Kutralam-Peraruvi

The Kerala-Tamil Nadu border is blessed with waterfalls and among them, Kutralam is probably the best one. Even though Thirparappu (not exactly at the border yet close to it) has the highest number of visitors, Kutralam is equally popular and scenic. Considered as South India's own Spa, the rich natural water is what you need in a pleasant tiring summer. At a distance of 7 km from Tenkasi, 160 km from Madurai, 62 km from Tirunelveli & 625 km from Chennai, Courtallam, or Kutralam is well known for Courtallam Falls which is one of the most famous waterfalls in Tamilnadu. 

One of the main reason why I visited Kutralam with my family was the Kutralanathar temple, which is at a walkable distance from the main falls. The reason why I said, "main falls" is that Kutralam has smaller falls surrounding it. We reached the place at about 7 AM and without wasting much time we got into the falls so that we could freshen up before entering the pilgrimage. We were fortunate to find a bus that took us straight to Kutralam stand which is about a few metres away from the temple. Buses can be found easily from the Tenkasi stand which is about 10 km from Kutralam. 

Kutralam waterfalls is located at an elevation of about 550 feet in the Western Ghats. The water here passes over a lot of medicinal herbs and therefore has the capacity to cure a number of ailments. After a quite a lot of research and conversations with locals, I came to know that the one near the bus stand is the biggest fall and is called Peraruvi. The place was packed and it took me half hour to get my turn to enter the place. The place is well maintained and the entire place is cool and perfect for summer. The chances of finding an abundant flow on summers is slim yet, you can still find enough water for you to soak yourself.

Thirukutralanathar temple is one among the auspicious temples in Tamil Nadu and visitors around India gather here to attain blessings. The sage Agastyar, at Shiva's request, proceeded southward to stabilize the balance of the earth and relieve the instability caused by the multitude of entities at Shiva's and Parvati's wedding in the Himalayas, to wait for a glimpse of the divine couple. There he is said to have created the Shivalingam here by shrinking an image of Vishnu, hence the name Kutralam. In the shrine, Shiva showed himself as Bhrama and Vishnu. The presiding deity Lord Shiva is called as Kuttralanathar and the Ambal his consort mother Parvathy is called as Kuzhalvoi Mozhiammai. 

Kutralam is one among the MUST-SEE places in India that will leave you wanting more. Once you are there, make sure to cover all the other falls as well. Even though the fall might seem small but the place is beautiful and the ambience is pretty neat. Also, it is ideal to plan visits between June and September, as monsoon is the best time to get some consistent flow off the falls.



Contributed by Sooraj Ram

Thirparappu- Serene Beauty

It's summertime and most of the folks are already planning for holidays. Before you finalize your trip, here is a place that you don't want to miss out on.

What's better than visiting a scenic Waterfalls on a sunny day? Nothing better than soaking yourself in cold water when the sun is right above your head. Thiruparappu is one such place which flaunts a beautiful landscape along with providing enough comfort for the visitors even if the sun is shining bright. 

My trip to Thiruparappu was a surprising one since we never drafted this place on our list when I went out with my family on my summer vacation. The place itself is about 55 km away from Trivandrum yet a proper conveyance made our trip easier and comfortable. Thirparappu waterfall is 300 ft long and consists of a rocky riverbed. The water falls from a height of nearly 50 ft. The waterfall has flows with great force for around seven months in the whole year.

The whole bed above the falls is one rocky mass which extends up to a distance of about quarter of a kilometer upstream where the famous Thirparappu weir has been constructed for supplying water to the paddy fields. This irrigation facility is extremely useful here and it is fascinating to see the process of irrigation from the dam to the fields. The place has a swimming pool which facilitates bathing facility for children as the fall is slippery and is not safe for kids. The spot is ideal for swimming as long as you stay within the safe zone. The flow is regular and as far as I'm concerned, Thiruparappu is the best spot if you want to learn swimming. 

Apart from the Waterfalls, Thiruparappu is also known for the most prestigious temple in South India, dedicated to Lord Shiva. Mahadevar Kovil is the third one of the twelve Sivalaya, famous for "Shivalaya Ottam" during Shivaratri. It is said that Lord Mahadev lived here as Virabhadra which is a fierce incarnation of Lord Siva to kill Daksha Prajapati, after the death Sati Devi. There are many old inscriptions in this temple including the one of the Pandya King dated ninth century. This temple is built around A.D. 9th Century.

Thus a place with this much historical importance demands a visit and you can not deny the fact that Thiruparappu is easily one of the best tourist spots in Tamil Nadu or South India, in general. Furthermore, the temple adds a spiritual atmosphere to the serene waterfalls. It is worth every penny you spent to get here.





