Book tickets online to Rajamala - Eravikulam National Park, Munnar
Now you can do advance booking or buy entry tickets online for Eravikulam National Park (Rajamala) and avoid the long queue, saving you a lot of time in Munnar. Read further to know how to book online tickets to Rajamala through SBT Collect.
I have visited Eravikulam National Park a few times in the past and I can assure you that you won't be disappointed there. The beauty of the mountain and the panoramic view from the top is amazing and is a treat for the eyes. However, the tough part is the long wait in the queue to buy the tickets. We have to reach there early in the morning and wait in the queue until the ticket counter is opened. Once I had to return without getting the tickets after waiting for a long time in the queue and it was too late. For the tourists to Rajamala, it usually take more time in the queue than the actual time spent in the top of the mountain. There is some special priority ticket at an extra cost but the availability of that too is very limited.
Online ticket booking to enter Rajamala has been a long time demand of travel agencies and tour operators. Now the Munnar Wildlife and Forest Department has come up with a solution by enabling online ticket purchase through "State Bank Collect" option in SBT.How to book tickets online for Rajamala - Eravikulam National Park
You can purchase tickets online through State Bank of Travancore ticket collect. Before you go ahead and book the tickets, be aware of some of the rules and cancellation policies.Online purchase of tickets
Follow the steps below to purchase tickets online:
1. Visit http://eravikulam.org/online-entry-tickets-terms/.
(This website will not be availble for online booking during the period park is closed. Usually the park is closed during Feb ~ Mar period every year)
2. After reading the terms & conditions, scroll down to the bottom and select your date of visit. Accept the terms & conditions by clicking the checkbox and click the "Proceed to Payment Gateway" button.
You will be redirected to the State Bank's secure website. (You can go directly to SBT payment website but it is better to start at Park's official website since park's website will let you know if the park is closed)
3. In the next screen, you will be prompted to choose the ticket you want to purchase. Choose a ticket according to your nationality/age. There is an option to purchase ticket for the camera but unfortunately, you have to go through the same process again to to purchase the camera ticket. There is no option to purchase both entry ticket and camera ticket together.
In this screen, you have to enter the total number of tickets you want to buy and also the month of travel. Remember to enter the month in 3 letter format (Jan, Apr, Dec etc). Otherwise it will give an error and you will have to start all over again.
4. In the next screen, enter your personal details like name, phone number, email address etc. There is a bug in this step. If you enter the name with more than one words, it will not accept it. You will get generic error message saying "Please enter a valid name". So, enter only the first name in the field for the name.
5. Click on the "Confirm" button to proceed. You will see the details you entered. Unfortunately, there is no option to go back and edit the details. If there are any errors, your only option is to start all over again. Clicking on the "Cancel" button will take you to the wrong screens.
6. Proceed to make the payment. In the next screen, select a payment method and proceed with the online payment.
At the end of the transaction, you will receive a transaction receipt with all your details on it. Print it for your records. Also, this is the ticket you need to show while visiting the Eravikulam National Park/Rajamala.How to re-print the tickets
The payment process to purchase the online ticket is not a stable process. There are few glitches here and there and if you successfully make the payment, make sure you print the ticket shown at the end of the payment.
In case you fail to print it after the payment or you misplace your ticket, you can re-print the same from SBT website.
Follow this link to re-print the ticket: https://www.sbtonline.in/prelogin/suvidharemittanceform.htm
Enter your phone number, date of birth and a date range when you made the payment. It will show you all the payments. You can select the particular payment and re-print the ticket.Cancellation policy of tickets purchased online
You can cancel the entry tickets purchased online. However, there is no online process to cancel the tickets. Instead, you must contact the forest office through email or post. You can get 100% refund if you are canceling atleast 14 days before the date of visit.
Refund Policy:
100% refund if canceled 14 days before the date of visit.
50% refund if canceled 7 days before the date of visit.
25% refund if canceled 3 days before the date of visit.
If you don't cancel atleast 3 days before the day of visit, you will lose the money and there will be no refund.
How to cancel the entry tickets purchased online
Unfortunately, there is no online system to cancel the tickets. To get the refund, you need to contact the National Park authorities through e-mail or by post / courier. Send your cancellation request to the following address:
Office of Wildlife Waren
Eravikulam National Park
Wild life Division, Munnar
Munnar P.O.
Pin: 685612
Ph: 04865-231587, 04865-208255 (These are the official phone numbers, but when I called them, they asked to contact +91 8547603222, who actually was able to answer my queries).
e-mail: enpmunnar@gmail.com
Even though you can contact the forest authorities through phone, cancellation of tickets and refund will not be processed through phone.
Happy to hear that online booking is started in Eravikulam National park. We made a school trip to Eravikulam before a year, and it was quite difficult to take ticket by standing in a long queue.