ANAIMALAI HILLS

also called Elephant Mountains, mountain range in the Western Ghats, Tamil Nadu state, southern India. The Anaimalai Hills are a junction of the Eastern Ghats and Western Ghats and have a general northwest-southeast trend. Anai Peak (8,842 feet ) lies at the extreme southwestern end of the range and is the highest peak in southern India. Formed by fault-block movements in the Holocene Epoch, the Anaimalai Hills descend to form a series of terraces about 3,300 feet (about 1,000 m) high. Dense monsoon forests including rosewood, sandalwood, teak, and sago palm cover most of the region. The soils are mottled red and brown containing oxides of aluminum and iron and are used as building material mixed with mortar and in road construction. The Kadar, Maravar, and Pooliyar peoples inhabit the sparsely populated hills; their economy is based on hunting and gathering and on shifting cultivation. There are tea, coffee, and rubber plantations where the hills have been cleared of forests. Industries are mainly household and comprise basket weaving and the making of coir and coir mat, metal articles, and biri (cigarettes). Srivilliputtur, Uttamapalaiyam, and Manur are the important towns.