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Vagamon

Vagamon

hill station · Kerala

Vagamon is tea gardens, meadow and pine forest on the Kottayam–Idukki border, about 1,100 m up.

State
Kerala
Type
Hill Station

Vagamon is tea gardens, meadow and pine forest on the Kottayam–Idukki border, about 1,100 m up. Its roads wind in hairpin bends, often between old pines, and they are even better walked than driven. The hills worth the trip are well out of town, though: Thangal Para about 5 km, Kurisumala about 8 km. Plan on a vehicle to link them in one day. There are three of those hills, strung together in a chain, and each is holy to a different faith. Kurisumala, the Mountain of the Cross, has a church on its summit and a monastery founded in 1958 by a Belgian Trappist monk. The Sufi saint Sheikh Fariduddin rests in a dargah at Thangal Para, down the Elappara road, and the Hindu hill, Murugan Para, lies east of Kurisumala with a temple cut into its rock. The newer draw is at Kolahalamedu, Vagamon's highest point: a cantilever glass bridge opened in 2023 and billed as India's longest, over a valley its builders put at about 150 ft deep. It is the one thing here that could be anywhere. You queue, then get five or six minutes on the glass. Give the hills your morning and the bridge whatever is left.

Vagamon is known for

Kurisumala and its Trappist ashramThangal Para dargahMurugan Para rock-cut templeKolahalamedu glass bridgeInternational Paragliding FestivalTea gardens and pine forest

A short history

Kurisumala's monastery was founded in 1958 by Francis Mahieu, a Trappist monk from Scourmont Abbey in Belgium, who later changed his name to Francis Acharya. Zacharias Mar Athanasios, then bishop of Tiruvalla, had invited him to Kerala in 1956, and Bede Griffiths joined him. The two reached Kurisumala on 20 March 1958 and set up the monastery the next day. Forty years later, in July 1998, it was taken into the Trappist order as one of its abbeys. In 1963 Laurie Baker built his first Kerala project here: the Mitraniketan hospital at Vazhikkadavu, which he and his wife, Dr Elizabeth Baker, started for tea-plantation workers and the rural poor of these hills. It started as a small clinic, grew to 60 beds, passed in 1968 to Dr Hildegard Sina and the nurse Alina Cattani, and closed in October 2013 for lack of inpatients. The glass bridge at Kolahalamedu, about 40 m long, was built by Idukki's District Tourism Promotion Council with a private partner, Bharat Mata Ventures, and opened in late August 2023.

When to go

October to March is the season, the glass bridge included. From June to September the monsoon rain is heavy and can cut short what you planned outdoors. Pilgrims keep their own calendar: Kurisumala fills around Easter, and Thangal Para's Uroos is in April.

Why visit

If you give only one of the hills a proper hour, give it to Kurisumala, which has both the summit church and the monastery. Thangal Para comes next, for the huge rock near the dargah and the legend told about it. The tea and pine are pleasant, but they are not what makes the drive up worth it, and the glass bridge is an add-on rather than a reason.

Cultural notes

The legend behind Thangal Para is that Sheikh Fariduddin reached Kerala from Afghanistan about 800 years ago and came to the hill on horseback with 40 followers. The huge rock near his dargah is said to have grown from the small stone he used to grind his paan. At the shrine, people mainly offer Ganjusakkar, a sweet. Kurisumala Ashram belongs to the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church and mixes Christian and Indian practice. The monks wear saffron, walk barefoot, eat vegetarian food and run a dairy. The prayer room was inscribed with "Om", and the ashram kept a Bhagavad Gita along with the Bible. Go as a guest of a working monastery, not as a sightseer.

How to reach

By train: Kottayam is the nearest station, about 62 km away. By bus: KSRTC's Kottayam station is 64 km away, and Vagamon has its own bus stand. By air: Cochin International Airport is just under 100 km away. Trivandrum's airport is nearly 200 km off and not the one to use. Once there, Thangal Para is about 5 km down the Elappara road, Kurisumala about 8 km and Kolahalamedu, for the glass bridge, 7 to 10 km.

Vagamon guide & itineraries

Frequently asked questions

What is the best time to visit Vagamon?

October to March. Plan around Easter either way: thousands climb to the church on top of Kurisumala then, so come that week for the pilgrims or avoid it if you would rather not share the hill.

How do I reach Vagamon from Kottayam or Kochi?

Through Kottayam if you can. It has the nearest railway station and a KSRTC bus station, both a little over 60 km from Vagamon. Kochi matters for its airport: Cochin International is the nearest, a little under 100 km away.

What are the Vagamon glass bridge timings and ticket price?

The entrance normally opens around 9 AM and closes by 5:30 PM, sometimes staying open to 6 PM in peak season. A ticket is Rs 250 a person, subject to change. Entry is by timed slot, about 5 to 6 minutes on the bridge itself, not counting the queue; book ahead for weekends and holidays.

How many days are enough for Vagamon?

One full day covers it. Thangal Para, Kurisumala and Kolahalamedu all lie within about 10 km of town, with Murugan Para east of Kurisumala. Stay a night if you want to climb Kurisumala and sit a while at the ashram without watching the clock.

Can you visit Kurisumala Ashram?

Yes. People come for the quiet, and signs there have asked them to keep it. There is a guesthouse inside the compound; ask the ashram about hours and stays before you plan a night there.

Is Vagamon worth visiting in the monsoon?

Only if you can live with lost plans. The June-to-September rain turns the hills greener, but it is heavy, and the glass bridge can pause in heavy rain or strong wind, so a monsoon trip can mean reaching Kolahalamedu and not getting on it.

Can you go paragliding in Vagamon?

Yes, but agree the season, price and launch site with an operator first. The International Paragliding Festival is held here every year; in 2025 it ran from 19 to 23 March at Kolahalamedu, with 49 competitors from 11 countries judged on how accurately they landed.

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