Kodanad
A quiet Periyar-side village 40 km from Kochi, known for its elephant centre, the Malayattoor pilgrim hill and river crossings.
The Periyar river at Kodanad with country boats moored below the forest bank
Why people stay in Kodanad
First, the confusion: this Kodanad is a village on the Periyar in Ernakulam district, near Malayattoor and about 40 km from Kochi, and it has nothing to do with the Kodanad estate in the Nilgiris that turns up in Tamil Nadu news stories. Kerala's Kodanad was for decades the site of the state's elephant kraal, where wild elephants captured in the Malayattoor forests were trained. The capture operations ended long ago and what survives is a small forest department elephant care and rehabilitation centre with a handful of orphaned or rescued animals, plus a beautiful and largely ignored stretch of river.
Set your expectations low and you will enjoy it. The centre is a 40-minute stop, not a day out: a walk between enclosures, calves being fed and hosed down in the morning, an entry fee in the ₹20 to ₹50 range, and a view over the Periyar. It is also worth saying plainly that captive elephant keeping is contested in Kerala, and visitors who are uncomfortable with chained animals should skip it entirely and spend the morning at Iringole Kavu or on the river instead. Nobody is selling rides here, but the enclosures are basic.
The reason to build a half-day around Kodanad is the neighbourhood. Malayattoor Kurisumudy, one of the biggest Christian pilgrimage hills in India, is 8 km away and climbable any day of the year in about an hour. Kalady, where Adi Shankara was born, sits 15 km downriver with its temples and ghat. Perumbavoor, the plywood town, is 12 km the other way and is where you actually eat. All of it is within 45 minutes of Aluva, which is the metro terminus and the practical base.
Evenings here are nothing at all. By 8pm the village shops are shut, the last bus toward Aluva has gone or is about to, and the only light is from houses along the river road. There are barely a dozen rooms worth booking in the immediate area, mostly homestays at ₹1,200 to ₹2,500 and a couple of riverside properties around Malayattoor and Kalady. That is honest rather than a complaint — Kodanad is a morning, ideally slotted between Kochi airport and Munnar or Thattekkad, not a place to spend your week.
Almost nobody sleeps in Kodanad itself, and the sensible plan is to use Aluva or Kalady. Aluva, 25 km away, has the metro terminus, the railway station, the airport 10 km up the road and hotels from ₹1,500 to ₹4,000 with restaurants open late — it is the obvious base if you are flying in or out. Kalady has a handful of pilgrim lodges and riverside guesthouses at ₹1,000 to ₹2,500, plain but perfectly clean, and puts you five minutes from the Periyar ghat. Around Malayattoor there are a few homestays with genuine river frontage at ₹2,000 to ₹3,500, best in the months either side of the March-April pilgrimage when they fill completely and prices double. Avoid anything in Perumbavoor town centre: it is a working timber-lorry town and noisy from 5am.
Things to do in Kodanad
On the river road at Kodanad, signposted from the Malayattoor junction. The animals are fed and washed in the morning, roughly between 8.30 and 11, which is the only time worth coming; entry is a token ₹20 to ₹50. Opening can change with forest department decisions and animal health, so phone ahead or ask at Malayattoor before making the trip.
Small ferries and country boats work the crossing below Kodanad and at the Malayattoor ghat, charging ₹10 to ₹30 a head for the five-minute passage. It is a working commuter service, not a tour, and that is the appeal: schoolchildren, cycles and sacks of rubber crossing a river that is 200 m wide and completely silent at 7am.
Eight kilometres from Kodanad, the hill where St Thomas is said to have prayed. A paved and rock path of two to three kilometres climbs to the church at the top in about an hour; start before 8am to beat the heat. Free. During the Malayattoor Perunnal, the week-long festival after Easter, hundreds of thousands walk it and the roads are impassable.
Fifteen kilometres downriver. The Sringeri Mutt temples, the Krishna temple and the tall nine-tiered Adi Shankara Keerthi Sthambha stand near the Periyar ghat where the crocodile legend is set. Free apart from a small charge to climb the tower. Dress modestly for the temples and expect them to close in the middle of the day.
About 12 km toward Perumbavoor on the Muvattupuzha road, a temple set in roughly 25 acres of genuinely undisturbed forest that has never been cut. No entry fee, shoes off at the grove, and the loudest thing is cicadas. Twenty quiet minutes and the best example anywhere near Kochi of what this coast looked like before rubber.
Perumbavoor town, 12 km from Kodanad, is the plywood capital of Kerala and has the eating to match a migrant workforce: Kerala rice meals at ₹80 to ₹120 around the bus stand, thalassery-style biryani, and North Indian dhabas that stay open past 10pm. It is also the last reliable ATM and pharmacy before you head east toward Thattekkad.
What to see
Hotels near Kodanad
No hotels are listed in Kodanad yet. The nearest ones are on the region page.
Getting around Kodanad
Aluva is the hinge for everything. From Ernakulam take the Kochi Metro to Aluva, about 45 minutes and roughly ₹60, or a train to Aluva station; from Kochi airport at Nedumbassery, Aluva is 10 km and ₹350 to ₹500 by taxi. From Aluva private bus stand, buses toward Malayattoor, Kodanad and Kalady leave every 20 to 30 minutes, ₹30 to ₹45, taking around 50 minutes on the Perumbavoor road. An auto from Malayattoor junction to the elephant centre is ₹100 to ₹200. A taxi direct from the airport is ₹700 to ₹1,000 one way, 45 minutes. Buses thin out sharply after dusk, so finish by early evening or keep a driver.
Questions about Kodanad
The old kraal where wild elephants were captured and trained closed decades ago. What operates today is a small forest department rehabilitation and care centre housing a few rescued or orphaned elephants, open mornings with a token entry fee. Access is occasionally suspended for animal health or departmental reasons, so confirm locally the day before rather than driving 40 km on hope.
No. That Kodanad is an estate in the Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu, hundreds of kilometres away. Kerala's Kodanad is a small village on the Periyar in Ernakulam district near Malayattoor and Perumbavoor, historically known for the elephant kraal. Search results mix the two constantly, so add Malayattoor or Ernakulam to any search you make.
It is one of the closest attractions to the airport — about 30 km, 45 minutes, and ₹700 to ₹1,000 by taxi via Aluva and Perumbavoor. On public transport, take an auto or bus to Aluva, then a Malayattoor or Kodanad bus from the private stand for ₹30 to ₹45. It works well as a stop on a morning flight day before continuing to Munnar or Thattekkad.
Rarely. There are only a handful of homestays around Kodanad and Malayattoor and nothing open in the evening. Most people see it in a morning and sleep in Aluva at ₹1,500 to ₹4,000, which is close to the airport and the metro, or push on east to Thattekkad. The exception is the Malayattoor pilgrimage weeks after Easter, when staying nearby is the only sane option.
