Places to Visit in Kalvarayan Hills

The tribal Kalvarayan Hills, forest waterfalls and reservoirs, and the ancient Divya Desam temple town of Thirukovilur — a guide to Tamil Nadu’s young Kallakurichi district.

A tribal Eastern-Ghats range with no crowds, no toy train and no manicured promenade — just terraced farms, seasonal waterfalls and the hill villages of the Malayali people, an hour above the plains.

This Shiva temple near Kallakurichi town enshrines Ardhanareeswarar with the goddess called Anubhambikai and is attributed to Chola construction, variously dated to around the 12th century and associated with Rajendra Chola. Inscriptions record that the village was once named Mallikarjunapuram and preserve a legend of a Chola king immersing his father's ashes at the nearby Manimutharu river. The historic structure has long stood in a state of disrepair.

This Vishnu temple is counted among the 108 Abhimana Kshetrams of Sri Vaishnavism and is popularly called Adhi (original) Thiruvarangam. The presiding deity Ranganatha reclines on Adisesha in a sleeping posture measuring about 29 feet in length. The goddess is Rangavalli (Ranganayaki) Thayar, and the temple's sacred waters include the Chandra Pushkarani and the Thenpennai river.

The ruinous fort occupies the rocky hill above Thiyagadurgam. It changed hands during eighteenth-century French, Mysorean and Company conflict; climb only in cool daylight with current local guidance.

Thiyagadurgam Fort is best understood through its defining feature, its relationship with Thiyagadurgam and the evidence that survives at the site today.

A reservoir in the Kalrayan foothills near Kachirapalayam, about 15 km from Kallakurichi, with a landscaped garden and a hilltop view point that draw crowds in summer and on holidays. The lake spreads across a wide area in the monsoon and supplies water to dozens of surrounding villages.

Gomukhi Dam is best understood through its defining feature, its relationship with Kallakurichi and the evidence that survives at the site today.