Palaruvi Falls in Kollam district

Palaruvi Falls is a beautiful waterfall at Aryankavu in Kollam district, Kerala state, near the Tamilnadu border. It’s situated close to the Thenmala Dam and the Thenmala ecotourism site.

Palaruvi falls
View of Palaruvi Falls

Palaruvi Falls is a single-drop, horsetail-type waterfall, the 32nd highest waterfall in India, with a height of 91 meters or 299 feet.

How Do I Go to Palaruvi Falls?

Aryankavu town, from where the falls are accessible, is connected to the rest of the country by NH 744, Kollam- Thirumangalam (Madurai) National Highway.

Sengottai is the nearest MAJOR town with Railway connectivity at around 31 kilometers distance from Aryankadu.

Punalur town is the nearest major town in Kerala state. There is a Broad gauge railway station at Punalur, around 35 kilometers from the falls. Kerala state government buses on the ghat road from Punalur to Shengottai pass close to the falls. There is a railway station at Punalur, which is connected to Kollam Junction Railway station.

There is a railway station at Aryankadu, which was inaugurated after gauge conversion work in 2018. Previously, a 113-year-old meter gauge railway track was converted into a broad gauge railway track. The gauge conversion works were delayed due to the terrain of the area. There is a railway tunnel called Kottavasal, measuring 906 meters in length, which starts at Aryankavu in Kerala and ends at Puliyara in Tirunelveli district of Tamilnadu, which was converted from meter gauge to broad gauge as part of gauge conversion work undertaken by railways department. The tunnel caved in during the gauge conversion work, and the tunnel is functional now after the caved-in portion was fixed.

Kollam or Quilon is around 75 kilometers from Palaruvi Falls. Kerala’s capital city, Thiruvananthapuram, is around 150 kilometers from the waterfalls at Palaruvi.

What are the Nearby Falls to Palaruvi Falls?

Courtalam Falls, and Papanasam Falls are very close to Palaruvi Falls. It usually takes around a 1-hour drive by car to reach these falls.