Statues depicting life of indigenous Todas, native wildlife lend colour to Udhagamandalam town

Visitors entering Udhagamandalam town will get a taste of the unique culture and biodiversity of the Nilgiris, with statues of the indigenous Toda community and wildlife erected on the main road leading into the town, near the defunct Hindustan Photo Films (HPF) factory.

Visitors entering Udhagamandalam town will get a taste of the unique culture and biodiversity of the Nilgiris, with statues of the indigenous Toda community and wildlife erected on the main road leading into the town, near the defunct Hindustan Photo Films (HPF) factory.

Officials from the municipality said the statues are being constructed at a cost of ₹80 lakh, with the figures exhibiting the life of the indigenous Toda community as well as their culture, including the stone-lifting competition that is held in the toda ‘munds’ (villages). The beautification work is part of a number of projects being undertaken by the Nilgiris district administration as part of the ‘Ooty 200’ celebrations, to mark the bicentenary of the first colonial expedition to the Nilgiris, led by British administrator, John Sullivan.

As part of the project, statues of Nilgiris’ wildlife, including elephants and deer have also been installed near HPF. Similar exhibits, with Indian gaur also feature in garden squares and traffic islands in the town. Artists from Coimbatore were also brought to the Nilgiris to paint murals along walls and revetments on various buildings and along the sides of the road within the town.