Jatayu Earth's Center Nature Park
Kerala
Rajiv Anchal's Jatayu lies on its back on the summit of Jatayupara, a rock hill at Chadayamangalam in Kollam district, and it is the reason to come.
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Rajiv Anchal's Jatayu lies on its back on the summit of Jatayupara, a rock hill at Chadayamangalam in Kollam district, and it is the reason to come. The concrete-and-steel bird is 200 ft long and 150 ft across the wings, with its talons raised 70 ft into the air, and is billed as the world's largest bird sculpture. It is the centrepiece of Jatayu Earth's Center, a privately built park of 65 acres. From below, the hill is a bare dome over the coconut palms, the bird small on its crown. The village's story is that Jatayu fell on this rock when Ravana cut his wings, and that the place was called Jatayumangalam before it became Chadayamangalam. You go up by Swiss-made cable car, on a separate ticket, or on foot by an 826-step walkway of about 60,000 stones that a 70-year-old sculptor, Balan Pillai, spent three years building. Beside the bird are a Rama temple and a hollow in the rock marked as Rama's footprint, and a small pool there is said to have been made by Jatayu's beak. In September 2026 the park's own site said the museum and 6D theatre promised for November 2018 were still being built, as were the Siddha healing caves, and that the adventure activities were under maintenance. Tourism listings that describe a working museum are out of date, so plan the day around the bird and the temple.
Jatayu Earth's Center Nature Park is known for
A short history
There was no road up Jatayupara, so the building materials went up by a winch made for the job, and by the end of 2017 Anchal had spent ten years on the project. The idea was older: he says he presented a model of the sculpture to the Department of Tourism while he was at Fine Arts College in the 1980s, and nothing came of it then. The state government declared the project build-operate-transfer in 2006, the first tourism project in Kerala on that model, on government land leased for 30 years. The adventure zone opened first, in December 2017. The sculpture was due to open in March 2018, then on 4 July, then on 17 August, but that inauguration was postponed because of the floods, and Anchal said the centre's helicopter would be used for flood rescue. Helicopter rides for visitors began from the centre on 1 October 2018, by which time the cable car, with 16 cabins imported from Switzerland, was selling rides. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan opened a month-long Jatayu Carnival at the park on 22 December 2018 and unveiled O.N.V. Kurup's poem on the summit.
When to go
Go at a weekend if you can. In September 2026 the park's website gave 9:30 am to 4:30 pm on weekdays and 9:30 am to 6 pm on Saturday and Sunday, but the same site also says 10 am to 5:30 pm every day. At a weekend both have it open until at least 5:30 pm; on a weekday one of them shuts at 4:30. Whichever day you choose, phone before you set out.
Why visit
Come for the bird and the climb, and treat everything else on the brochure as something you may not get. If your knees are up to it, walk up the steps Balan Pillai built and keep the cable car for the way down; the peak sells a ticket for the descent alone. Anyone driving out for the zipline or the 6D theatre will go home annoyed.
Cultural notes
Anchal has been plain about what the bird stands for. "Jatayu died protecting a woman's honour and that is what the sculpture stands for," he told The Hindu in 2017, and the park dedicates the sculpture to women's safety and honour. The plaque on the summit carries a poem in memory of Jatayu by the late poet O.N.V. Kurup, set out in Malayalam, Hindi and English. In that 2017 interview Anchal said his work was for people of all faiths, and the paper described the project as a monument on the lines of the Statue of Liberty that one misstep could turn from a cultural symbol into a religious one. Up on the rock, the line he was wary of looks thin: a monument meant for every faith sits beside a Rama temple and a footprint marked as Rama's.
How to reach
Come by road. Chadayamangalam is on the MC Road, and Kollam district's own figures put the park 50 km from Thiruvananthapuram and 51.2 km from Trivandrum International Airport. KSRTC buses run to Chadayamangalam, and local buses come in from Kollam, Varkala, Punalur and Kottarakkara. The bus stand is about 1.8 km from the park. No railway station is close: the nearest, Kottarakkara, is 23.1 km away, and Kollam Junction is 38.7 km.
Jatayu Earth's Center Nature Park guide & itineraries
Frequently asked questions
How big is the Jatayu sculpture at Jatayu Earth's Center?
The bird is 200 ft long with a 150 ft wingspan, in concrete and steel. Most sources, the park's own site among them, give its height as 70 ft; two newspaper reports from May 2018 said 65 ft. It is the work of Rajiv Anchal, a film-maker as well as a sculptor, and is promoted as the largest bird sculpture in the world.
Why is there a Jatayu sculpture at Chadayamangalam?
Because this, the legend says, is where Jatayu came down after Ravana cut his wings as he tried to stop Sita being carried off. In the same story the place took the name Jatayumangalam, which over the years became Chadayamangalam, and the peak is Jatayupara, Jatayu's rock.
What are Jatayu Earth's Center timings and ticket price?
The park's website, updated on 21 September 2026, gives Monday to Friday 9:30 am to 4:30 pm and Saturday and Sunday 9:30 am to 6 pm, but the footer on every page of the same site says 10 am to 5:30 pm, seven days a week. The site lists no price, and its Book Now button for the sculpture leads to a notice that tickets are sold only at the counter. DTPC Kollam's site showed Rs 499 per person in September 2026 without saying what that buys. Call +91 97784 14178 to confirm both.
How far is Jatayu Earth's Center from Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam?
By Kollam district's figures it is 50 km from Thiruvananthapuram and 51.2 km from the airport there, 38.7 km from Kollam Junction railway station and 40.4 km from Kollam's KSRTC bus station. The nearest railway station is Kottarakkara, 23.1 km away.
How many steps are there to the top of Jatayupara?
826. The sculptor Balan Pillai spent three years building the walkway from about 60,000 stones. The other way up is the cable car, on its own ticket, and if you walk up you can buy a ticket at the peak to ride down.
Are the adventure activities and the museum at Jatayu Earth's Center open?
No, not as of September 2026. The park's own site lists the museum, the 6D theatre and the Siddha healing caves as under construction and the adventure activities as under maintenance, and the adventure centre's Book Now button leads to a notice that the zipline and adventure centre are temporarily closed for maintenance. Treat any listing that describes a working museum as out of date.
Is there a helicopter ride at Jatayu Earth's Center?
Only at festival times, says the park's page on the rides, which dates from March 2023 and does not name the festivals. When the service began in October 2018, it was a ten-minute flight over the sculpture and back, six passengers at a time.
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