Kumbakkarai Waterfalls is 9km from
Periyakulam on the foot of Kodaikanal Hills and its one of a tourist attraction
of Tamil Nadu and the water is consider as mineral and herbal rich. I have
visited this place twice, but I couldn’t get near the waterfalls since it has a
series of steps leading down from the road and I could only see a stream of
water at a distance.
The water falls at two stages;
the first stage collects water in huge rock recesses which
are named each after wild animals like tiger, elephant… and the second stage is
the main waterfall which flows as Pambar River. Kumbakkarai serves as a base
camp for the trekkers who venture in the hills of Kodaikanal, which is 12km
from here through a walking trail… created by British in early 1800s when they discovered Kodaikanal to escape from the heat on plains. But I’m not sure about the Ghats road that some said about its laid lately.
The photos of the falls where
taken during our first visit in 2006 and it was almost dry when visiting again the
falls in 2009. The place is surrounded by thick forest and wild animals’ esp.
elephants are most encountered here and on our second visit we find the place
is protected by electric fencing. During monsoon and rainy the falls receives
much water which also exposed to risk of skidding rocks and stroked by
flashflood.
