Ooty or Ootacamund Lake Madras Presidency, 1920 Print

A 1920 print that shows the Ooty or Ootacamund Lake in the then Madras Presidency. This 9 x 6 inch page is from a book dating to around 1920. It shows the artificial lake that was commissioned by John Sullivan in 1824. Sullivan was then the collector of Coimbatore and the first European to discover the Nilgiris.

This throwback picture gives a glimpse of a small quaint village and beautiful rolling meadows surrounding the lake. Once an uncrowded and serenely beautiful hill station. Today it paints a different picture altogether, Ooty is now more of commercialization and overexploitation, littered with plastic and other waste here and there. Although thankfully, the administration has enforced a ban on plastics in the Nilgiris recently.

Read more British Rule and John Sullivan’s contribution to the city. See posts Antique Photograph Ooty Nilgiris Or Blue Mountains (#1).,  Antique Photograph Ooty Town., and Antique Photograph Ooty Steam Loco Train Halt Over Bridge 1909

Did you know- Ooty was the summer capital of the Madras Presidency just like Simla was to Delhi in colonial times.

From the collection- Vintage Postcard Military Prison Trimulgherry.,  Print Residency Lucknow British India.,  Antique Painting of Madras Fort St George.,  Raja Ravi Varma Commemorative Stamp Folder 1971