Suruli Falls

• This cascading water fall is located 56 km from Theni and 10 km from Cumbum valley.
• Silappathikaram written by Ilango Adigal mentions the beauty of this falls.
• This falls is part of Pothigai hills or Agasthyamalai. Pothigai hills are famous in Hinduism for providing the balance for the world during Lord Siva’s marriage in Mount Kailash. The similarity between Mount Kailash and Pothigais Hills backs the mythological connection of these sacred peaks.
• Tiru Kalyana teertham at Pothigai hills is visited by saints from Hilmalayas.
• Bogar visited and took herbs from these hills for constructing the navapasana(a type of medicine created using nine poisons) statue for Lord Muruga at Palani temple.
• Saints do meditation at a natural spring at Kailasanathar cave temple. This cave temple is connected to Sathuragiri Mahalingam cave temple.

Suruli Falls, Theni

Nearby Places:

•  Periyar wild life sanctuary, Thekkady, Idukki District, Kerala. 80 km from Theni and 5 km from Kumuli.
• Munnar, Kerala. 95 km from Theni.
• Megamalai
• Mettur Dam

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Kanchipuram

• It was a capital of Tondaiman Ilantiriyan, a sangam age king who ruled the northern tamil country.
• Mauryan king erupted a stupa in Kanchi, which is referred by the Chinese traveler Hieun Tsang.
• It is one of the most important Buddhism centers and one of the most prominent learning centers of the ancient India, in line with Varanasi, Nalanda, Takshasila and Valabhi.
• Pallavas made this place as one of most important Jains landmarks. Jain Tirthankars temple in this town was built around ninth century CE. This temple contains several fresco paintings and a huge image of Bhagwan Mahaveer.
• The sixth century CE famous poet Bharavi in the court of King Harshavardhana praised Kanchi as the best city at that time.
• Based on the evidences, this city might have housed 1008 temples. But only 200 out of those temples are still remaining in Kanchi.
• Fifteen of the 108 divya desams are in Kanchi.
• It is the birth place of Saint Ramanuja acharya, Srivaishnava acharya. Also it is believed that the great Chanakya and the poet Parimelazhagar are from this town.
• Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Nityananda Prabhu and Madhvacharya visited Kanchi.
• During sixth century, this city became the imperial capital of Pallava dynasty.
• Kanchi is one of the Shakti Peethas.
• The great texts, Tiruvacakam, Tirukkovaiyaar, Kanchipuranam, Manimekalai speak the glory of Kanchi city.
• Kailasanathar temple of Lord Shiva is the oldest temple in Kanchi and it was built by Rayasimha Pallava around seventh century CE. The eighth century murals, red stone carvings of Rudra Thandava, Lord parvathi are the significant remains of Pallava arts.
• Ekambareswarar temple is one of the largest temples in Kanchipuram. Pallavas initially built this temple and Cholas extended this temple later. Krishnadevaraya built the main tower and the outer walls in the sixteenth century CE. It is one of the Panchabhoota Stalams representing Earth and it is one the 275 Devara sthalams.
• Kamakshi amman temple called as Kachi Kamakottam is one of the Shakti peethas and famous for its ornate pillars mandapam. Sri Adi Sankara installed Srichakra yantra here.
• Varadarajaswami Temple is one of the 108 divya desams and was built by Vijayanagar kingdom rulers. The main tower and the prakaram were built by later chola kings. One of the interesting features of this temple is that it has a huge chain carved out from a single piece of stone. Inside the temple tank, there is an idol of 10 meter high statue of Vishnu, made of wood of a "Fig" tree. This idol is taken out once in 40 years for worship.
•  Sri Kacchapeswarar temple is located in the centre of Kanchipuram and the construction timeframe is unknown.

Divya Desams in Kanchi:

• Varadarajaswami Temple
• Adikesava perumal temple
• Jagadeeswarar temple,Tiruneeragam
• Chandrachooda Perumal temple (Tirunilaattingal Tundam) – Located in Ekambareswarar temple
• Tirukaarvanam temple – Located in Ulagalanda perumal temple, Tiruooragam
• Aadi Varaha temple, Tirukkalvanoor – Located in Kamakshi Amman temple
• Tiruppavalavannam temple
• Sri Vijayaraghava Perumal Temple, Tirupputkuzhi

Other temples:

• Sri Subramanya temple – This temple was built in last century. But it has become very famous among pilgrims. This temple is called as Kandakottam and located in between Ekambareeswarar temple and Kamakshi amman temple.

