A DAMn Ride (Thenmala, Puliyarai, Gundaru and Mekkarai dams)

Directions:
Shencotta is 100 km from Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram-Nedumangadu-Madathara-Kulathupuzha-Thenmala-Shencotta

Shencotta is 92 km from Kollam
Kollam-Kundara-Kottarakkara-Punalur-Thenmala-Shencotta

Those who are taking mc road(from Kottayam side)
Kottayam-Adoor-Kottarakkara-Punalur-Thenmala-Shencotta

Route map

It was one fine holiday and to avoid the stress of work hours, decided to get some fresh air. Many places went through the mind and finally zeroed in to places around Shencotta.
Shencotta is the first town after crossing Kerala-Tamilnadu border from Aryankavu side. There are three dams  on the way, Thenmala dam, Gundaru dam and Mekkarai dam(or Adavi nainar dam). Then there's the gorgeous Palaruvi waterfalls in Aryankavu and famous Aryankavu Shastha temple. For trekking enthusiasts, there is trekking packages too where you can trek to the top of palaruvi waterfalls and surroundings. It's a great waterfall with water falling from a 100 metres height.
I visited this waterfalls and Shastha temple two times earlier so skipped it for this ride. Thenmala is one of my frequent destination, the roads are butter smooth it's pretty awesome to ride there. Thenmala offers some treats for its visitors, there's a deer park, an aquarium, kallada irrigation project, ecotourism center offering some light trekking and you can visit the thenmala dam and reservoir. I have been there a lot of times so didn't spend much time at Thenmala.

A small stream en route Thenmala

View of Thenmala checkdam

View from Kannara bridge

Just after the s-curve at Kerala-Tamilnadu border near Shencotta there is an interesting place. When I was checking google maps at home this place took my attention.

The mysterious place :D

Take the left deviation after s-curve, it's actually a trail so chances are that you may miss it easily. That trail after a small stream crossing will lead to a dam site which is called Puliyarai dam. It's an old dam which is abandoned, the area is pretty scenic and there are no visitors or anyone. So place is pristine and perfectly wild. That time water level was not high so some areas where muddy. There are steps which will lead us to the reservoir and it's perfect to walk there with the silent blowing wind, panoramic views all around. Since I need to cover two more dams, left the place after taking some photographs.

The place is beautiful

Badly need a telephoto lens.!

Water level was low, so some parts were muddy

Next destination was Gundaru dam which can be reached by taking right direction from Shencotta. Well that's too a beautiful dam but the water was low here. Enjoyed the site, took photographs and left.

Gundaru dam, yet another beautiful place

 Next place in my chart was Adavi Nainar dam, it is also called Mekkarai dam which can be reached taking right on Achencovil-Shencotta road. But before this dam there's the Thirumalai Kovil, a beautiful hilltop temple in Panpoli village. There's a signboard saying Thirumalaikovil left direction on Achencovil-shencotta road. We can see the temple from a long distance and the steps running all the way to the top.

Distant view of Thirumalai Kovil

Starting road to the Kovil

There is good amount of distance to cover if we are on foot but luckily a perfectly maintained road is there which will take us all the way to the top. The road is made by carving out rocks and some six to seven sharp hairpin corners are there.

Winding road runs all the way to the top

And what about the scenery? Oh boy, it's amazing, it's a picturesque area in the forest, beautiful landscapes everywhere.

Road is perfect, so is the landscapes.

Everytime I see these signs there comes a wide grin on my face

Reached top, went inside the temple and had a good prayer. The temple is a beautiful one, inside there's a huge hall with sculptured pillars and walls. It's pretty dark inside and visiblility is not much. It is very calm and godly atmosphere all around and a sweet spot to spend time enjoying the sceneries.

Peaceful atmosphere with no distractions and awesome landscapes.

 After clicking some snaps left the temple and moved towards Mekkarai dam. The road leading to the dam is through paddy fields, so some forceful wind will blow upon us which is great. Took the ticket and entered the dam. As usual it is also a beautiful dam located in the forest. There is a park for kids, a garden and a small temple.

Mekkarai dam, water level was low!

That's me..:)

Mekkarai dam road went through paddy fields

Clicked photographs and left, it was becoming late around 5.30 pm. Then there were no stops and headed straight to home with some awesome memories and a refreshed mind.
All these places are easily accessible by vehicles and in the vicinity of Shencotta. If you come to Thenmala these places are worth a visit.

A Jain temple at Chitharal

Distance: 50 km from Thiruvananthapuram, 55 km from Kanyakumari and 7 km from Marthandam.

Route map

Heard about this ancient jain monument earlier while I was googling and immediately put it in my wishlist. So when a holiday kicked in me along with my friend Sajith decided to take a spin. I am residing in Kollam, Kerala so the route is like Kollam-Attingal-Nedumangad-Aryanad-Vellarada-Kadayal-Chitharal. There are two dams en route, one is Neyyar dam from the Kerala side and Chittar dams from the Tamil Nadu side.

At one end of Neyyar dam

Neyyar dam

This is Chittar dam reservoir

The dams are as usual scenic and the roads too but the main destination was the hill temple at Chitharal.
Chitharal is a small village near Marthandam, Kanyakumari. The place is famous for this ancient Jain monument, once the abode of Jain monks. It was built in 9th century AD(wiki) and is centrally protected under Archeological Survey of India.
About the monuments (wikipedia)
The Chitharal Jain Monuments are the ruins of a Jain training centre from the 9th century CE, on a small hill in Chitharal village, Kanyakumari district Tamil Nadu, which lies 7 km from Marthandam and 55 km from Kanyakumari.
Chitharal is historically known as Thirucharanathupalli – the abode of Jain monks belonging to the Digambara sect. It is famous for the hillock which has a cave containing rock-cut sculptures of Thirthankaras and attendant deities carved inside and outside dating back to the 9th century.

After riding some good distance and enjoying the dam sites finally reached the temple at around 5 in the evening.

The path to the temple

First glimpse of the temple

The entrance to the temple is from the backside through a cave like passage followed by some steps leading to the temple. The temple complex is built in rock with three levels, a top level with a finely carved rock structure, middle level with sculptures of jain dieties and a bottom level with a pond. 

Entrance of the temple

Small cave like passage

This structure lies in the top level

Steps leading to the middle level

A chamber with Jain sculptures

Jain sculptures

Front view

There are many stone inscriptions dating back to 9th century(wiki). There's a pond too below the main temple building.

Inscriptions inscriptions..!

You can see some malayalam letters.

The pond. I wonder how water stays there!

Experimental shots..:D

The panoramic views from the temple are mindblowing, there are huge rocks around where we can climb and enjoy the sceneries. Evening was indeed a perfect timing with the starting of sunset coupled with evening breeze. And another great speciality is that there won't be much visitors, so we can enjoy the place to the extreme.

Ancient marvels..!

Left Side of the temple

A distant view

Some random photos

It was closed at the moment. It opens once in a while.

The whole temple. This image is a combination of four images shot from the same point.

So end of the story...:)
You can enjoy this beautiful ancient monument and admire ancient people's talents and witness some peaceful atmosphere once you get there. Surely it's worth the visit.
Distance: 50 km from Thiruvananthapuram, 55 km from Kanyakumari and 7 km from Marthandam.