Cardamom Hills

The southern Cardamom Hills rise above the lowlands of Travancore in the Western Ghats. Heavy monsoon rain feeds forest streams and sustains evergreen woodland on their slopes. Cardamom grows in the shade of these moist uplands, its fragrant pods valued in the spice trade of the Malabar coast. The Pamba flows west from the hill country, and the forested mountains include Sabarimala, a shrine associated with Ayyappa and the royal family of Pandalam.