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The choice to visit Courtallam was also unexpected, as previous night was heavily raining in the surroundings of Thirunelveli. We got it may be the ideal time to appreciate the waterfalls and it turned out be so evident , as we spent good time in the waterfalls , though crowd was moderate in Courtallam . After Old Courtallam, we wrapped up our lunch and went to Tenkasi & decided to vacate the room to spend in a resort in Courtallam that night.
We had our evening time free and wanted to visit nearby Temple. We thought we can go to Achankovil , it is 32KM from Tenkasi, One of most wonderful scenic dense forest route . The Temple was inside a dense forest and checkpost will be closed after 6.00PM as they will not allow vehicles due to forest restrictions. So chose to begin early , so we can reach at-least by 5PM and return as quickly as time permits.
Achankovil –
P.S. Details Referenced from Wiki –
^{Lord Ayyappa / Aiyanar presides there in the form of grihastha (householder) and the idol faces east. It is believed to installed by Lord Parasurama himself. The Pratishta of Lord Ayyappa here is quite unique from that of other Sastha shrines in Kerala. The idol is known as Rudraksha sila. He is depicted as a grihasthashrami (one who leads a married life) along with his two consorts Poorna and Pushkala.}^{The temple is famed for curing poisonous Snakebites and thus Ayyappa is often portraited as a Mahavaidya (great physician). The right palm of the idol always keeps Chandanam (Sandalwood) and Theertham (sacred water) which is thought to have medicinal properties.}
Map to reach Achankovil From Tenkasi –

Distance from Other Places –
P.S – Information referenced from wiki

Thiruvananthapuram:(124 km) via Nedumangad – Kulathupuzha – Thenmala – Chenkottai
Kollam:(85 km) via Kottarakkara – Punalur
Pathanapuram:(45 km) via Konni – Achankovil road
Kulathupuzha:(63 km) via Thenmala – Aryankavu, Shenkottai
Konni:(41 km) via Kalleli – Kadiyar – Uliyanad – Mannarappara – Thura
Punalur:(43 km) via Kumaramkudy-Mullumala route, but the route is not in a good condition.

Railway: The nearest railway stations are at Thenmala, Kottarakkara and Punalur.
Airports: Thiruvananthapuram international airport is about 140 km and Cochin international airport about 180 km.
The route to Achankovil will be very narrow and through the hill, its not so easy to stop the vehicle in the middle. The first picture was taken on the way to the temple.

During our Visit , Sabarmalai Pilgrims decorating the steps for pooja . We reached the temple around 5 PM and wanted to return as soon as possible because of the forest route.

We returned to Tenkasi around 7.30 PM that day . We wrapped up our dinner and vacated the room in Tenkasi & went to Courtallam for the resort stay as I liked the hill backdrop and the atmosphere was peaceful , Surprisingly they allocated a resort in a remote place which was ideal for bachelor’s not for family . I checked with the resort owner and came to know that the resort near-by main road was not available that time. Any way, it was comfortable for family of 4 . We decided to visit the remaining couple of falls and wanted to start early to chennai next day … But it doesn’t happen’d after visiting Main and Five falls … lol 🙂