Vattaparai Falls
Encyclopedia
Kanyakumari District
Kanyakumari District ) is a district of Tamil Nadu state, India and is the southernmost land area of mainland India.The district is the second most urbanised district in Tamilnadu, next only to Chennai and ahead of Coimbatore. It also has the highest literacy and education levels in the...
, Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
state, South India
South India
South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area...
. It is 25 km (15.5 mi) N of Nagercoil
Nagercoil
Nagercoil is the 12th largest city in the southernmost Indian state of Tamil Nadu and a municipality and administrative headquarters of Kanyakumari District...
) and 32 km (19.9 mi) NW of Kanyakumari. This 20 km² (7.7 sq mi) area is proposed to be a Wildlife Sanctuary
Wildlife sanctuaries of India
India has over 441 animal sanctuaries, referred to as Wildlife Sanctuaries . Among these, the 28 Tiger Reserves are governed by Project Tiger, and are of special significance in the conservation of the tiger. Some wildlife sanctuaries are specifically named Bird Sanctuary, eg. Keoladeo National...
.
There are a few small waterfalls in this area - the nicer ones being Vattaparai Falls and Kalikesam falls. There is a small Kali
Kali
' , also known as ' , is the Hindu goddess associated with power, shakti. The name Kali comes from kāla, which means black, time, death, lord of death, Shiva. Kali means "the black one". Since Shiva is called Kāla - the eternal time, Kālī, his consort, also means "Time" or "Death" . Hence, Kāli is...
temple, next to the falls. This is a very serene and undeveloped place with only one small tea stall. One can enjoy water rushing through small mountain streams, ferns and pebbles in the rainforests. The falls are surrounded by forest on all sides and forms part of an active animal corridor. The long stream is pollution-free. People are allowed to take a natural bath here and it is believed that the water from the stream has some medicinal effects.
This is a serene and peaceful place. It is unlike the most popular falls in this district, the Tirparappu Water Falls on the Kodayar River, which has become a typical crowded tourist spot.