KDHP Tea Museum, Munnar

The KDHP Tea Museum explains how Munnar became tea country, from 1905 machinery to a live processing demonstration. It is a short drive from town and closed on Mondays.

The Tea Museum, officially the Tata Tea Museum and widely called the KDHP Tea Museum, sits on the Nallathanni (Nullatanni) estate of Kanan Devan Hills Plantations, about 1.5–2 km from Munnar town. It was opened by Tata Tea on 1 April 2004 to record how the Kannan Devan Hills, planted from the 1880s, became one of Kerala's main tea districts. Displays run from a rudimentary tea roller of 1905 to the machinery of a modern factory.

Visitors can follow the stages of black tea processing - withering, rolling, fermenting, drying and sorting - and a documentary on the history of the plantations is screened. Other exhibits include historic photographs, colonial-era bungalow furniture and office equipment, a wheel from the Kundala Valley Railway that once linked Munnar with Top Station, parts of the estate's 1920s power plant, and a second-century burial urn found on the Periakanal estate.

Tea tasting sessions and guided tours are offered. The museum is a good rainy-day option and pairs easily with a walk through the surrounding estate roads. It is closed on Mondays. Published hours and ticket prices differ between sources, so check with the museum (phone +91 4868 255000, per the KDHP website) before visiting.