A Trip to Thenmala Ecotourism Zone in Kerala

Thenmala in Kerala is India’s first ecotourism destination. We went on a two-day trip. The first day was spent at Thenmala and Five Falls in Kutralam. The second day we went to Agasthiyar Falls and Courtallam Border Rahmath Shop.

The package entry fee for Thenmala was Rs.480 per head for one day. We started with the adventure zone. You have to climb approx 100 steps of the wooden elevated walkway to enter the adventure zone. The steps are wide and have resting spots for every four or five steps and so it was not difficult to climb.

Elevated Walkway

Inside the adventure zone, you have to go down small and sometimes steep steps. Monkeys are all around us when we walk the zone. After a soft trek of approx 15 minutes we reach the area where there are many adventure activities. There is net tunnel, pedal boat, cargo net, flying fox, and wall climbing. If you just want to chill, the fishes in the pond are great to look at and feed.

Adventure Zone Area

Zip Line

Pedal Boat

Next, we went to cross the hanging bridge. The bridge offers a beautiful view of the Thenmala or Parappar Dam on the Kallada River. The gushing water in the dam was a treat for the eyes.

Hanging Bridge

Thenmala Dam View

View of the other side of the bridge

Next, we went for boating in the reservoir area. We boarded a 24-seater boat. The journey in the boat was awesome and scenic. We saw small islands inside the boating area and went for an almost 30 minute drive in the waters. The windows in the boat were large and we could get a good view of the forests and water. 

Boating Area

Islands in the Boating Area

We also visited the tourism office which has a big honeycomb model inside it. There are maps of the ecotourism area and a dinosaur and cow statue stand outside the office. There are other areas like butterfly park, deer park, garden with tall and large statues, and leisure zone areas. But we were running short of time and could not cover it in a day. So, you need to move at a slightly fast pace if you want to cover all the areas in the ecotourism place.  

Bee Hive Model

Dinosaur

Maps

There was plenty of walking with many ups and downs. So, you need to be fit to cover all the activities and areas.

In the night we stopped for a dip in the five falls at Kutralam. The next day we went to Agasthiyar falls. It was a wide and beautiful falls with gushing water. My friends who went for a dip told it was five times more forceful than the Kutralam falls. I spotted a single tree with more than 10 monkeys on it. We ended the day with a good meal at the famous Kutralam Border Rahmath hotel.

Agasthiyar Falls

More than 10 monkeys on a tree :)

We stayed in the DMNS guesthouse in Kutralam. It was a neat and good guesthouse at very nominal rates. But they did not have Wi-Fi. The roads near the guesthouse was peaceful to walk on with large banyan trees along the sides. It was a happy trip and we had lots of fun.

DMNS Guest House

Banyan Trees

You can click here to visit the Thenmala Ecotourism Website. 

Kutralam and Tenkasi Diaries - Places to Visit and Foods to Explore

I was excited about the two days trip to Tenkasi with my friends as i was going back to the Kutralam falls after nearly 30 years. The Podhigai Express train from Egmore took us to Tenkasi, which is a district in South Tamilnadu. We stayed in the Esakki Resorts and visited the places near us. Tenkasi was picturesque with mountains, greenery, and clouds everywhere.

Tenkasi Terrain - Greenery, Mountains, and Clouds...

We were at Kutralam from July 16 to July 18th which was good season time for the falls. We were there at the time when the falls water was neither too thin nor gushing with force.

In the morning when we visited the five falls, there was a long queue to get under the falls in turns. So we went to the five falls in the night and it was free and we had the falls all for ourselves for sometime. Of the five falls, three falls were active. Two in the left were for women and a bigger one in the right was for men. We enjoyed the five falls a lot.

Leftmost of the Five Falls - Good water flow

Five Falls - Night Falls

Our next visit was to the Gundar Dam falls near Kannupulimettu, which was a private falls mainly reserved for VIPs. We were lucky to get a chance to visit the falls. The road uphill to the falls was very bumpy and filled with rocks. The jeep drivers maneuvered the ride with great skill and helped us reach the falls up safely. From the changing room place area, a flight of steps go down towards the falls and there was a red carpet welcome to the falls area. The falls was the best of the private falls we visited in Kutralam. The surroundings of the falls area were beautiful. The road downhill was another bumpy ride.

Gundar Dam Private Falls

We visited another private falls in Mekkarai estate. This falls area was wider than the Gundar dam falls area with a large plunge pool area. But the water flow was lesser than the Gundar dam falls. Occasionally, some marine algae fell on her heads from the falls, but it was a minor issue as the water helped us to wash it away.

Mekkarai Estate Private Falls

There was not much water in the Main Falls when we went there.

Main Falls

We visited the Thirumalai Kumaraswamy Temple on top of the hills. The uphill route to the temple was scenic and beautiful.

Beautiful Uphill Path to the Temple

We also visited the 1000 year old Kasi Viswanathar temple and the Kutralanadhar Temple. One peculiar but good thing was the forceful and good breeze outside all the temple entrances. It was wonderful to enjoy the breeze.

Kasi Viswanathar Temple - more than 1000 years old

There was a place where lot of pots and other mud vessels were sold. My friends bought the vessel to make fish curry ( mann chatti kozhambu) and the water jug with medicinal values. I bought a tumbler and a small vessel for keeping my lucky charm bamboo plant.

Lucky Charm inside mud vessel purchased in Tenkasi

Meen Kuzhambu made by friend in the vessel purchased in Tenkasi

Foods to Explore:

The original Kutralam Border Rahmath shop is in Tenkasi. We met the son of the founder and took a snap with him. They are famous for their barottas, salna (gravy), gun chicken, and pichi pota chicken. They were making paan with various stuffings in Rahmath Beeda stall outside Border Rahmath hotel and it tasted good.

Owner of Border Rahmath Hotel 

They were selling padhani, a drink made from palm tree, in many places. They served the padhani along with pieces of fresh nungu or ice fruit or palm fruit. It was yummy.

Padhani

Another interesting shop was the Vinayagar Mess with their wide range of Dosais. They had pepper powder dosai, garlic roast dosai, vallarai dosai, tomato dosai and many more. I liked the pepper dosai the best. Pepper was strewn on a big thin dosai and it was yummy.

Yummy Pepper Dosai being made

The variety fair :)

Another famous eatout is the Beli barotta shop run by a lady for more than 15 years. They make the famous bun omelette there. Their idiyappam and barotta with the different salnas were awesome.

Bun Omelette

Idiyappam with two salnas

There were exotic fruit varieties like Rambutan, Mangosteen, Star Fruit, Muttai (egg) fruit, and many more in many shopping places and near the falls area. Muttai fruit tastes like sweet potato.

Red Rambutans and other fruits

Yellow Muttai or Egg Fruit

Sour Star Fruit - Tastes good in Pickles

The contents of this fruit can be used for a beauty pack

The Chennai Sweets shop which was directly opposite the Kasi Viswanathar Temple and near the railway station is a good place for snacks and sweets.

Chennai Sweets Shop

There were other unseen sweet varieties in the road side shops like the one below.

They were selling closely packed Jasmine flowers and they sell it by count and not by length.

Few snaps of Esakki Resorts:

Monkeys were seen everywhere in Kutralam.

Overall, it was a great trip with wonderful company. Don't miss the exhilarating baths in the falls. Good Luck :)