The Government Botanical Gardens at Ootacamund in the state of Tamil Nadu in India, was made in 1847 by the Marquis of Tweedale. The Gardens, divided into several sections, cover an area of around 22 hectares and lie on the lower slopes of the Doddabetta peak. The garden has a terraced layout.
The Gardens have around a thousand species of both exotic and indigenous plants, shrubs, ferns, trees, and herbal plants. In the centre of the Gardens lies a fossilized tree trunk estimated to be 20 million years old. The Gardens consist of several lawns, ponds with lilies, beds of flowers and ferns laid out in an Italian style, several types of flowering plants and a variety of medicinal plants. The Garden is maintained by the Horticulture Department of the Government of Tamil Nadu and has won several awards for its rare flowering plants.
The "Summer Festival" is held each year during the month of May in the Botanical Garden and is an added attraction for tourists. The Flower Show is the pride of the festival. To the east of the garden is the Toda mund (hill). The Todas are the native tribals of this area. At the mund is a display highlighting the different aspects of their tribal traditions and this is a major tourist attraction.
