[rjstyles69]

Aye was a refreshing sight to say the least.I definitely miss the place and come Sept' I am revisiting this place. BTW I had done this trip sometime back and posted a travelogue here (Travelogue : Scaling Vagamon and its heights).

I did prefer Vagamon during the rains though . This is how my Scorp' looked after a day at Vagamon





A few shots from around the place.

[Nutty Nair]

@Iluvcars - Thanks for the appreciation, boss.
@sureshkishore - lovely pics there, suresh. Ponmudi covered in mist is altogether a different experience. Thanks for sharing the pictures.
@MX6 - are you from Trivandrum? Any way time to visit Ponmudi again, don't you think so?
@rjstyles69 - Thanks for the comment. Yes, many of these places will definitely be seeing me during or after the rains. In fact when we were in Wagamon, we were discussing about returning there during the rains. Also Punalur - Thenmala route is top in the list to visit during the rains. Btw, I had gone through your Wagamon travelogue. Wondeful shots you & Maggie had put up in that travelogue.

[sureshkishore]

Originally Posted by Nutty Nair

@sureshkishore - lovely pics there, suresh. Ponmudi covered in mist is altogether a different experience. Thanks for sharing the pictures.

Thanks for the kind words!

[MX6]

Originally Posted by Nutty Nair

@MX6 - are you from Trivandrum? Any way time to visit Ponmudi again, don't you think so?

I'm not from TVM. I'm from 150 kms away from there. It's always time to visit ponmudi. There's no reason for it. I loved Ponmudi more than munnar even. The beauty. The wilderness. I also had been to meenmutty falls near ponmudi. There were many places which one needs permission from forest departments, which I missed out. Your great photos reminded me of this little gem. Thanks.

[sureshkishore]

Photos taken During Visit to Peermed.

[Nutty Nair]

Udayagiri Fort
Udayagiri Fort is located around 60 kms from Trivandrum on the Trivandrum - Nagercoil Highway at Puliyurkurichi. Originally built in the 1600s, the fort was rebuilt in the 18th century by Marthanda Varma under the supervision of Dutch Naval Commander, De Lannoy. Marthanda Varma allotted this fort to De Lannoy, who incidentally was the Chief of the Travancore Army. His tomb, along with the tombs of his wife & son can be found in a partially ruined chapel inside the fort. This fort is also known as De Lannoy Kotta (De Lannoy's Fort).
Now the fort has been converted into a bio-diversity park with peacocks, deer park, small aquarium, etc. by the Tamilnadu Forest Dept. The chapel where De Lannoy's tomb is located is under the Archaeological department. There is also a park for children & a tree house which was closed for repairs when I visited the place. The fort is situated quite close to the National Highway, so access is not a problem. There is also a hill in the middle of the fort. A small shelter is there at the top of the hillock where you can rest. From the top of the hill, you can see plantain, paddy, coconut fields with the western ghats as the background. Also the temple pond of Kumarakovil is visible from this hill. Another thing to note is that Padmanabhapuram Palace is quite close to this fort.

Route: Trivandrum - Neyyattinkara - Parassala - Thuckalay - Puliyoorkurichi

Camera: Sony DSC S650

Ride: Pulsar 150
Now for some photos of the place.

The pond inside the fort






The current inmates of the fort






The way to the hillock




View from the top of the hill


The shelter at the top


Found this rock with this interesting pattern at the top


Railings are there for easy ascent & descent


The Aquarium










Way to De Lannoy's Tomb












Net for climbing


Tree House




Udayagiri Fort is a destination which one can visit with family. It is easily accessible, has a little bit of everything for adults & kids. You can also club it with visits to Padmanabhapuram Palace & Kanyakumari. All in all, a great place to spend some time with your family. Just make sure that you take adequate amount of drinking water along with you.

[Nutty Nair]

Thovalai
Thovalai is a village located in Kanyakumari district. It is famous for the cultivation and sale of flowers. Flowers are also exported to various places from Thovalai. The local speciality is the peculiar jasmine flower known as Pichi Vellai or Pichi Poo locally.

