This is my first trip in Kerala, and also the first trip after getting into the job. We planned a one day trip to Guruvayur and athirapally waterfalls which are about 300km from Trivendrum. As it was summer we were scared about the water level present at athirapally and also more crowd at Guruvayur. But we completed our trip with utmost satisfaction with out any delay and also we had some time to visit Cochin too. Within 3 months of stay in Kerala, i visited both the places twice and had a memorable experience both the times.
We started at around 12 A.M from Techno park, Trivendrum and reached Guruvayur within 5 hrs(300km) and directly went for the darshan after having some quick fresh-up. The Guruvayur Temple is a famous Krishna temple and is one of the most important places of worship for Hindus and is often referred to as "Bhooloka Vaikuntam". As we went in the early morning at around 5 A.M, we found the temple was less crowded and we completed darshan very easily within 20 mins.The important aspect which I like in Guruvayur temple is, there is no special darshan and everyone has to stand in the ordinary queue. There will be very long standing queues and may take hours to complete the darshan. So please plan to visit temple before 6 AM.
After visiting the temple, we went to the Elephant Camp in the Punnathur Kotta, just 3km from the Guruvayur temple which is largest elephant sanctuary in India. Currently there are more than 60 elephants which are offered to Guruvayur temple by the devotees. The Guruvayur trip will be incomplete without visiting this elephant sanctuary.
After completing our breakfast in Guruvayur, we started to Athirapally waterfalls in Thrissur district which is present at a distance of approx 90 km from Guruvayur. Athirapally is located at a distance of 75km from Cochin and 63km from Thrissur Town. Athirapally will be flooded with water in the monsoon, and even in summer it has more amount of water making it one of the best waterfalls in the India. For about 20km we have to travel in the forest to reach Athirapally which offers picturesque views and from 1km we can view the waterfalls, also can hear the sound it makes.
Athirapally is about 80 ft high, and we can enjoy its beauty either by walking down near to the falls or on the stream above the falls. Initially we spend about 1hr playing with the water stream above the falls and then we trek down to the waterfalls. It was amazing experience viewing the giant waterfalls from the bottom. We will get drenched even before getting closer to the waterfalls. Almost everyday there will be some shooting going on there on the bottom of the waterfalls. But the route that leads to the bottom of the waterfalls is not perfectly laid and very dirty.
It is always recommended to visit Athirapally waterfalls on the weekends in morning if your team includes girls or families, as the local people are not so good and there will no police or guards to help you if any thing happens. There is another waterfalls named vazhachal, very near to Athirapally. But you can't get inside the water at vazhachal, as it is very steep and dangerous too. After visiting both the waterfalls, we went to cochin in the evening . We spend some time in Cochin Marine drive and started back to Trivendrum at 7 pm. We are lucky enough to complete all the three places in a day.
Travel Itinerary:-
12.00 AM :- Started from Trivendrum by Innova
04.30 AM :- Reached Guruvayur - Approx 250 km from Trivendrum.
05.00 AM :- Reached Guruvayur temple and took 30 mins for darshan
07.00 AM :- Reached Elephant Camp in the Punnathur Kotta, 3km from Temple
08.00 AM :- Started to Athirapally
10.30 AM :- Reached Athirapally which is at a distance of 90 km from Guruvayur.
03.00 PM :- Started to Cochin from Athirapally.
04.30 PM :- Reached Cochin, Approx 75 km from Athirapally.
07.30 PM :- Started to Trivendrum from Cochin
10.30 PM :- Reached Trivendrum, Approx 200 km
Happy Travelling.......
We started at around 12 A.M from Techno park, Trivendrum and reached Guruvayur within 5 hrs(300km) and directly went for the darshan after having some quick fresh-up. The Guruvayur Temple is a famous Krishna temple and is one of the most important places of worship for Hindus and is often referred to as "Bhooloka Vaikuntam". As we went in the early morning at around 5 A.M, we found the temple was less crowded and we completed darshan very easily within 20 mins.The important aspect which I like in Guruvayur temple is, there is no special darshan and everyone has to stand in the ordinary queue. There will be very long standing queues and may take hours to complete the darshan. So please plan to visit temple before 6 AM.
After visiting the temple, we went to the Elephant Camp in the Punnathur Kotta, just 3km from the Guruvayur temple which is largest elephant sanctuary in India. Currently there are more than 60 elephants which are offered to Guruvayur temple by the devotees. The Guruvayur trip will be incomplete without visiting this elephant sanctuary.
After completing our breakfast in Guruvayur, we started to Athirapally waterfalls in Thrissur district which is present at a distance of approx 90 km from Guruvayur. Athirapally is located at a distance of 75km from Cochin and 63km from Thrissur Town. Athirapally will be flooded with water in the monsoon, and even in summer it has more amount of water making it one of the best waterfalls in the India. For about 20km we have to travel in the forest to reach Athirapally which offers picturesque views and from 1km we can view the waterfalls, also can hear the sound it makes.
Athirapally is about 80 ft high, and we can enjoy its beauty either by walking down near to the falls or on the stream above the falls. Initially we spend about 1hr playing with the water stream above the falls and then we trek down to the waterfalls. It was amazing experience viewing the giant waterfalls from the bottom. We will get drenched even before getting closer to the waterfalls. Almost everyday there will be some shooting going on there on the bottom of the waterfalls. But the route that leads to the bottom of the waterfalls is not perfectly laid and very dirty.
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| (Source:- http://gettourinfo.com/waterfalls-lakes/athirapally-water-fall-kerala/) |
Travel Itinerary:-
12.00 AM :- Started from Trivendrum by Innova
04.30 AM :- Reached Guruvayur - Approx 250 km from Trivendrum.
05.00 AM :- Reached Guruvayur temple and took 30 mins for darshan
07.00 AM :- Reached Elephant Camp in the Punnathur Kotta, 3km from Temple
08.00 AM :- Started to Athirapally
10.30 AM :- Reached Athirapally which is at a distance of 90 km from Guruvayur.
03.00 PM :- Started to Cochin from Athirapally.
04.30 PM :- Reached Cochin, Approx 75 km from Athirapally.
07.30 PM :- Started to Trivendrum from Cochin
10.30 PM :- Reached Trivendrum, Approx 200 km
Happy Travelling.......
Thanks Krishna
ReplyDeleteIts very informative
nice to share
ReplyDeletethanks for sharing, it is very usefull for us.
ReplyDeleteHey great article, I jsut wanted to know where you found place for a quick fresh up in guruvayur, as we are also planning to travel in the night and reach the temple by early morning. are there any hotels nearby which will provide bathrooms for 2 hrs?
ReplyDelete