Photo: Karthi.dr at Tamil Wikipedia · Public domain

Western Ghats · Waterfall

Ulakkai Aruvi

உலக்கை அருவி

A twin-tiered forest waterfall on the Pazhayar

Move across the photo, or drag it on a phone, to look around.

You arrive

You leave the road behind and go on into the forest toward the sound of water. Ulakkai Aruvi, also written Olakkay Aruvi, is a twin-tiered waterfall on the Pazhayar River. It sits in the forested hills, and access is not as easy as at Thirparappu. As you get closer the air cools down and the path gets damper. Then you catch the first white flash of falling water through the leaves ahead of you.

Ulakkai Aruvi · Photo: Karthi.dr at Tamil Wikipedia · Public domain

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Up through the forest

You follow the way in through the trees. There is no developed approach to rely on, so take it steadily and keep to whatever route local people or forest staff show you. The sound of the water grows slowly. Stop to listen now and then, and watch your footing on the wet ground and exposed roots.

Ulakkaruvi river and check dam · Photo: Manukrishnan80 · CC BY-SA 4.0

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The two tiers

You reach the falls and look up. The water comes down in two stages, one above the other, and the rock between them is dark with wet. Stay back from the edge of the pools and off the slick stone. River levels in forest streams can change quickly after rain upstream, so if the water looks to be rising or turning cloudy, leave at once.

Being here

You see

White water falling in two stages through green forest.

You hear

The sound of the falls building as you approach.

You smell

Wet rock and forest soil.

You feel

Cool damp air and slippery ground.

Look around

The story

Trawell describes Olakkay Aruvi as a twin-tiered waterfall on the Pazhayar River, inside the Kalakkad Wildlife Sanctuary, about 40 km from Kanyakumari. Wikipedia names Ulakkai Aruvi in the forest section of its district article. Detailed information on its history, access rules and seasons was not found in the sources used for this guide, so none is claimed here. Because the site is in a protected forest, conditions for visiting should be confirmed locally before setting out.

Sources: Trawell: Kanyakumari places · Wikipedia: Kanyakumari district

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