Route: Trivandrum (0 km) - Thuckalay (57 kms) - Parvathipuram (68.8 kms)- Vettoorimandam (70.5 kms) - Thovalai (82 kms) - Muppandal (92 kms)

From both Parvathipuram & Vettorimandam, the road forks into two. Take the left fork in both the cases. In case of any confusion, ask the way to Tirunelveli.

There is a Murugan temple at Thovalai which is situated in a hillock. The view from the top of the hillock is an amazing one. You can also see the windmills at Muppandal from here. The market at Thovalai is a good start for seeing the flowers but if you want to see the fields were the flowers are cultivated you have to go further 12 kms from Thovalai. After Muppandal you can see the buildings of Rajas College on the right side. A small road is there to the right adjacent to the college buildings. Travel along the road and you will come across a level crossing. After the level crossing the road deteriorates as some work is being carried on but it is for a very short distance only. As it joins a four lane road you can see the windmill farms on the right side and a small distance further the flower fields starts on the left side.
Now for the pictures.
Early morning traffic

Scenery & scenes on the NH


















Thovalai flower market


























Park in front of the market


Murugan Temple, Thovalai








View from the top



Pics contd in next post.

[hvkumar]

Thovalai is a great find, Ranjith!
I guess Parvatipuram is where you enter Nagercoil town (where the right fork goes to Kanyakumari).
Maybe I will clarify a little on the route. From Nagercoil, take the Tirunelveli/Madurai route. It is a 2-lane road in this stretch, and you do not have to go till Muppandal where you intersect the NH7 coming from Kanyakumari.

[Nutty Nair]

Kumar Sir, Thank you. And as usual you are spot on about the route part.

Thovalai contd..






































Muppandal
Muppandal is situated a further 10 kms from Thovalai on the Thirunelveli route. There is a small temple on the road side. By the side of this temple there is a small kucha road which goes to the main temple. But only two wheelers can go through this way. If you are in a car, continue along the main road till you come to Jai Matha Engg. College on the left side. There is a road opposite their Ladies Hostel which leads to the main temple. The temple is under renovation but still lots of devotees come to this place, from Trivandrum also.
Muppandal is also the place where you can see a large number of wind farms. The place is dotted with a large number of windmills as far as the eye can see. Various private companies have their wind farms here.

[Nutty Nair]

Muppandal contd..
The main Devi Temple which is under renovation












We continued along the Thirunelveli route for another 25 odd kms till we came to this place.




Welcome shade








Power Nap



We rested here for about 45 minutes and started our return journey to Trivandrum.
Some shots from the return journey

[hvkumar]

Some of the photos around the temple - including that of the hero napping - look straight out of Malgudi Days! You can see the quick transition from fertile wet coconut trees/farm country at Thovalai to dry/barren country at Muppandal, where land was sold away at a song several years ago to built wind "farms".

[Soccerfan]

good one mr. kutty nair . any places left in tvm to explore???

BTW - did u buy the helmet that day??

[Nutty Nair]

Kumar Sir, Malgudi Days still is one of my favourite serials. Can't really think of a serial which captured the period & innocence so well. You are right about the land being sold away for a song but unlike in Kerala they have at least completed the project & done it quite well, if I may say so.

@Soccerfan - Thank you, boss. You know this search for places in & around Trivandrum started while I was in Kuwait through the net. I saw that there are a lot of beautiful places that were quite literally, unexplored. So this is a small effort from my side to highlight such beautiful places. And I am glad to say, the journey is still continuing.

PS: couldn't buy the helmet that day as I was completely held up in work.

[gadadhar]

Great going Ranjith, my 5 stars for the thread. Had heard about Thovalai through the Malayalam movie Thovalai pookkal, looks like an interesting option to visit.

[Nutty Nair]

@gadadhar - Thovalai and Muppandal combined can be done in a day quite comfortably. We were back in the evening itself. And thanks for the encouragement and rating.
Just now saw that the thread is 5* rated. A big thanks to all for patiently following and rating this thread.