Waterfall Tourism in the Monsoons in India.

August to November are the best months of the year to watch the waterfalls in India. That's when the gently cascading waters would transform into gushing, plunging, voluminous, outstanding, powerful and intimidating water bodies - adding magnetism to an already attractive mountain landscape.

While some have the luxury of being perennial, some aren’t!

Meaning – no rainfall….no waterfall. So now you know why you need to visit the nearest waterfalls this monsoon.

The three waterfalls of India which have topped the lists are:

Kunchikal Falls – 1493 feet drop - the highest waterfalls in India and the second highest waterfalls in Asia. It is located in the Western Ghats and is caused by the River Varahi in Shimoga District of Karnataka State. While Rivers Tunga and Bhadra flow through the Shimoga District, Rivers, Sharavathi, Gangavathi, Tadadi and Kali originate in this District. But that’s not the cause for the highest waterfalls in India. It is being on the Western Ghat slopes and receiving one of the highest degrees of rainfall in the country that is causing it. The popular ‘Jog Waterfalls’ and ‘Barkana Falls’ which draw thousands of tourists are also in Shimoga District.

 Barehipani Falls – 1309 feet drop – a two-tiered waterfall which is the second highest waterfalls in India and is formed by River Budhabalanga in in Mayurbhanj District of Orissa State. The falls are situated in the Simlipal National Park which is home to 100 Royal Bengal Tigers and 432 Asian Elephants among other wildlife.

 Langshiang Falls – 1106 feet drop – the third highest waterfalls in India which is formed by River Kynshi in West Khasi Hills District in Meghalaya State. These falls are just 10kms away from the biggest River Island of Meghalaya State – ‘Nongkhnum Island’.

And my personal favourites are:

 Jog Falls – 829 feet drop – the second highest ‘plunge-waterfall’ in India – formed by Sharavathi River in Shimoga District in Karnataka. 1500 steps lead downhill from the view point to the bottom of the hill - opposite the falls giving you the complete full-frontal view of the falls which is a rarity considering that most natural landscape surrounding natural waterfalls do not permit the fully frontal up-close view. It’s the monsoon water that turns this stringy drop to a full-blown avalanche of white frothy water causing misty surrounding.

Hogenakkal Falls – 66 feet drop – formed by River Kaveri in Dharmapuri District of Tamil Nadu State. Its claim to fame is its resemblance to the Great Niagara Falls because of which it is also called the ‘Niagara of India’. Boat rides are major tourist attraction here.

Dudhsagar Falls – 1017 feet drop – formed by River Mandovi on the Goa-Karnataka border in Goa State. It is a multi-tiered waterfall located in Bhagwan Mahavir Wild Life Sanctuary on the Western Ghats. During the monsoons, the Dudhsagar Falls swell up to a width of 100 feet making it one of the most powerful falls in India. Riding the train over the Falls is a major tourist attraction. Trekking around these Falls is another major tourist attraction. Tourists are allowed in this area only from October.

Dhuandhar Falls – 98 feet drop – formed by River Narmada in Jabalpur District of Madhya Pradesh State. This is a large roaring waterfalls which is heard from a distance. In peak monsoon, these Falls look like there are taking the Earth with them. The cable-car ride over these Falls is a uniquely thrilling experience.

Kiliyur Falls – 300 feet drop – formed by overflow of Yercaud Lake in the Eastern Ghats in Tamil Nadu. It is a picturesque multi-tiered waterfall which falls down a stone slope. The monsoon-volume of the water in the Falls causes several mini umbrella falls on the slopes – increasing its visual appeal.

Meenmutty Falls – 984 feet drop – the highest waterfalls of Kerala State in Wayanad District. Scores points on visual eye-appeal of a thundering waterfall in dense virgin forests of the Western Ghats.

Pix courtesy: Wikipedia, mytraveltalk, odiya, walkthroughindia, kingnutin.flickr, thinkingparticle.

When Amitji over powered Rajivji…

It was sometime in Dec 1989 when I and my brother were travelling from Guwahati (Assam) to Shillong (Meghalaya). Before undertaking the journey we had to stay at the army’s transit camp (which was just outside the Guwahati railway station) where all defence personals take a break journey before proceeding towards Arunachal Pradesh or Nagaland or any of the north-eastern states by road. We had to stay at the camp till the fog cleared on the route to Shillong.

Once we got the clearance we started immediately by jeep. The distance being just a 100 kms, we were told that it would take about 3 hrs to reach Shillong. We started at 5 pm and in no time it was dark. The jeep started making jerks mid-way as we felt we were running out of gas. As the jeep slowed down we were over taken by a lorry who’s driver shouted saying that our jeeps silencer had caught fire. We jammed brakes, got down and ran away from the jeep. The driver didn’t panic but took out one of the water bottles and threw water on the silencer. The driver said that we couldn’t go further as the jeep had broken down and he needed to call the unit to send us a recovery vehicle. We were in the middle of a forest and didn’t have a clue on how to contact the unit at Shillong.

It was past 7pm, cold, foggy and pitch dark with no lights around. The driver said that he’ll try to stop any army vehicle coming or going for help, meanwhile my brother was searching for place to answer nature’s call when he shouted…“Hey! I can see some light coming from that hut downhill.” I told the driver to continue what he’s good at and we both will go down the hill to get some assistance.

I and my brother slowly walked down the hill and knocked at the door. A 50 year old chinky tribal looking guy opened the door…before he could ask us I asked him…“Chai milegi”? The man couldn’t understand. I asked him again in Hindi- if we could get a mechanic as our vehicle had broken down. The man was clueless, my brother started guessing on how to explain the man…as the man asked- “Why don’t you both come in?” in English…we were completely zapped!!! I asked him how come he knew the language; he said it was their local lingo.

We both sat down inside as the man went in to get us some tea. We looked around his walls which had a few paintings, arrows and a huge poster of the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Amitabh Bachchan. My brother asked the man if he was more of a fan of the PM or AB. The man replied that he didn’t know who the posters were of but all he knew was that the right side poster was of a man who acts in Hindi films and got injured while shooting in 1982. Before we could ask why he didn’t know about our country’s PM, our driver shouted…“Sir, recovery van mil gaya!” We soon thanked the man and asked if we need to pay for the Tea, he said- “No, you are my guests!” We both thanked him again and left his hut to be carried away to Shillong by the recovery vehicle only to realize how much our Bollywood actors over power our politicians.