Ayyanar Falls

Ayyanar Falls is the falls located exactly 10KM west of Rajapalayam, city and municipality in Virudhunagar District in the Indian State of Tamil Nadu. Ayyanar Falls is one of the main attraction of Rajapalayam.

Ayyanar Falls is situated in the Western Ghats, which is getting the water source mainly during the North East monsoon rain. The water from the falls is mainly used for drinking purpose by the people living in Rajapalayam. It is a famous tourist spot for the people living in East part of Virudhunagar District, especially Rajapalayam, Srivilliputtur and Sivakasi.

The name Ayyanar is given to this falls for the reason that there is a small forest temple named Ayyanar Temple lies besides the falls.

Water from Ayyanar Falls is the only source of water for irrigation developments in the city of Rajapalayam.

Ayyanar Falls is located on the slope of Western Ghats, It has lot of waterfalls and a temple. It provides good opportunity for woodland mountain climbing. Dam is situated on the way to Ayyanar Falls which is providing water for the whole city.

Naturally, Ayyanar Falls is geographically protected by hills surrounded by it. So there will not be excessive rainfall or flood or drought occurring. So the people living in Rajapalayam are able to survive even during the heavy flood occurring in and around the City and it was able to survive from the drought happening in and around the City.

People of Rajapalayam seems to be blessed by God to have this geographically protected area for their survival.

The falls is maintained by the Department of Forest, Tamil Nadu and also by Rajapalayam Municipality.

The forest area of the falls is protected for public visit and use, as it was the sanctuary for Grizzled Squirrel and Varaiyadu goat. The forests are found on the eastern slopes of the Western Ghats. Only 6.3% of the total geographical area is under forests. Many rare and endemic varieties of flora and fauna are found along the mountain slopes. A wildlife sanctuary, spread over 480 square kilometres was established in 1989 at Shenbagathopu in Srivilliputtur taluk. This sanctuary is contiguous with the Periyar Tiger reserve on the south-western side and the Megamalai reserve forest on the north-western side. The altitude varies from 100 to 2010 m above sea level. The sanctuary is home to the endangered, arboreal grizzled giant squirrel Ratufa macrora. This greyish brown squirrel weighs 1 to 1.8 kg. and is the size of a small cat. It measures about 735 mm. from nose to tail with the tail being 360 to 400 mm. long. They construct drays at forked branches where the crowns of neighbouring trees meet. This enables the squirrel to move away from the site by jumping from tree to tree when threatened. The home range of an individual is between 1,970 and 6,110 square metres.

External links

[http://www.rajapalayam.com Rajapalayam]

[http://www.rajapalayam.org/Tourist-Attractions/Ayyanar-Koil-Ayyanar-Falls.html Rajapalayam.Org - Ayyanar Falls]