Tirunelveli

It's a trip along with my office colleagues after a long gap (Last Trip along with them was on June 14-16, 2018 to Kerala).
I've visited Tirunelveli during Dec 15-17, 2018. This trip is mainly planned for the man Elangovan, our senior, who got engaged and his marriage date was nearing. We can even say that this trip is a kind-off Bachelor's Party..

We (a group of 12 members from same office), departed from Chennai to Nellai on Dec 14, 2018 (Friday Night). It's a traffic day in Chennai as it was a weekend time. We run out of time, but finally caught Nellai Express @ Tambaram on-time. We had fun throughout this train journey too, gossiping about all the stuffs and things happening around us. 

On Dec 15, 2018 (Saturday), we reached Nellai. There we met Mr.Varadhan, our Tempo Traveller man, who was the Lord Krishna in driving this trip fully. He is simply awesome and a knowledged person about locations in and around Tirunelveli.

We had our breakfast @ Annapurna Restaurant, which was very decent one, on the way towards ambasamudram. 

Post having a good breakfast with ghee pongal, medhu vadai, dosa, mouth watering sambar and all, we left to ambasamudram forest range office to get permit for visiting manjolai the next day.

Once getting the permit with the range office signature, we proceeded to pazhaya kuttralam (Old Kuttralam Falls). There we had superb bath in fresh and chill water from the forcy falls.

Be careful with monkeys, as they are present more in the parking lot. They are so intelligent, as one monkey opened the window door, took the cake box from a cover and escaped. We jus returned from bathing and was changing our dress inside the traveller during that time. We didn't notice at the start. Thank God, that monkey only stealed the cake. 😅 

After having a refreshing bath, we had our lunch @ the famous Kuttralam Border Parotta shop.

After completing our lunch, we proceeded towards Thenmala, Kerala. There we was delay and missed visiting Thenmala Ecotourism. We visited the handgun bridge and it's our luck, thet the dam water from Thenmala Reservoir was opened once we reach the bridge. 

We've also visited  Leisure Zone park, which had a small hill along with a garden. It's will be a good place for an evening walk and a relaxing one.

Once we came out of the park, we come across a buttermilk road side shop near the entry. We had a tasty buttermilk and I believe that was the best buttermilk I've ever had in my life time. 

Then we started back towards Pudhu Kuttralam / Aindhu Aruvi (New Kuttralam). While we're on the way, we come across a beautiful location where a water stream / river (Kallada River) was coming along with us, parallel to the road. So, we jus stopped our traveller van in a road side and got to visit the location. We got permission from the river bank side house to enter their house gate, cross their house and visit the river (as the location was such that).

Then, we proceeded back to Kuttralam. We got rooms @ SenaiThalaivar Maligai, which was established by a madurai person and Kuttralam branch was opened jus 2 months back, when we visited. It is very near to the Kuttralam falls (jus 10mins walk). We got a wonderful spacious 2BHK with big hall and a kitchen for jus under 2k for a night. We had a good rest over there, along with our dinner. 

Once we completed our dinner, we visited the falls for a bath. 🥶 Yes.!! It was around 11:30pm, in a mid of december month, during monsoon.. 

Then we returned back to our room, had a breakless/dreamless sleep and next day morning, we proceeded towards the great MANJOLAI. 🏔️

Dec 16, 2019, we jus took bath in the same Kuttralam falls, did some local shopping, and proceeded to manjolai.

The route to manjolai is, we've to cross the manimutharu checkpost (which is jus near to the dam), showing the permit which we got yesterday. After about 2 hours of bumpy road travel in our traveller itself, we reached out destiny.

The climate was chill and we played catch-and-catch with the ball, in a large plateau like open space. 

Life is a One-Time Offer. Jus Grap Every Opportunities..

@Manjolai, we can't able to find any restaurants as it's fully reserved forest and only allowing people to visit the place in a day basis (except their native people). There was one small bakery which serves good tea, rusk and biscuits. We witnessed peacock, forest bull, white faced monkey and all overe there. 

After having a good hi-tea, we started back to manimutharu dam waterfalls (which is jus 2kms nearer to manimutharu forest range checkpost). 

While we are on the way, our tempo traveller's break shoe got overheated and we can't able to proceed further from a point, which is a bumpy road, in a mid of forest. This point is around 4kms away from manimutharu dam waterfalls. The time was around 2pm and we thought don't need to waste time here doing nothing. So we jus changed our dress to bath dress inside the traveller itself and started to have a forest walk/trek for 4kms. We asked our driver  Mr.Varadhan to make the traveller rest for some time and follow us later. There we had superb fun with bathing, playing with the same ball, gossiping and all. 

#DhosthuForLife #ReyKannan

The Man Of #ThugLife #Kicha

Post evening, we started our travel towards papanasam. We took room @ Kalidaikurichi. Had dinner in a rood-side shop, returned back to room, played cards, had some fun and slept. 

Next day morning, we had our breakfast in a good restaurant and started to travel towards agasthiyar waterfalls. 

There we visited agasthiyar fall, took bath, went to agasthiyar temple which we've to walk a Hill nearby for 5-10mins. The view will be superb. 

Then we started to travel towards Nellai. We skipped our lunch as we're not too hungry. Instead, we brought some snacks like KaaraSev, Madras Mixture, Mundhiri Bakoda, Ribbon Bakoda , Ring Bakoda.etc. and proceeded towards Thamirabarani River. 

