Travel · Viewpoints · 4 min read

Nadukani Pavilion: The Watchtower Above Kerala's Hidden Powerhouse

On a hilltop between Thodupuzha and Idukki stands a round, domed pavilion built in 1966. From its gallery the Ghats fall away to Moolamattom and the Malankara lake, and somewhere beneath your feet water falls through the mountain to the turbines.

By GK Global, Adimali, Munnar · Trails & Tales by GK

The road from Thodupuzha to Idukki climbs the wall of the Western Ghats in a long series of hairpin bends, each one opening a wider view than the last. Near the top, just beyond the Kulamavu dam, a short side road leads to a rocky hilltop crowned by a curious round building with a domed roof. This is the Nadukani Pavilion, and from its gallery the land drops away to the west in one of the grandest panoramas in central Kerala.

A pavilion for the builders

The pavilion was built in 1966, when engineers and workers were beginning the vast Idukki project in the hills around. It is a circular, two-storeyed structure with a dome-shaped roof and an open viewing gallery, set among boulders and a small garden. Directly below it, inside the hill of Nadukani, the engineers would soon carve out the great cavern of the Moolamattom underground power station, Kerala's largest. (Read Moolamattom: the power station hidden inside a mountain.)

The view

From the gallery and the rocks around it, the hills fall steeply to the plains. Far below lies the town of Moolamattom, where the water from the turbines returns to daylight, and beyond it the long, shining lake of the Malankara reservoir and the river winding out towards Thodupuzha and the Muvattupuzha valley. Ridge after ridge of the Ghats fades into the haze, and the scene changes with the weather: brilliant and sharp after rain, softened by mist on a winter morning, glowing gold as the sun sets over the plains.

What you cannot see is perhaps the most remarkable thing of all. Behind you, the Idukki reservoir stores the waters of the Periyar; beneath you, they fall some 670 m through steel-lined shafts to the turbines inside the mountain.

Nearby

• The Kulamavu dam, one of the three dams of the Idukki reservoir. (Read The Titans of the Ghats.)
• The Idukki and Cheruthoni dams, open to visitors at set times, and Kalvari Mount.
• Thommankuthu and the waterfalls around Thodupuzha.

Visitor's guide

• Timings: generally open from morning to evening (about 8:30 am to 7 pm), with a small entry fee; check locally.
• Best time: October to February for clear views. In the monsoon, mist can hide everything.
• Getting there: on the Thodupuzha–Moolamattom–Idukki road; vehicles can reach the entrance. The ghat road has many hairpins: drive slowly.
• Keep back from the edges of the rocks, especially in wind and rain.