A Trip to Tirunelveli
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It was the usual, yearly, family
trip to Tirunelveli. Only this time it was that decided it would be more of
sight-seeing and less of temple visits. Even though we visit Tirunelveli every
year, we had not done much of sight-seeing around this southern town. That
changed this year.
The first place we visited was
the Padmanabhapuram Palace near Nagercoil in Kanyakumari district. Typical
Kerala architecture within TN. It certainly did not have the bells and whistles
of a palace that comes to our mind. But it was rich in heritage, architecture
and of course the size.
It took a solid 1.5 hours to go
through the various sections of the palace. It was already 2:30pm and all of us
were famished from walking and walking through the Palace. We had to skip the
museum which houses some of the weapons and articles used by the kings. This
would have taken another 1 hour.
It has to be noted that the
Palace is closed for visitors on Mondays and on other days it is open from 9:00
AM to 1:00 PM and then reopens around 3:00 PM. Keep the time in mind if you are
planning a visit.
We had a quick lunch in a small
eat out near the Palace and then decided to head to Tiruparappu falls which is
about 30 km from the Palace. Since we had to go through town and village roads
it took us about 1 hour to reach the place. It was around 4:00 PM.
I have heard about the place from my father but have not seen it before. I was already imagining a small falls with lot of people taking bath in it. Since we had good rains this year adding to the fact that it was raining in Tirunelveli till the previous day, the water flow should be good.
But what I saw just took my
breath away! It was a small fall and not that popular as some of the other
falls near Tirunelveli (Kuttralam, Manimuthaaru etc.). The water was flowing in
such a great force that bathing or even going near the falls had been
prohibited. This is unheard of in that usually calm falls. There were people
posted everywhere to ensure that people do not cross the makeshift barricades.
We spent some time in falls, just
taking in the beauty of the falls. Since it was only about 4:30 PM in the evening
we had abundance of light. Mix that with the abundance and trees, you will have
to be there to enjoy the beauty of nature!
The next agenda was to return to
our hotel, but on the way we decided to take a detour to the Perunjani Dam.
Permission was restricted to enter and strictly no photography on the dam site.
Knowing that we have come from Chennai, the guard just allowed us to take a
quick look but informed very clearly not to take any photographs. When I walked
up to the dam and reached the top, what I saw there was just stunning. I was
quite tempted to click a photograph, but there was a guard always there
watching us and hence could not click anything. This was by far one of the most
beautiful scenes I have ever seen!
The capacity of the dam was 77ft and the water was 75ft, lapping slowly on the walls. The other 3 sides was surrounded by the mighty and beautiful western ghats. Most of the part was in shadows, since it was already around 5:30 PM. The sun’s light was hitting the hills on the far side of the hills, exactly opposite where I was standing and the colours reminded me of the fall colours I have seen in US. Another beauty that cannot be described in words.
The capacity of the dam was 77ft and the water was 75ft, lapping slowly on the walls. The other 3 sides was surrounded by the mighty and beautiful western ghats. Most of the part was in shadows, since it was already around 5:30 PM. The sun’s light was hitting the hills on the far side of the hills, exactly opposite where I was standing and the colours reminded me of the fall colours I have seen in US. Another beauty that cannot be described in words.
The second day we decided to get
into Kerala through Tenkasi, as this is a very beautiful route. We headed
straight to Thenmala through Tenkasi and Shenkotta. I was quite aware of the
beauty of Tenkasi, as we have been through those places quite a lot during my
childhood days. Even though we had decided to take that route, we did not have
any particular agenda or place in mind to visit. So we thought we will just
explore the place. We headed straight to Thenmala dam and took tickets for all
of us to get into the dam site. Yes, even for entering the dam site, you need
to take tickets. Once again, photography is strictly prohibited here as well. I
guess as a rule it is prohibited in almost all the dams in TN and Kerala. It was
almost noon when we reached the place and it was quite hot.
The walk up to the dam was not so
difficult, but it was a good walk. Typical of Kerala, everything was a tourism
opportunity for them. Even the dam site had been one. Another breathtaking view
from the dam with the western ghats surrounding the dam. But certainly not as
spectacular as the view I saw the previous day.
But what Kerala tourism has done
is convert this site to a good walk way. You can walk through the dam and cross
it over to the other side and continue the walk along the meadows and come back
out of another gate, which is about 100 mts from the place you entered. This is
a very good walk irrespective of the time of the day. Once you cross the dam
and get into the meadow you will forget all the heat outside.
When we enquired with a guard
whether photography is allowed in the meadows away from the dam itself, he
mentioned that it is not allowed, but Kerala tourism provides a day-long
eco-tourism package. This will take us through Deer Park, Butterfly Park, a
hanging bridge and a few other adventure activities. I am not quite sure what
those activities are, but I understand photography is allowed in those
packages. The rates are also quite nominal. The activities start at 9:00 AM and
ends by 7:30PM. Unfortunately we did not know about this before so were not
able to make use of it. Another place added to the ever-growing must visit
places!
It was already past 2:00 PM and all were famished after the long walk. So we decided to have lunch. Now there are not much options here. You need to make do with the small eat-outs that serve some rotis or Kerala type meal. So if you are sensitive about food, it is better to pack something. We had a light
lunch in one such eat-out and then proceeded to Palaruvi falls near Aariyakaavu.
The walk up to the river was only about 150 mts from the parking space. Though
we were able to hear the falls from quite some distance, we had to walk up to
it to see the full height of the falls. I am not sure if the falls was in its
full flow, but at least we were able to see quite some people taking bath at
the bottom of the falls. Since we did not have any specific agenda and saw
about the falls only when we were driving past, we did not have clothes to take
bath. So decided to just spend some time there.
This falls reminded me of the
falls in Kolli hills. It was a sheer drop of about 100ft and standing under such a fall should have given rejuvenating. The stream that had formed by the falls was flowing through the rocks and if one is not so interested in standing under the big falls , then the stream can provide a good alternative for relaxed bathing. The water neither had too much current and nor was too deep. There were rocks at quite some places, which can help in a relaxed bath in a pool.
After spending time to our heart's content here, we decided to head back to our hotel and call it a day. It was a good 2 hour drive to reach the hotel and all we had in mind was dinner and sleep!
The next day we spent time visiting one of my dad's childhood friends, whom he was thinking of visiting for a very long time. The rest of the trip was spent in visiting temples. Of course, our ancestral temple at Rengasamudram was on the top of the list. You can read about this in my blog about this temple.
Overall this time it was a good mix of temple and sightseeing, which I was thinking of making for a very long time. There are still lot of unexplored place around this beautiful southern city. I hope to make those trips as well, in the coming days!
After spending time to our heart's content here, we decided to head back to our hotel and call it a day. It was a good 2 hour drive to reach the hotel and all we had in mind was dinner and sleep!
The next day we spent time visiting one of my dad's childhood friends, whom he was thinking of visiting for a very long time. The rest of the trip was spent in visiting temples. Of course, our ancestral temple at Rengasamudram was on the top of the list. You can read about this in my blog about this temple.
Overall this time it was a good mix of temple and sightseeing, which I was thinking of making for a very long time. There are still lot of unexplored place around this beautiful southern city. I hope to make those trips as well, in the coming days!
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