Travel through beautiful wooded
trails is always exciting and soothing and appreciate the rich diversity of
plant and animal life as the colours, scents and textures of this extraordinary
landscape unfold before you gives lot of
excitement. Last month I got opportunity to visit wild life one is the
Mundanthurai Wildlife Sanctuary, and another one is Bannerghatta National Park.
Ambasamudram is my husband native place of whenever we go to native we also made a detour for the famous Agasthiyar falls, which is also a religious centre. The Agasthiyar Falls lies inside the Kalakadu Mudunthurai Tiger Reserve Forest. After Pappanasam check post the entire journey is uphill and very scenic.First we went to Agasthiyar Falls.
Papanasam Falls (also known as
Agastiyar Falls) are located in the town of Papanasam. It is a small town, yet
popular tourist destination situated in the Ambasamudram taluk of the
Tirunelveli (Nellai) district of Tamilnadu. The nearest towns are Ambasamudram,
Vikramasingapuram,. The place is also called as Papavinasam.
The Papanasam town is a famous
picnic spot amongst the locals and the tourists. The Pothigai Hills beautifully
provide background to the Agasthiar Falls.
Rich in culture and heritage,
Agasthyamalai was at the core of the reserve, while several temples and
teerthams set deep inside the wilds added a mystic touch to it.Tirunelveli’s
perennial river Tamirabarani was joined by smaller rivers like Manimuthar which
cascaded down the rocks. The best time to visit the Agasthiar Falls is in the
morning, at the time of sunrise.
Legend of the Agasthiar Falls
The height of Agasthiar Falls is
120 meters. The shrine of Munivar Agasthiar is located atop the cascade. It is
believed that during the holy matrimony of the Hindu God Shiva and Goddess
Parvati, all the Gods and Goddesses from Heaven had gone to the Kailash Parvat,
in order to attend the auspicious ceremony. This disrupted the balance of
Earth, for which Munivar Agasthiar meditated at the Agasthiar Falls and the
wedding was completed smoothly. To commemorate this event, a procession is
taken out by the locals of the idol of Munivar Agasthiar on the anniversary of
Shiva and Parvati every year.
There are other dams like
Papanasam, Kodayar, Karaiyar besides Manimuthar, offering scenic views, but not
all of them were open to the public as they were hidden in the dense habitat of
the KMTR.After bathing in Agasthyar falls we headed journey toward Mundanthurai
Wildlife Sanctuary .
Mundanthurai Wildlife Sanctuary:
Away from hustle n bustle of city
life, drove yourself into the deep jungles of this tiger reserve.Located in the
Tirunelvelli district of Tamil Nadu, at the foothills of Western Ghats and the
adjoining areas. The flora ranges from forests of the tropical wet evergreen to
the tropical dry deciduous and thorn forests in the lower hills and covers an
extensive area of 895 sq km.About 14 rivers and seven dams are in this forest. This Hills have no possibility to stay anywhere inside
sanctuary except for forest officials. Just a day trip.
Mudanthurai Wildlife Sanctuary is
home to several hundred plants and animal species and Wild life lovers will
thoroughly enjoy a visit to this wildlife park. The sight of so many members of
the animal kingdom is sure to amaze everyone.
Some of the wild creatures that
can be sighted in the Mundanthurai Wildlife Sanctuary are Tiger, Mouse deer,
Leopard, Rusty spotted cat, Brown palm civet, Leopard, Sambhar, Spotted deer,
Malabar giant squirrel, Nilgiri Langur, Bonnet Macaque, Sloth Bear, Brown
mongoose, Nilgiri Martin, Indian pangolin, King Cobra, Python, Monitor Lizard,
Flying Lizard, Pit viper and others. It is certainly very thrilling to explore
the dark mysterious forests and see all these beasts in their natural habitat
If you want to behold the beauty of the winged
creatures and listen to their sweet humming voice, the Mundanthurai Wildlife
Sanctuary is also the right place for you to go to. The avifaunal population of
the Mundanthurai Wildlife Sanctuary comprises of Ceylon mouth frog, Grey headed
bulbul, Great Pied hornbill, Great Indian Hornbill, Malabar Grey hornbill,
Oriental bay owl and Broad tailed Grass warbler.
Hydro Electric PowerPlant
The Mundanthurai Wildlife
Sanctuary is easily accessible and arranging a trip is no problem at all. The
nearest railway station is Ambasamudram located at a distance of about 6 km.
Buses are frequently available from here. The months of October to January are
ideally suited for a visit to the Mundanthurai Wildlife Sanctuary.Trekking
opportunities are also there in the Mundanthurai Wildlife Sanctuary in Tamil
Nadu. However prior permission of the Wildlife Department is required if you
are interested in trekking.
Although it is tiger Reserveit is very rare to see tigers and lepords. to explore the forest we need special Permission from forest ranger.
It is certainly very thrilling to
explore the dark mysterious forests and see all these beasts in their natural
habitat.