Nearby Temples:

• Tirumaakaral temple is located 15 kilometers from Kanchipuram near Uttiramerur. Shiva is said to have manifested himself as a giant golden lizard to Rajendra Cholan here and in another legend, an Udumbu (giant lizard) is said to have worshipped Shiva in an ant hill. Indra is said to have worshipped Shiva here.
•  Tirupparuthikkundram is a village on the banks of Palar River. This village is the place of two great Jain temples, which were built around ninth century CE.
•  A separate temple for Chitragupta is located in Kanchipuram. This might be the only temple where Chitragupta is the main deity. To get release from the clutches of Kethu, and to appease Yama, the Lord of Death, the blessing of Chitragupta is sought here.
•  The famous Sri Sankara mutt is located in Kanchi and one of the Sankara Peetams established by Sri Adi Sankara.

Pre-sangam Tamil history

     Though Sangam literatures throw some light on how the people lived during sangam age, there are not enough proof other than literatures to understand their way of life. This is mainly no excavations were done in Tamilnadu,like Harappa or Mohenjodaro . There are some links between tamil civilization and other well known civilizations.But those are not enough. Until there is a major excavation in Tamilnadu, it would be hard to prove that there was a tamil civilization before sangam age.

     I actually agree with the theory that people moved from northern India to southern India. The move might have taken a long long time and in this case, Did the migrated people bring the whatever culture they had it in other civilization? or Did they form a new civilization?. This migration could not have happened over night. So Defnitely people brought few customs along with them and formed a new civilization. So when that would have happened? It should be definitely before sangam age. The mighty king Asoka did not conquer Tamil land during his time(300 BCE) and maintained friendly relationships with the tamil kings. That means that some form of civilization should have been in Tamil land at that time and it should have taken at least 1000 years to form a governed society. So during 1000 BCE at least, tamil land should have a civilized society.

Indus Valley period (3500 BCE)

• In May 1999, 'plant-like' and 'trident-shaped' markings have been found on fragments of pottery dating back 5500 years at Harappa (Pakistan). This is the earliest script identified till now and these scripts are older than the scripts found at Egypt and Mesopotamian civilizations.
• A well-preserved bull-fighting seal found at Mohenjodaro in the 1930s. It’s 2000 years old seal. Is it the proof that Dravidian culture migrated from Indus valley? Tamilnadu is the only place in India where bull-fighting is still practiced.

Pre-Sangam age:

• The arrow-mark graffiti on the megalithic pottery found at Sembiyankandiyur and Melaperumpallam villages, Nagapattinam district. As they are in the Indus scripts, arrow-mark graffiti are always incised twice and together. Indus script belongs to the period 2600 BCE to 1900 BCE.
• A large megalithic terracotta plate found at Sulur near Coimbatore, with symbols closely resembling an inscription on a tablet found at Harappa.
• Excavations at Mayiladuthurai have been claimed to contain Indus symbols being used as late as 1100 BCE.
• The urn with the rudimentary Tamil-Brahmi script, and a human skeleton and miniature pots at Adichanallur in Tamil Nadu, dated back to 500 BCE.
• Three foot Hero stones of the Sangam era found at Puliyamkombai in Andipatti taluk of Theni District. These are the oldest among the hero stones in India so far. These stones are 2300 years old, roughly belong to 300 BCE.

Sangam Age(300BCE – 300 CE)

• Jambai inscription proves that the “Satyaputo” mentioned by Asoka was none other than the Adhiyaman Neduman Anji dynasty, which ruled from Tagadur, modern Dharmapuri.
• Mankulam inscription of Pandyan king Nedunchezhiyan
• Chera King Irumporai inscriptions at Pugalur near Karur   
• The Pandyan coin of Peruvazhuthi or the silver portrait coins of Cheras belong to Sangam age.
• Numerous gold, silver and bronze rings of merchants and noblemen from the prosperous trading town of Karur dated back to Sangam period.
• A broken storage jar with inscriptions in Tamil Brahmi script dated to first century CE, excavated at Quseir-al-Qadim, an ancient port with a Roman settlement on the Red Sea coast of Egypt. Earlier 30 years ago, two pottery inscriptions in Tamil Brahmi belonging to the first century CE found at the same place. Another Tamil Brahmi pottery inscription of the same period was found in 1995 at Berenike, also a Roman settlement, on the Red Sea coast of Egypt. These discoveries provided material evidence to corroborate the literary accounts by classical Western authors and the Tamil Sangam poets about the flourishing trade between the Tamil country and Rome (via the Red Sea ports) in the early centuries CE.
• A unique Tamil-Brahmi Inscription on pottery of the second century CE has recently been excavated in Thailand. And also a touchstone engraved in Tamil in the Tamil-Brahmi script of about the third or fourth century CE found in Thailand. This indicates that the overseas trade between India to both the West and the East involved people from the Tamil country.

