Ghat Roads

A view of the meandering Ghat Road leading to Valparai in the western ghats

Ghat Roads are access routes into the mountainous Western and Eastern Ghats, mountain ranges of the Indian Subcontinent. These roads are remarkable feats of engineering and most were constructed during the British Raj. Ghat roads were built to connect to the famous Hill Stations established in the mountains for residents to avoid summer heat. They generally served to connect coastal (sea side) areas with the upper region Deccan plateau of the Indian Subcontinent.

There are many roads in India which can be classed as Ghat Roads. The Indian state of Tamil Nadu has most of the ghat roads.

North of Western Ghats are limited by Tapti river and the North of Eastern Ghats are limited by Mahanadi river.

Andhra Pradesh

• Tirumala Ghats - Tirumala ghat roads run between Tirupati and Tirumala to pilgrim Tirumala Venkateswara Temple. They are in Seshachalam Hills range in Pūrva Ghaṭ

• Srisailam Ghats - are two of the dangerous ghat roads in the eastern ghats. There are two roads to Srisailam, from Dornala and Bramanapalli.

• Kadapa Ghats - situated on southern Nallamala forest on Chennai to Kadapa national highway between Kadapa and Rayachoty. The road is very scenic during monsoon season.

• Nandyal Ghat Road - situated on northern Nallamala Forest, between Giddalur and Nandyal, the road connects Kurnool and Prakasham districts.

• Horsley Ghats - Horsley hills is a hill station in Chittoor district. The ghat road starts from Madanapalle, the nearest town to Horsley hills. It has 12 hairpin bends.

• Araku Valley Ghats - is a hill station in Vishakapatnam district of Coastal Andhra region. It has several ghat roads. Lambasingi ghat road is very famous and scenic.
• Maredumilli Ghats - Maredumilli is a small hill station in East Godavari district of Coastal Andhra region.

1. Gudisa Ghat. Lies at North of Maredumili, an unpaved and sharp bend road leads up to the top, above 1000 masl.
2. Manyam Ghat. The road between Maredumilli and Guduru.

• Chintoor Ghat road - is very scenic in this area and is gateway for Chhattisgarh from Andhra Pradesh.
• Kondaveedu Ghat - is the road to Kondaveedu Fort and features successive hairpin bends to the Fort. The view points show you the entire curvy road

Karnataka

The Western Ghats lie in between coastal plains adjoining the Arabian Sea and the Deccan Plateau. There are many ghat roads which connect Karavali districts with that of Malenadu and Bayaluseemae region. Most of these ghats are very scenic during monsoon (rainy) season in the months of June, July and August. There are occurrence of land slides in few of these ghats during rains. A few are mentioned below.

• Agumbe Ghat Agumbe is a small village in Shimoga district, a hilly, wet region of the Western Ghat mountains and connects Udupi district (Udipi) with Shivamogga (Shimoga). There is a sunset view point at Agumbe ghats. Agumbe ghat can be foggy during rain. Only small vehicles are allowed in Agumbe ghat like mini buses, passenger cars etc.

• Charmadi Ghat - Charmadi ghat lies on the border of Dakshina Kannada and Chikmagalur districts. National highway NH-73 (Old NH-234) passes through this ghat.

• Shiradi Ghat - Shiradi ghat connects the coastal district of Dakshina Kannada with Hassan district. The National Highway 75 (Old NH-48) road starts from the seaport city of Mangaluru in Dakshina Kannada district and connects to Karnataka state capital Bangalore.

• Hulikal Ghat -Hulikal ghat or Balebare ghat connects Udupi district with Shivamogga district.It runs from the low-lying coastal region to Deccan plateau through Western ghats.

• Sampaje Ghat - Sampaje ghat road is a part of Mangalore to Mysuru highway via Madikeri.

• Bisle Ghat - Bisle ghat road connects the temple town of Kukke Subramanya in Dakshina district, which lies below the western ghats, to Sakleshpura above the western ghats. This ghat road is less used because of the dense forest and danger from wild elephants, as it lies in the Elephant corridor of Western Ghats i.e. paths followed by the wild elephants in search of water and food.

• Devimane Ghat - Devimane Ghat lies in Uttara Kannada district, and connects the coastal town of Kumta with Sirsi town above the western ghat. Many KSRTC buses run through this ghat section. There is a Hindu temple at Devimane village.

• Arabail Ghat - Arebail ghat is in Uttara Kannada district, between road connecting Ankola which is down the ghat to Hubballi above the ghat on Deccan plateau via Yellapura. The road is also known as national highway 52.

• Male Mahadeshwara - Male Mahadeshwara hills ghat road is in Hanur taluk, Chamarajanagara district and connects Kollegal in Karnataka and Mettur in Tamil Nadu. It belongs to the Eastern ghats.

