Places to Visit in Pollachi

Coconut capital, film town and the doorway to the Anamalai hills — how to use Pollachi as a base for Aliyar Dam, Valparai and Topslip.

Baralikadu is a small tribal village and forest-department ecotourism centre near the Pillur reservoir in the Coimbatore Forest Division, hemmed in by dense forest along the Bhavani River. Its main draw is guided coracle rides on the reservoir accompanied by forest staff, along with a lunch prepared by tribal women. It operates on weekends and holidays and is a growing community-based eco-tourism destination.

This hill temple to Lord Murugan sits on Anuvavi Hills at Periya Thadagam, about 19 km from Coimbatore city, reached by a long flight of steps. It is best known for a natural spring within the sanctum that flows perennially through all twelve months, tied by legend to Hanuman striking water from the rock. The perennial theertham and forested hill setting make it a popular local pilgrimage and picnic spot.

Set up by the Kasthuri Sreenivasan Trust and inaugurated in 1988, this gallery and textile museum on Avinashi Road chronicles the history of textile technology through charts, models and actual machines, from ancient whorl wheels to modern looms. Fitting for Coimbatore's identity as a textile city, it also displays rare artefacts. It combines an art gallery with an industrial-heritage textile collection.

Temples and the Adiyogi bust on day one, the 40 hairpin climb into the Anamalai Tiger Reserve on day two, then tea estates, waterfalls and lion-tailed macaques around Valparai.

Day 1 in Coimbatore and aboard the steam toy train; Day 2 among the botanical gardens, lakes and tea estates of the Nilgiris.

St. Michael's Cathedral on Big Bazaar Street is the principal Roman Catholic cathedral of Coimbatore, originally consecrated in 1867 by Bishop Claude-Marie Depommier. The old church was demolished and rebuilt around 2013, and the present structure is admired for its paintings and stained-glass work. It is the seat of the Catholic Diocese of Coimbatore and a heritage religious landmark in the old city.