Jalagamparai Waterfall, Yelagiri

Trip to Yelagiri, Day 2, follows:

On the second day of our trip to Yelagiri in February, we decided to visit the Jalagamparai Waterfall in the foothills of Yelagiri, on the other side of the mountain. At the Albatross Luxury Suite—where we stayed in Yelagiri—they gave us a simple yet delicious breakfast (as a complimentary); thanks to the chef, Manikandan, I enjoyed his cooking. 

We left the cottage around 11 a.m. when everyone had finished getting ready. Traveling with a baby is not easy, and we cannot force anything or any plan to match our comfort rather than the needs of a baby. If you've been following my blog for a while, you'll know that we traveled to Yelagiri with my 4-month-old nephew, Kavin. 

The Jalagamparai waterfall is around 37 kilometers from Yelagiri, and we had to travel up to the district capital, Tirupattur, and turn left to get there. The road to the waterfall is very scenic and travels around one-third of Yelagiri's mountain; through farmlands and small villages, we reached the waterfall, and from the parking lot, the upper part of the falls is visible. 

Once we left Tirupattur, there was no restaurant or eatery on the way to the waterfall, so we bought our lunch ahead in Tirupattur and ate it after visiting the waterfall and getting out of the area; because there was a lot of monkey nuisance. 

The waterfall can be reached only by stairs, so I stayed in the car.  My father, who had heart disease, also avoided climbing the stairs; my mom and the others who climbed up were the ones who took these waterfall photos. The Jalagamparai Waterfall, which pours out of the River Attaaru and through the valleys of the Yelagiri Hills, cascades down from a height of 15 meters to form a beautiful waterfall. 

Adjacent to the waterfall is a beautifully constructed Murugan Temple in the form of Siva Linga. However, there is another way to get there, which includes a flight of stairs to climb, so they were just able to see the waterfall. The Linga-shaped temple was shot through a crevice in the rocks on the route to the waterfall.

Jalagamparai Falls does not always have water, and its water source is dependent on the rain that falls over the mountains. The monsoon is the best time to visit Jalagamparai, which occasionally faces floods and is quite dry during summers. While it was still winter when we arrived, the water level was low, but it was adequate for a few people to have a cool shower at a time. We weren't planning to bathe in the falls, so it didn't matter to us. 

There's a Vishnu temple at the foot of the hill from where the stairs begin to climb. And there are about 75 steps to reach the falls. We visited the falls on Monday and although it was a workday, there were so many people there that it made me wonder how packed it would be on Sundays.

We saw most of them leaving the place (after taking a bath in the falls) in mini trucks and vans. Some were cooking with big vessels as families in the woods adjoining the parking lot of the falls. It's a beautiful place to visit with family and friends, and it appears to be an amusement for residents of local villages and towns to unwind on weekends. 

We returned to the cottage by evening, and climbing the hill was pleasant; we made it a point to stop at a few viewpoints to capture the view of the plains. Because of the winter season, there was a haze beyond a point. We saw the sunset at the foothill park, where we had our evening tea.