| Navamalai | |
| Native Name Lang: | ta |
| Settlement Type: | village |
| Pushpin Map: | India Tamil Nadu#India |
| Pushpin Label Position: | right |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in Tamil Nadu, India |
| Coordinates: | 10.46°N 77°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: |  India |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Name1: | Tamil Nadu |
| Subdivision Type2: | District |
| Subdivision Name2: | Coimbatore |
| Unit Pref: | Metric |
| Elevation M: | 39 |
| Population Total: | 300 |
| Population As Of: | 2001 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Demographics Type1: | Languages |
| Demographics1 Title1: | Official |
| Demographics1 Info1: | Tamil |
| Timezone1: | IST |
| Utc Offset1: | +5:30 |
| Postal Code Type: | PIN |
| Postal Code: | 642114 |
| Area Code Type: | Telephone code |
| Area Code: | 04259 is the telephone code |
| Registration Plate: | TN 41 |
| Blank1 Name Sec1: | Sex ratio |
| Blank1 Info Sec1: | Females are more than Males. ♂/♀ |
Navamalai is a small village in the panchayat town of Kottur-Malayandipattinam in Coimbatore District in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is inside Anamalai Tiger Reserve.[1] The village is also home to the Aliyar Power House, a large hyrdoelectric power station operated by the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation.[2] [3]
Navamalai is located south of Kottur-Malayandipattinam in the Pollachi taluk (and parliamentary constituency)[4] in Coimbatore District. Navamalai means "Nine Mountains" in Tamil; as the name suggests, it is surrounded by nine of the mountains that form the Western Ghats.
The River Aliyar falls from the high mountains and starts its journey through the plains from this small village. The southern end of Aliyar Dam touches the village. There are many other streams in the mountains all of which pass through the village before joining the river Aliyar. The mountains are green and the forests have rare trees and plants. Granite patches are visible at many places in the mountains. Thick forests give cover to many wild animals.
The village has no written history aside from approximately 150 years of land records.
The population of Navamalai falls into three main categories:
The land belongs to Tamil Nadu Electricity Board, Department of Forests, and the Government of Tamil Nadu. All the agricultural land, which totals more than 100 acres, is owned by one person who belonged to the Telugu Chettiar caste. (This wealthy migrant community from Andhra Pradesh forms the largest minority in Tamil Nadu.) Tribal people who were permanent residents of the place were made to become agricultural labourers and security personnel. Today they live in huts and mud houses, but do not work on the fields, instead going to different places to work as daily-wage labourers.