Contributed by Sooraj Ram

Jadayupara - Historic Sculpture recognized by Guinness

The one place that would singlehandedly increase the number of tourists in Kerala is Jadayupara. Moreover, Jadayupara is a place with a massive historic importance. In the great epic Ramayana, Jatayu is characterized as a noble bird of divine origin. One day he happened to hear the plaintive cry of a lady. It was Sitha lamenting for help while she had been abducted to Lanka by the demon king Ravana. Jatayu rushed to her rescue, stopped Ravana’s chariot named Pushpaka Vimana and engaged in a battle with him. Eventually, Ravana took his powerful sword Chandrahasa, cut off the bird’s left wing and went away with Sitha. It is said that the injured Jatayu and his lost wing landed on top of a rock. In time, the rock got the name Jatayupara. Also, one could find a footprint near the giant sculpture, which is said to be the footprint of Lord Rama who came to the place in search of his wife Sitha. Having these much historic tie-ups, Chadayamangalam, Jadayupara became a perfect spot for the sculptures to carve the giant structure of Jadayu. 

My curiosity compelled me to visit the place on a fine 2017 Sunday evening. Chadayamangalam is a small town near Kollam district which is almost 40 km from the capital city of Trivandrum. Picturing the grand project on my mind, my curiosity quickly became some sort of obsession which made me go out earlier than the scheduled time. 

Once I reached the spot, I came to know that the place is still under construction yet the place is half finished hence I was permitted to go inside and take a look. The place has an adventure club nearby which offers a wide collection of games ranging from archery to trekking. 

Once I reached the place, I witnessed the view of my life. The sculpture is made looks perfect and I can't wait for it to be complete. The place has a small temple dedicated Lord Rama. There is a small water reservoir which is said to have water 24x7 365 days regardless the climatic shifts. Next, there is a small man-made reservoir which reassures that the place has an uninterrupted supply of water. 

Overall, Jadayupara is a magnificent work of art that will surely attract tourists worldwide once the construction is complete. This colossal statue is 200 feet long,150 feet wide and 70 feet making is the largest functional bird sculpture in the world with an entry into the Guinness Book of World Records. If that doesn't make you anxious enough to visit the place, then I'm not sure what will make you visit a place.






Contributed by Sooraj Ram

Fatehgarh Sahib: The place with historic and religious values

The name 'Fatehgarh', refers to the 'Town of Victory', because in 1710 Sikhs under the leadership of Banda Bahadur overran the city and razed the fort that was built during Balban's rule to the ground.

The city of Fatehgarh Sahib is historically vital for the Sikhs as two younger sons (aged 9years and 6years) of 10th guru Shri Guru Gobind Singh Ji were buried alive underlay by the Governor of Sirhind Wazir Khan.  By taking the revenge of the death of Guru’s younger son’s by Baba Banda Singh Bahadur, two Sikh temples (Gurudwaras) were built. One of the places where both the princes were martyred and the other one is where their funeral was held.

My visit to the holy city: Fatehgarh Sahib

After the completion of final exams of my Post Graduation, my friends decided to visit at Gurudwaras of Fatehgarh Sahib.  

Image: Gurudwara Shri Fatehgarh Sahib where two younger sons of 10th guru Shri Guru Gobind Singh Ji were buried alive underlay

Image: night view of Gurudwara Jyoti Saroop Sahib, Where funeral of Guru Gobind Singh Ji's two younger son’s was held.

Apart from religious places, Fatehgarh Sahib city has very few tourist attractions such as Aam Khas Bagh and Khanda museum is under construction just behind bus stand. 

Image: A view of Aam Khas Bagh

There are not many places for tourist attractions in the city, but if a person has interest in discovering historical places and has some religious value, Fatehgarh Sahib could be one of the good options. Moreover, the tour for this city could be done within little time. Tourists need not plan for a long time. 

Traveling and staying options

Fatehgarh Sahib City is well connected by road as well as railways. This city is approachable from the State capital of Punjab and Haryana. However, staying could be a problem in this city as the only option is to book a room in public houses of Gurudwara's at cheapest price.

Best time to visit

Accordingly, anyone could visit this city during any season but, (if a visitor is not afraid to visit in a huge crowd) in the ending week of every year, a fair has been organized in the city for three days, in the memory of younger princes of Shri Guru Gobind Singh Ji. This according to me is the best time to visit the place for its sheer vibrancy and the positive Vibes.

Things to do in Fatehgarh Sahib

If a tourist is a religious person and has the curiosity to know about religious history than it could be a good place for. All kind of religious stuff such as Kirpan (sword), Kangha (a wooden comb), Kadah (Bracelet made of iron, steel, and copper) and literature about Sikh religion, true story books about the heroes of the religion and also about the brief history of the city can buy from here. All the literature is available in Punjabi, Hindi as well as English languages. 

