Courtallam Travel Guide

Location Courtallam is high up in the Western Ghats on the kerala border, 10km from the Banares of the South.

Lose your inhibitions and possibly your lungis at this congregation of waterfalls. If ever a place can qualify as the largest collective shower for humans, this must be it, as you take in the sight of assorted shapes of flesh being pounded by high-pressure water plummeting down from a height of 1,200 ft.

But don’t entertain naughty thoughts of sirens in bikinis and jocks in thongs cavorting in the water. This is South India, where everyone has fun with all their clothes on except those hairy gents getting their paunches massaged by toughened hands temporarily softened by coconut oil.

So now you know why Courtallam sometimes spelt kuttalam, closer to its Tamil pronunciation is referred to as the spa of the South. A small village located halfway between the towns of shencottai and Tenkasi in Tamil Nadu, it attracts hordes of people, mostly families from Tamil Nadu and Kerala who bathe under the falls during the peak season from june to September.

The whole point of coming to Courtallam is to get splashed to experience the stinging power of the falls. There are separate bathing spots for men and women, though there are no public changing rooms. So you’ll have to be at your contortionist best if you want to change into swimwear unless you’re uninhibited enough to let it all hang out. Most visitors just head for the water in lungis or saris or salwar kameezes.

Waterfalls at Chittar River.

Though there are six waterfalls at Courtallam , spread out over an area of less than 10sq km, most people head for what is called the Main Falls, formed by the Chiitear River thundering down over three huge steps of the vertical rock face on which are carved shivlings. About 2 km up the Chittar River is the Shenbagadevi Falls, where a small temple and a cave dedicated to the sage Agasthya draws numerous pilgrims on full-moon days. If you trek uphill to Shenbagadevi stop at the pint where the chittar River drops to the plains for a great aerial view of courtallam and the green plains of Shencottai. If it’s sunset time you can be sure of a delightful spectacle to the backdrop of the music of the whistling thrush.

After the Mail Falls the other popular spot if Five Falls about 5km away. As the name suggests these falls are made up of five distinct streams cascading down close to the Aravankadu Pass. Some people have likened the cascade to a five headed cobra and so the spot is also venerated.

Approximately 7km along the road to Tenkasi is Old Falls, so called because it is rarely visited and resembles an abandoned quarry bare and with no trees to provide shade. But some people do bathe at old falls at night when the ambience can be surreal huge, bare rocks off which the moonlight appears to bounce into the open sky. If you’d rather avoid the crowds at the main falls, you might want to stay here. Ask around for the small resort and restaurant run by an ayurveda doctor near the Old Falls.

About 2km from Old Falls is Tiger Falls a small waterfall with a Sastha Temple and a bathing ghat for pilgrims. Nearby is a palace with sprawling gardens and park benches. Unfortunately it’s private property and you’ll have to be content with looking in from the outside.

Papanasam Dam.

The Papanasam Dam built during the British era at the height of World War II.

Route from Bangalore NH7 to Tirumangalam via Hosur, Salem, Dindigul and Madurai, NH208 to Tenkasi via Srivilliputtur, Rajapalayam and Sivagiri, state road to Courtallam.