Kanyakumari - Cape Comorin

Kanyakumari

Kanyakumari and near by places will blow your mind. This is one of the rarest places in the world where you could visit a palace, an amusement park, dams, waterfalls, temples, mountains, beaches, forts, windmills, historical monuments, famous bridges, museums, memorials, wildlife and the greenness in and around this city. All these places are enhanced further by the magnificent Western Ghats. Most people are not aware of what Kanyakumari could offer. Most outside People come here to visit Kumari Amman Temple, Vivekananda Rock, Thiruvalluvar Statue and Padmanabhapuram Palace. Few local people know about other significant places and visit these places as they wish as they are local to the city. I would advice people coming to Kanyakumari to plan ahead and make sure you have enough time to cover at least half of the places I have mentioned here. Here you could see unmatched beauty else where in the world. I would call this place "A little Kerala in Tamilnadu". Kanyakumari and surrounding places can mesmerize you by their beauty even better than Kerala.

Places to Visit in Kanyakumari:

Kumari Amman Temple

Kumari Amman Temple - This temple is one of the Shakti Peethas dedicated to Lord Parvati. This temple goddess is named as Bagavathi amman or Kumari amman. The diamond nose-ring of the goddess is famous and this ring said to be visible from sea.

Vivekananda Rock

Vivekananda Memorial or Vivekananda Rock - Swami Vivekananda meditated in one of the rocks southeast of the Kumari amman temple. In his memory, Vivekananda memorial was built and the rock named after him. The ferry services are available to reach the rock from north of the Kumari amman temple.

Thiruvalluvar Statue

Thiruvalluvar Statue- This statue is dedicated to Tamil poet Thiruvalluvar. This 133 feet statue was recently built. The ferry services are available from the same place where you catch a ferry to Vivekananda rock.

Kanyakumari - Sunrise

Sunset and Sunrise at Kanyakumari - The sunset and sunrise point are very famous tourist places. As three seas are merged together at Kanyakumari, Sunrise and Sunset are breathtakingly beautiful. These points are close to the Kumari amman temple.

Kamaraj Memorial

Kamaraj Memorial or Kamarajar Mani Mantapa Monument – Mr. Kamarajar’s ashes were kept at this location for Public to pay homage before immersing in to the sea. This place is located next to Gandhi memorial.

Gandhi Memorial

Gandhi Memorial – Mahatma Gandhi’s ashes were kept at this location for Public to pay homage before immersing in to the sea. This memorial is located just few yards southwest of Kumari Amman temple.

Baywatch

Baywatch Amusement park – This sea view amusement park is located close to the major tourist points in Kanyakumari. This park is located 2.5 kilometers west from Kumari Amman temple on Sannathi Street.

Wax Museum – This museum is located inside Baywatch amusement park. This museum is only one of its kinds in India.

Nearby Attractions:

I understand that there are so many places around Kanyakumari and visiting these places with no proper planning would be a cumbersome. I tried to put itineraries which would reduce the trips needed to visit these places.

Kanyakumari – Nagercoil – Thuckalay – Pechiparai trip:

            Start from Kanyakumari to reach Thuckalay via Nagercoil. In and around Thuckalay, you could cover the palace, Udayagiri fort and the church. From Thuckalay, you can catch Pechiparai road through Marthandam or Thiruvattar or Kulasekaram. But try to use the first two routes which would give you a chance to visit the places in Thiruvattar. After crossing Thiruvattar and Kulasekaram, you need to deviate from Pechiparai road to reach Thiruparappu. After Thiruparappu, you can join the Pechiparai road again to reach Pechiparai.

