On the morning of July 30, 2024, a catastrophic landslide struck Wayanad, India, in the ecologically sensitive Western Ghats, claiming over 200 lives, with many still missing beneath the debris. Here, we present a comprehensive overview of the landslide event based on field, satellite images analysis, numerical modeling, geotechnical testing and aerial surveys to unravel the failure mechanism and its catastrophic impact downstream. We found that a preexisting crack developed in the source area in 2020, underlying complex geology, with sheared rocks and structural discontinuities contributes mainly to the failure causes, exacerbated by excessive rainfall. Water infiltration through cracks and joint sets in the gneissic complex led to severe weathering and erosion, with soil thickness exceeding 30 m, increased susceptibility to such an event. Simulations show the debris flows initiated around 01:00 hrs and peaked at approximately 04:00 hrs on 30 July 2024, and reached a maximum velocity of 28 m/s. The volume of the eroded materials from the event was estimated as 5.17×10 6-5.72×10 6 m 3 , ranking it one of India's largest debris flows. The debris flow runup height in the transitional (deposition dominant) zone (up to 32 m) was enhanced by multiple damming effects and entrainment, and topographic attributes such as cascades and river sinuosity, causing extensive infrastructure damage. Given the terrain's known fragility and history of sequential events, this region requires special attention and real-time monitoring systems to mitigate future risks.