At 6 a.m., Valparai town in Tamil Nadu’s Coimbatore district is a typical hill station with roads largely free of vehicles and people. Estate workers flock to the few tea shops that open early to warm themselves, before heading to the fields.
But there is a bustle of activity near Sree Muruga temple in the heart of the town. Monkeys with silver-white mane in contrast with shiny coats of black fur and tufted tail dot on the roof of buildings, railings and platforms of shops. They are busy looking for anything edible, ranging from food waste to rotten fruits or vegetables. Some look for bits and pieces of biscuits and chips in discarded packets. A man shoos one monkey as it enters the verandah of his building.
While the buzz of the town starts with arrival of morning buses and tourist vehicles around 7 a.m., the monkeys cross the road, clinging onto television cables and move to the other side of the road to reach the temple’s backside, before eventually heading to their natural habitat at Puthuthottam, around four km from the town.