           

Thuckalay Palace

Padmanabhapuram Palace, Thuckalay – This seventeenth century CE palace is palace of the Travancore kings. This palace is entirely made of woods. It is located 35 kilometers from Kanyakumari and the route is Kanyakumari – Nagercoil – Trivandrum road.

Udayagiri Fort

 Udayagiri Fort – This seventeenth century fort cum Bio Diversity Park is located thirty one kilometers from Kanyakumari, nearer to Thuckalay.

Thiruvithamcode Arappally

Thiruvithamcode Arappally or Amalagiri or Thomaiyar Kovil – It is believed that this church was built by St.Thomas in 57 CE and named by Chera king Udayancheral. But there are no proper evidences to back this claim. Sangam literatures or any other documents never mentioned about Christianity in ancient Tamilnadu. This church is located forty kilometers from Kanyakumari on Trivandrum road, nearer to Thukalay.

Sri Adikesavaperumal Temple

Sri Adikesavaperumal Temple, Thiruvattar – This temple is one of the 108 divya desams and located 50 kilometers from Kanyakumari, towards Trivandrum.

Mathur Hanging Trough

Mathur Hanging Trough, Mathur, Thiruvattar – It is an aqueduct that carries irrigation water through a canal between two hills. It is located at Mathur nearer to Thiruvattar.

Chitharal Jain temple

Chitharal Jain Monuments, Thiruvattar – This place is historically known as Thirucharanathupalli and located fifty five kilometers from Kanyakumari, nearer to Marthandam. The rock shelters and idols of Jain are dated back to ninth century CE.

Thiruparappu Waterfalls

Thiruparappu – This town is famous for its waterfalls and temple. Many movies have been cinematographed by the waterfalls. The ancient Shiva temple here is one of the twelve temples of Shivalaya Ottam pilgrimage. This is located fifty eight kilometers from Kanyakumari.

Thirunanthikarai Rock-cut temple

Thirunanthikarai temple – This seventh century CE rock-cut cave temple of Pallava is located sixty kilometers from Kanyakumari, nearer to Pechiparai.

Pechiparai Dam

Pechiparai Dam / Chittar Dam – Both the dams are nearer to Pechiparai town. This place is located sixty five kilometers from Kanyakumari and it can be reached from Kanyakumari – Nagercoil- Thackalay – Tiruvattar – Kulashekaram – Kalilal – Pechiparai.

Kodhayar Forest

Kodhayar – This forest is sixty kilometers from Kanyakumari nearer to Pechiparai and it is very famous for wild bisons. The drive to Kodhayar is very scenic. Special permission needs to be obtained from Forest department to visit this forest.

Kanyakumari – Nagercoil – Keeriparai trip:

On the way to Keeriparai from Kanyakumari through Nagercoil, you could visit the following places in the order given. First stop would be at Thittu Vilai to visit the Mukkadal dam. The next stop would be Azhagiyapandiapuram to hike Olakaruvi waterfalls. The final stop of the trip would be at Keeripari itself where you could visit Vattaparai falls, the sanctuary and Perunchunai dam.

Mukkadal Dam

Mukkadal – This sixteenth century CE dam built across Vambaru River is the main fresh water supply for Nagercoil. This is a famous picnic spot among locals. It is located thirty kilometers from Kanyakumari.

Ullakarvi Waterfalls

Olakaruvi(Ullakarvi) waterfalls – This waterfalls is nearer to Azhagiyapandiapuram village located thirty five kilometers from Kanyakumari. One hour trekking should be done from the village to reach the falls. There are two falls, lower falls and higher falls. It is advised that only people with good heath can attempt this adventurous travel. Also make sure to travel along with group as the path to the falls goes through dense forest.

Vattaparai Falls

Vattaparai Falls, Keeriparai – Keerapari is located forty five kilometers from Kanyakumari and it is surrounded with waterfalls. This is a place for natural-lovers. There are two hidden treasures in this reserve forest, Vattaparai falls and Kalikesam falls. These two falls are less popular among tourists, which offer serence and peaceful places.

Kanyakumari wildlife sanctuary - This sanctuary has many flora and fauna and is a reserved forest. It is located fifty kilometers from Kanyakumari. You can get more travel information by contacting the forest officer at 175, College Road, Municipality campus, Nagercoil. Phone – 045652 – 233305

Perunchani Dam

Perunchani Dam: This dam is located nearer to Keeriparai.