Kerala

• Idukki Ghats - Idukki is a hilly district of Kerala with many ghat roads with spectacular view points over the tea estates and dense forests. Munnar hill station of Kerala is located in this district.
• Illikkal Kallu- It is a stone monolith on a rocky hilltop. The way to the hilltop is steep, narrow and curvy. Close to Idukki District.
• Kaithapara Ghat- Beauty road involved dense forest. Unpaved and narrow road, so be carefull on night or rainy days.
• Berambadi Ghats
• Ponmudi Ghat Road
• Vagamon Ghat Road
• Ranipuram Ghats
• Sabarimala Ghats
• Athirappalli Ghat Road
• Silent Valley Ghats
• Thamarassery Ghats

Maharashtra

• Amboli Ghat. This ghat connects Sawantwadi to Kolhapur and Belagavi in Karnataka. Amboli, Sindhudurg is a hill station on this ghat.

• Bhor Ghat. The road connecting city of Mumbai to the city of Pune both in state of Maharashtra, Bharat passes through this ghat.

• Kasara Ghat. This ghat is a passage through western ghats (Sahyadri) range of mountains for travelling from Thane city to Nasik city.

• Malshej Ghat . A passage for road travellers from Thane district to Junnar in Pune district of Maharashtra state.
• Tamhini Ghat. Located in Pune district of Maharashtra state

Orissa

• Mahendragiri Ghat. Located in Ganjam district. North side is one of the most curvy roads in India. Tens of twists and turns leads up to the second highest peak of the state. There efforts to pave the narrow and winding road.
• Tarabu Ghat.

Tamil Nadu

The state of Tamil Nadu in India has the most ghat roads.

• Nilgiri Ghat Roads - Nilgiri Ghat Roads are situated in The Nilgiris District of Tamil Nadu. There are several ghat roads here. It is a junction point of Western ghats and Eastern ghats.

• Kodai Ghat Road - also known as state highway SH 156 to the Kodaikanal hill station, situated in Dindigul District in Tamil Nadu.

• Yelagiri Ghat Road - situated in Tirupathur district ithas 14 hairpin bends through 15 kilometres (9.3 mi). Ghat road begins at Ponneri village which lies in Vaniyambadi-Tirupattur Road.

• Yercaud Ghat Road - This includes 20 hairpin bends along 25 kilometres (16 mi) ghat road. This hill station is in Salem District.

• Bargur Ghat Road - The Ghat Road begins at Anthiyur in Erode district & ends at Kollegal in Karnataka State. The Road passes via Thick green Forest, are Scenic during monsoon.

• Kollimalai/Kolli Ghat Road - This road contains 72 hairpin bends and leads to this hill station, situated in Namakkal district. The ghat road begins in Belukurichi village at the foot of the Kollimalai hills. Ghat road covers 24 kilometres (15 mi).

• Pachaimalai Hills ghat roads are also the part of Kolli hills. Thuraiyur to Pachamalai ghat road contains 14 hairpin bends situated in Tiruchirapalli district.

• Valparai Ghat Road - begins at the Monkey Falls and has 40 hairpin bends. Valparai is a hill station in Coimbatore district.

• Dhimbam Ghat Road - a 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) road with 27 Hairpin bends located along the Western Ghats and close to Eastern Ghats. The road extending from Bannari to Dhimbam is a part of NH 948 cutting across Sathyamangalam Wildlife Sanctuary in Erode district.

• Jawadhu Ghat Roads - Javadi Hills are the part of Eastern Ghats in Tiruvannamalai district, Ghat Roads of this hills connect villages with nearby town of the district.

• Sirumalai Ghat Road - between Dindigul and Madurai districts of southern Tamil Nadu. It has 26 hairpin bends.

• Kalrayan Ghats - Kalrayan Hills are the part of Eastern Ghats in Kallakurichi & Salem district of the State. There are several ghat roads in these hill range.

• Bodimettu - situated in Theni district, on the Madurai to Kochi national highway, at an elevation of 1200 metres. It is one of the most dangerous ghat roads in India. It connects Theni with Munnar in Kerala.

• Meghamalai Ghats - Meghamalai is a hill station in Theni district. It has 20 hairpin bends. The road is surrounded by lush greenery tea estates.

• Pothigai Ghats - Pothigai hills has many ghat roads. Manjolai ghat is very beautiful, covered by dense forest, is situated in Tirunelveli and Kannyakumari districts.

Telangana

• Bhadrachalam Ghat road - Bhadrachalam is a Hindu pilgrimage site in Telangana State. A ghat road connects Rajahmundry with this town.

• Nirmal Ghats - situated in Adilabad district of Telangana State. It is locally called Mahaboob ghats and it stretches of 10 km. The road is scenic and surrounded by dense forest and crosses two falls namely the Poccheru and Kuntala falls.