The food and the cuisine

Despite the things mentioned above, if I talk about food, this city has tremendous options for eating. Gurudwara's have their own langar halls where rich or poor have to eat by sitting on the ground in a line. Also available are hotels like Noormahal Regency, Samosa Express, Subway, Shiv Shakti and several non-vegetarian cuisine options. There are Restaurants with a plethora of international (Indianised) and domestic tastes in Chinese, Italian, South Indian, Punjabi and Kashmiri food choices are accessible. 

People in the city

Locals of the city are very friendly and helpful. Here, visitors can experience friendly relationships among Hindus, Sikhs, and Muslims. Even tourists can find people from other religions inside Gurudwaras. About this, I would like to share that in the fair of 2017, Muslims gave space for Sikhs to prepare food for the visitors inside their Mosque (Roza Sharee). All festivals are celebrated by the person from all religions and caste with same interest and joy.

Apart from it, I would like to share an incident; during our visit to the holy city a tourist from Kerala lost his wallet somewhere. So he was looking for help everywhere, he went to Fatehgarh Sahib gurudwara and met with caretakers and managers. After finding his problem genuine, they helped him with cash and booked his ticket for his destination, as well as they packed food for him.

If a visitor facing any kind of problem in Fatehgarh Sahib City, they can contact Police and also can ask for help to Gurudwara management committee. Sikh Temples are 24/7 open for its visitors even if they want food in the middle of the night.

Some other facts about Fatehgarh Sahib City

Fatehgarh Sahib is a developing city; it has numerous options for eating vegetarian and non-vegetarian foods. It has a big Law college (Lincoln College of Law), Baba Banda Singh Bahadur Engineering and Diploma college, Mata Gujri College besides newly framed University, named Guru Granth Sahib World University. It also has a world-class education providing school Baba Zorawar Singh and Baba Fateh Singh school. 

This city became a district in the year 1992. Fatehgarh Sahib City ranks first in the Swacch and Swast Bharat. Aam Khas Bagh is also famous as many of the stars choose this place for their movie or video song shooting. A short movie on Shaheed Bhagat Singh was completely shot in Aam Khas Bagh, in which famous stars of Punjabi film industry Shivinder Mahal, Ravinder Grewal and Victor Johns was in lead roles.

My views about Fatehgarh Sahib 

The city has emotional values not only for Sikhs but for followers of other religions too. I got peace of mind at the Gurudwaras, I love to spend my spare time there. I visit the fair every year for continuous 3 days/ I am a foodie too, so this city is also in my choice for tasting different cuisines. This city makes me feel as I am in my own city, everybody is so friendly, world-class educational institutes, different monuments to visit and easy to reach. If anyone is shopaholic there are two supermarkets and has various shops surrounding Gurudwara's.

Some details about fair (Shaheede Jorh Mela): 

As per Gurmukhi calendar, the fair starts every year from 11th of Poh month (during December month). At different places, religious storytellers narrate the story of younger princes and their grand-mother Mata Gujri Kaur Ji. In the story, they recite about how the governor of Sirhind tortures them. During these three days, every person sleeps on the ground as Mata Ji and her grandsons were pressurized to sleep on the floor without any warm cloth during coldest days of winter days.

Image: Palki Sahib yatra or nagar kirtan

In the last day of fair, a Palki Sahib procession takes place from Gurudwara Fatehgarh sahib to Gurudwara Jyoti Saroop sahib. A huge crowd follows this procession barefoot till it reaches its destination. 

Another image of Palki Sahib

Visitors to this fair can witness a huge crowd, who pay tribute to younger sons and mother of 10th Guru Shri Guru Gobind Singh ji.

A fact about Gurudwara Jyoti Saroop Sahib 

The land of Gurudwara Jyoti Saroop Sahib is still the costliest land which bought by Diwan Todar Mal from Governer Wazir Khan on the 12 December 1705 for not renouncing their faith and the death of their grandmother from the shock at the news of the sudden and despicable execution of the innocent youngsters. This wealthy merchant had to cover the required ground for cremation with 78000 gold coins to get the release of the three bodies in the 40,000 cm square. 

Contributed by -

Harneet, Punjab

The Royal city Patiala

The Royal city Patiala

Patiala city is one of the oldest and beautiful cities of Punjab province. The city is famous worldwide because of its unique Patiala Shahi turban style, Patiala suits, Patiala peg and it’s the city of Captain Maharaja Amrinder Singh (Chief Minister of Punjab) and for various tourist places. This city is located in Quila Mubarak which was built by the founder of the royal dynasty of Patiala Baba Ala Singh.

