Team-BHP - Bangalore - Karur - Tirunelveli - Karaiyar Dam

Bangalore - Karur - Tirunelveli - Karaiyar Dam - Baana theertham Falls

Day 1 :

I had few Paid Time Off to use and applied for the same to get rid of office work. It had been a long time since i went to my native, so decided to go there on Wednesday (5th). We started off at 5.30 PM from my house and headed to Bommanahalli and mingled with the damn traffic. It was 6.15 PM when i reached Electronic city, road was little free from there to hosur. When we reached A2B near Thoppur, it was already 8 PM. We halted for a light dinner and fed my kid. It was a good place with decent food. We reached home around 11 PM and had a good sleep.

Day 2 :

Suddenly we decided to go to Baana theertham falls near Paabanaasam, despite original plan was to visit Kodaikanal which is 120 KMs from my native. We started off from home around 10 PM, decided to stay at Madurai. Unfortunately, we decided to continue the journey...

[More to come tomorrow]

We decided to reach Tirunelveli by 2 AM in the morning, but it didn't happen due to various pit stops en route. After 12 AM, it was horrible to drive when lot of lorries and trucks passing. Since we were two people (me and my brother) to drive, it was manageable. We started searching for decent hotel for accommodation from Saattur and found a hotel at Kovilpatti. Decided to stop the journey and get some nap there as it was already 3 AM.

Day 3 :

Had breakfast at Kovilpatti and headed towards to Tirunelveli around 9.30 AM. Roads were OK till Tirunelveli and started horrifying after that till Karaiyar Dam. We took Nellai - Cheranmaadevi-pathamadai-vk puram - ambai - paabanasam road. It took around 3 Hrs to reach Agasthiyar falls and we finally reached around 12.30PM. Roads inside Mundandurai wildlife sanctuary is the worst so far and it is best suited for 4x4 adventures.

From karaiyar dam, one should take ferry service to reach Baana theertham falls. Cost is Rs20/- per head. When we went, water level was too less (40 ft where as capacity is around 145 ft) and temperature was around 37C. We should cross the dam to reach falls which is around 4-5 kms in ferry which was awesome experience.

Baana theertham is majestic and mysterious falls, one should be very careful while taking dip. Krishnaveni is the most popular story among them. We came back around 3 PM from falls and headed to Ambai to have Lunch since there are no good hotels at karaiyar dam or Paabanaasam.

Road condition :

Bangalore - Karur is fully laid and too good for driving. But, watch out for motor cyclist, tempos, tractors at the wrong side. Karur - Dindigul road work is in progress, should we ready in another 3-6 months. Dindigul - Madurai is 70% complete and madurai bypass road is being built. Once it is ready, it will avoid the mad traffic in side madurai and can bypass Samayanallur, paravai and thirumangalam.

Madurai - Tirunelveli stretch is 75% complete and bypass most of the towns in the middle. Strangely, there is not even a single toll plaza in this stretch.

I will post some pictures tonight.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hvkumar (Post 1435711)

Always wanted to go to Bana theertham, sorry to have missed it all these years, must go sometime. Mudandurai is the same as Kalakad WLS? Any safaris?

Yes, both are same. But, it is fully dried and fried now a days due to insufficient or zero rainfall. Obviously not a good time to do safari.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gansan (Post 1435606)

I assume it to be Karur.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mjothi (Post 1435550)

Where is your home? Native?

Aravakurichi. It is 25 Kms from Karur towards dindigul, on NH-7.