There we had a great time. The water was chill and climate too, as it was december month. The water level wasn't that much higher and it's quite easier for us to play catch-and-catch once again. We dived through the water. There wasn't stones or pebbles present inside the water, only sand sand and sand. So it became a good sporty game for us. 

After having a nice bath, we all god refreshed and ready to visit the NellaiAppar Temple, the God of Land Nellai. 🙏

Here, we had a good dharshan and since it was Monday (not a weekend), it wasn't much crowded. At the temple, we saw beautiful sculptures of pillers. There are a collection of pillers, which on hitting them gives different unique sounds. I even tried to play my own music and it was working. It's great and can't able to believe how our ancestors, country rulers, and kings made this happen.!👏

Then the last ride comes into action. Before leaving Nellai, the one thing which everybody ask a person, who visited Nellai is nothing but IRUTTU KADAI ALWA. 😍 

It was much crowded and we waited for almost 2 hours, stood in line and got them finally.  

Some IMPORTANT POINTS to be noted

* Per Kg Rs.240.

* One person can get a maximum of 4kg only.

* All packs be packed in half kg only.

And That's It.! We signed-off from Nellai and back to our routine work. Started back to Chennai. 

A special thanks to Mr.Varadhan, our driver brother, who made this trip look easier and was flexible with us too. 🙏💜

That's it from my TIRUNELVELI TRIP. Will join you guys in my next trip, which is not far from me. BuByeee.!😉

About Tirunelveli :

Tamil Nadu is a state with many facets. From rural villages dating back to several centuries to tech savvy cosmopolitan cities, the state has it all. For the history buff, it is a wonderland. One such area in TN that historians and tourists find fascinating is Tirunelveli. Called Nellai during the British rule, Tirunelveli was ruled by the Pandyas and later by the Cholas. Located in the southern-most tip of the Deccan Plateau, Tirunelveli is surrounded by many scenic places along with several historic temples. Some places to check out are:

Nelliappar and Kanthimathi Temples:

These twin temples are very popular religious sites in Tirunelveli. The temples are dedicated to Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathi and were linked by a chain mandapam built by Vadamalaiappa Pillaiyan. The beautiful Dravidian architecture and the musical pillars are truly appealing.

Kuttralam:

With a number of water falls, Kuttralam is home to a natural bounty of flora and fauna. Many perennial rivers originate from here making it a popular tourist spot. It is also fondly called as the Spa of southern India. The Shenbagadevi Temple near the Shenbagadevi Falls is a must visit too.

Papanasam:

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Blessed with expanses of green paddy fields and abundant rivers, Papanasam town gives tourists a chance to indulge in natural bliss. Lose yourself in the views of the lush landscapes from the Manjolai Hills and the many dams present in the town. Spend time watching the many species of migratory birds that have made Papanasam their home.

Agasthiyar Falls:

Also called Papanasam Falls the Agasthiyar Falls is on River Tamiraparani and holds a religious belief for many devotees. A person is believed to be washed off his sins with a dip in this waterfall.

Thamirabarani River :

The Thamirabarani contains traces of Copper. Hence it's name (''Thamiram'' means copper in [Tamil]). The copper content gives it a distinct reddish shade. The river has also been historically known as '''Porunai'''. 

Manjolai :

A trip to Manjolai is worth the visit. There are many small waterfalls amidst lush greenery all the way to the top. The place has not been, however, disturbed by mankind and the birds with their cries and chirps welcome all visitors to the place. Manjolai is also called the ‘poor man’s Ooty’. This place is a hill station above the Manimuthar Dam.

Manjolai Tea Estate falls within the vicinity of Manimutharu town in the Tirunelveli District of Tamil Nadu. The Manjolai area is set within the Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve at altitudes that range between 1000 and 1500 metres in the Western Ghats.

Manimutharu Dam : 

Manimuthar Dam is located near Kallidaikurichi in Ambasamudram Taluk in Thirunelveli District of Tamilnadu. The Manimuthar Dam is situated at the foothills of the scenic Podhigai Hills. It is built on Thamirabarani River. The area features marvellous natural beauty. The dam is located on Ambasamudram to Pechiparai Route. The Manimuthar River begins from the Eastern slopes of the Western Ghats and is the chief tributary of the Tambiraparani River.

Iruttu Kadai Alwa :

The famous Iruttu Kadai shop is located near Thamirabarani river water which is the backbone of the halwa because taste of the halwa will be a different taste and when you taste the Iruttu Kadai halwa brings the mouth watering feels. 

One of the finest minerals present in the Thamirabarani River is copper and which brings the taste to the halwa. That’s why in the most sweet shop not able to bring the original taste of the Iruttu Kadai halwa. In Kerala region also they prepare the Halwa but the taste of halwa is also different which is not tastier when compare to the Iruttu Kadai halwa.
Wheat, ghee, Karuppatti and cashew nut which is the main content of the Iruttu Kadai halwa but other states especially in Kerala they add ingredients like Madhai which is harmful to the health and this ingredients doesn’t bring the original taste to the halwa.

After a long wait of 2 hours, getting the mouth watering Iruttu Kadai Alwa..

halw2home :

The main aim of the halw2home online sweet shop is people who live cities like Bangalore, Chennai they are not able to access the Traditional Iruttu Kadai halwa. So, they had tie up with famous halwa shop in Tirunelveli and deliver to all part of the country and for more information contact through: www.Halwa2home.com