Rolls Royce and Maharaja of Patiala Bhupinder Singh

Apart from this, there is also a real incident has famous which relates to Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of Patiala. The incident is” Maharaja was roaming in London city of England; he stopped outside a showroom of Rolls Royce cars. He entered the showroom to know about the features of cars. But, Manager of that showroom insulted him and taunted about the poverty in India. At that time Maharaja not gave any reply to the manager. After getting back to Punjab, he not only bought all the cars of that showroom but also used them for Garbage haul, cleaning roads and to carry vegetables from the market.  When the Rolls Royce Company heard about the use of their vehicles for these messy works in India, they come to know about the reason behind this and apologize to Maharaja Bhupinder Singh. After realizing that the company has got their lesion, Maharaja stopped using their cars as garbage carrier.”

Tourists attractions in Patiala

Despite this story mentioned above, visitors can find various tourist attractions in the city by visiting in any season of year,  Patiala city is also famous for its Gurudwara Shri Dukh Niwaran Sahib, Quilla Mubarak, Moti Mahal, Saras Mela (Heritage Festival), Omax Mall, Kali Mata temple and numerous hotels and restaurants with different verities of foods. 

Sheesh Mahal and Heritage Festival (Saras Mela)

Literally meaning the Palace of Mirrors, Sheesh Mahal was built as a part of the Old Moti Bagh Palace in the 19th century. There are a lot of frescoes, mostly made under the reign of Maharaja Narinder Singh. In the boundaries of Sheesh Mahal, every year a heritage and Saras Mela has been organized. But the festival of 2018 has organized after the gap of 11 years. 

Traveling options for this city

Patiala city is easily approachable by road as well as by railways transportation systems. This city is few kilometers away from the borders of two neighborhood states Rajasthan and Haryana. Various schools and colleges/universities from different states organize one day trips to visit Patiala for the witnesses of its beauty and to know about the history of Sikh kings. Along with this, Patiala city is also becoming a good location for filmmakers. Shooting of movies like Bodyguard, Mausam and one upcoming movie “Ek ladki ko Dekha to Aisa laga” has done in this city.

Tertiary and Graduation education options

This royal city also has its university where students come from different parts of the country to complete their tertiary education as well as to start their graduation level study. This university is in the core of the city, where students not only get their education but also took part in various cultural and sports events, not only at the university level but also on national level. In addition, there are other universities in the city such as Thapar University for technical education and Rajiv Gandhi Law University. This also makes the city a hub of world-class education for national as well as for international students.

My visit to the city

I visit Patiala city after few gap to pay homage at Gurudwara Dukh niwaran Sahib. I spend most of the time of my visit in gurudwara sahib. I perform Sewa at gurudwara sahib. Furthermore, the city also has a number of restaurants such as Gopals, Jaggi sweets, Sheetal and cafés in Leela Bhawan market. The market is also the hub of small institutions of computer learning, IELTS, TOFEL, Immigration counselors, and Saloons.  Here, foodies can find international taste cuisines of Chinese, Italian, Punjabi, South Indian, in vegetarian and non-vegetarian choices. 

For the tourists who love to do shopping, Omax mall is there for them where they can find most famous brands of clothing, shades, shoes and wrist watches. From this city, visitors can buy famous Patiala jutti (a Punjabi style shoes). 

Moreover, my experience with people of Patiala is always good during my every trip even during my visits to the city I made few persons my friends to whom I call when I ever visit the city. But, comers need to be aware of the local transporters such as auto drivers; they may charge a huge amount from new persons for the travel of few kilometers. 

Besides this, if tourists are planning to stay in the city, there are not many options for staying. Visitors can only find rooms in the territory of Gurudwara Sahib. Options for guest houses are few. Transportation from the city is working 24/7 so, a day is enough for the visitors to complete their visit to the royal state. 

In the end, I would like to share an incident when a newly married couple visited the Gurudwara Sahib; they lost the key of their car in the domain of Sikh Temple. They said they are new to the city and have no contact in the city. So the committee members of the Sikh temple got them a room to rest and called the police. First, they tried to find the keys but when they were not successful, they called car technicians and key maker to open up their car for them. After the complete verification that the car belongs to them, police officers handed over the car to the couple and let them go to their destination with a happy memory.

Traveling facts of Patiala city

The way to reach this royal city is possible by road and railways transportation system. It is less than 70 km. away from the capital of Punjab and Haryana, which is connected through airways from other places of the nation. This means visitors, who are planning their tour of Patiala from the other beyond parts of the nation as well as from abroad through airplane should reach first the city Chandigarh. 

Furthermore, If tourists are planning to stay in Patiala city than, they have only one option to buy rooms in shrines.  But if any traveler is looking for quality guest services of hotels, they should book their rooms in hotels in Chandigarh, Mohali, Zirakpur, Ambala, and Patiala as these are the nearest big cities of Fatehgarh Sahib.

Tips to remember

Patiala city is a district and CM city, so the policemen’s are deployed at every square of the city and need not to worry in the city. 

During the month of Feburary and March Heritage and Saras mela has organizes at the Sheesh Mahal. 

Contributed by - Harneet, Punjab