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.jpg) Athirapally is the land of rivers and forests and great waterfalls!The destination houses the largest waterfall in Kerala, the Athirapally waterfall,a major tourist attraction. This patch in Sholayar ranges so beautifully intertwined with lush green forest cover and sizzling silver cascades and located central to Kochi and River Nila(Bharathapuzha),is a treat for the eyes during the monsoon.The swollen Chalakkudy river, Charpa, Vazhachal and Athirapally are ideal places where the monsoon can be enjoyed.The Athirapally forest cover abounds in a variety of aromatic herbs and spices.Spices not only give flavor and spark to our foods, many also have medicinal qualities.
Lately the place has been in the centre of a controversy.Local communities along the Chalakudy river banded together to stop the construction of a hydroelectric dam upstream from Athirapally waterfall. The proposed dam would have submerged more than 140 hectares of forest, dried up extensive riparian areas downstream and destroyed Athirapally waterfall, one of several scenic waterfalls important to the local tourism industry.The dam also would have destroyed the critical habitat of many important species, including the rare Cochin Forest Cane Turtle, the endangered Great Indian Hornbill, the Lion-Tailed Macaque and the Nilgiri Langur.Spices grow in the wild here.
This amazing locale is surrounded by some of the most natural beauty comprising flora and fauna in the world. Waterfalls, wild fruit and nut trees, spices,and a lot of local wildlife - elephants, leopards, deer, monkeys, geckos, many species of birds, etc make a visit to the area worth an experience of a lifetime.If you need a few days peaceful getaway from the world and space for total detachment, this is it….no wonder somebody said, “If there’s a place in God’s own country that travellers must not miss, it’s nowhere else but Athirapally!”
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