The coastal trip:

            This route is not a straight route and you got to make few extra turns to reach the places of interest. But I strongly believe that you would not regret it as your mind will be amazed by the places on this route. The route would be Agastiswaram, Chothavilai beach, Sanguthurai beach, Muttom, Mandaikadu, Colachel and Thengapattanam. All these places are on the coastal area, located west of Kanyakumari. To visit Maruthuvamalai and Swamithoppe, you have to deviate from the route at Agastswaram and travel three kilometers to reach Swamithoppe.

Agastiswaramudiyar Temple, Agastiswaram – This town is named after the great sage Agstya and the temple was visited by the sage. This temple is located six kilometers east of Kanyakumari.

Marunthuvazh Malai

Maruthuvamalai(Marunthuvazh Malai) – This hill is southernmost tip of the Western Ghats. It is believed that this hill is a fragment of Sanjeevi Mountain. A piece of Sanjeevi Mountain fell down here when Hanuman carried the mountain from Mahendragiri to Lanka. It is located close to Agateeswaram.

Swamithoppe

Swamithoppe – This place is the head of all Worship centers of Ayyavazhi, and the place where Ayya Vaikundar is said to have performed the Tavam. It is located 10 kliometers from Kanyakumari. Swamithope pathi, Ambalappathi, Muttappathi, Tamaraikulampathi, Pooppathi are the five main worship places of Ayyavazhi, called Panchappathis. All these places are located with in a fifteen kilometers radius of Kanyakumari

Chothavilai Beach

Chothavilai Beach – It is located twelve kilometers from Kanyakumari. Nearer to this beach, there is a lagoon at Manakudy.

Sanguthurai Beach

Sanguthurai Beach – This beach is located fifteen kilometers from Kanyakumari and famous for its palm-fringed sand beach.

Muttom

Muttom – It is a small fishing village, located thirty five kilometers from Kanyakumari. This village has become tourists’ hot spot when well known Tamil film director Bharatiraja filmed couple of famous movies here. This village has a beautiful church on the back drop of Indian Ocean.

Mandaikadu Bhagavathi Amman Temple

Mandaikadu Bhagavathi Amman temple – Marthanda varma built this temple. It is believed that Sri Sankaracharya perfomed pooja. This temple is famously called as a Sabarimala for women. This temple is located thirty three kilometers from Kanyakumari.

Colachel Beach

Colachel(Kolachel) - This historically famous town where Dutch were defeated by Marthanda Varma in seventeenth century war. There is also a recent finding that this port was functional even during sangam period. The beach here is very popular among locals. This town is located forty kilometers from Kanyakumari.

Thengapattanam Beach and Estuary

Thengapattanam Estuary – This estuary where river meets sea is a nice beach with coconut groves. This place is located fifty five kilometers from Kanyakumari. The catamaran ride on the river is famous here.

The random trip:

If you are coming from Tirunelveli, prefer to take Tirunelveli – Nagercoil – Kanyakumari route. In this route you will cover the wind farm, Nagercoil and the Suchindram temple. From Kanyakumari, you could travel to Vattakottai separately if this place should not be missed in your itinerary.

Aralvoimozhy Wind Mills

Aralvoimozhy – The wind farm in this town is the largest in Asia. This town is famous for a catholic church where Devasahayam pillai was martyred. It is located thirty three kilometers from Kanyakumari on Nagercoil to Tirunelveli road.

Nagercoil Nagaraja Temple

Nagercoil – The capital of Kanyakumari district has its own places to add to the lengthy list of tourist places in the district. The Nagaraja temple, Kriishnancoil, St.Francis Xavier’s church are the few important places in this town.

Suchindram Temple

Suchindram Thanumalayan Temple – This temple is architectural marvel, known for its stone works. The Main tower of the temple was built around seventeenth century CE. But records show that this temple dates back to nineth century CE. This temple is famous for musical pillars, thousand pillars hall, 22 feet Hanuman statue, 13 feet Nandi statue. This main deity Shiva linga represents Lord Shiva, Lord Vishnu and Lord Brahma.  

Vattakottai

Vattakottai Fort and Vattakottai Beach – This eighteenth century CE fort stands tall by having sea on one side and western ghats on another side. The view from this fort is picturesque. The beach nearer to the fort is famous for its black sands. This place is located seven kilometers from Kanyakumari.