diminished dramatically until only about 2000 remain. Boris de Zirkoff collected photos of the Toda people for use in publishing Blavatsky's writings. Here are a few:

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Additional resources

• Nilgiri Mountains in Wikipedia.