Suruli Falls
Encyclopedia
Suruli falls also known as Chinna Suruli, Cloud Land Falls or Meghamalai Falls, is located 56 km (34.8 mi) from Theni
and 10 km (6.2 mi) from Cumbum in the Theni District
in Tamil Nadu
, India
. Nearest habitation is Kombaithozhu Village. It is a 2 stage Cascading water fall. The Suruli River supplying the falls originates from the Meghamalai
mountain range. The falls drop from a height of 150 feet (45.7 m) gathers into a pool, flows for a short distance and again plummets an additional 40 feet (12.2 m).
epic, Silappathikaram written by the poet Ilango Adigal
. Near Suruli Falls are 18 caves which represent Indian rock-cut architecture of the 18th Century.
There are frequent bus services available from Cumbum and Uthamapalayam
to reach this falls on the way to Periyar National Park
. The Tamil Nadu Tourism Department celebrates summer festival at Suruli falls every year. Construction of a bridge across the Suruli River at a cost of Rs.45 lakhs has increased tourist flow to the falls significantly.
Suruli hills is the part of the Pothigai Malai
. Pothigai hills is a highly divine and spiritual center. There is a story that when Shiva
and Parvati
entered into divine matrimony at Mount Kailash
in the north, the place was unbalanced because of the large number of holy beings witnessing the wedding. Lord Shiva asked Agastya
Maharishi
to proceed to the South of India to balance the world. Agastya Maharishi then proceeded to Pothigai hills and balanced the world. Agastya Maharishi was able to visualise the wedding of Lord Shiva and Parvati on a Shivalingam that was at Tiru Kalyana Teertham at Pothigai hills. These hills are visited by several saints and sages from Himalayas particularly on a full moon day. The striking similarity between the profiles of Mt. Kailash and Agasthyamalai strengthen the mythological connections of these sacred peaks.
While Swami Arulananda was at Pothigai hills, he often visited Subramania
Swami temple in Tiruchendur
. In 1981, on Thaipusam
day (Full moon day in January), Agastya Maharishi appeared in Swamiji’s dream and asked him to proceed to Suruli Aandavar temple (Subramania Swami temple) at Suruli hills to practice Tapas
. In this place, Subramania manifests as Suruli Aandavar.
Suruli Velappar
Temple in praise of Kartikeya is located near the falls. This temple is shaped like an OM Pranava
. OM is the source mantra
of the universal. This Mantra was generated before the Earth and all planets were created. At this cave one can hear the OM Mantra when you are in meditation frequency. This statement was told by Omgara guru Sidhar Gunaneethy, who is the founder of Rishi's Meditation.
800 m (2,624.7 ft) above the fall is the Kailasanathar Cave Temple. At Kailasanathar cave a lot of Sidhar
s meditate at a natural spring with waters having medicinal powers. Now also a lot of Meykanda Devar
's souls are there. Kailasanathar cave is connected with the Sathura Giri Mahalingam Kovil Cave. The Palani temple
Murugan statue was built by Bogar with Navapasana (A unique type of medicine created using nine types of poisons). The bogar installed the statue before he came to Kailasnathar temple. Here he took a lot of Herbals
and constructed the Murugan's Navapasana Statue.
The Dargah
at Suruli is an important worship place for some Muslim
s. This is named after Abubacker Masthan who lived around 1630s in this area and is buried here.
, in a letter to Anil Kakodkar
, Secretary, Department of Atomic Energy (India)
(DAE) and Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission of India
(AEC), denied permission for the Department of Atomic Energy to set up the India-based Neutrino Observatory
(INO) project at Singara
in Nilgiris, as it falls in the buffer zone of the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR).
Instead, he suggested an alternate site near Suruli Falls. The Minister said this site did not pose the same problems that Singara posed and environmental and forest clearances should not be a serious issue. He also assured the DAE that the Ministry would facilitate necessary approvals for the alternative location. Dr. Naba K. Mondal of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
, who is the spokesperson for the INO project said:
Theni
Theni is a town in the Western Tamil Nadu state of South India. It is the headquarters of Theni District. It is known for the large-scale trading of Cardamom, Cotton, Grapes, chilli and Textiles. It hosts the second largest weekly market in Tamil Nadu and the fourth largest in South India...
and 10 km (6.2 mi) from Cumbum in the Theni District
Theni District
Theni District is a district of Tamil Nadu state in South India. The city of Theni is the district headquarters. The district is divided into two natural divisions: The hilly areas constituted by parts of the three taluks Periyakulam, Uthamapalayam and Andipatti with thick vegetation and...
in Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. Nearest habitation is Kombaithozhu Village. It is a 2 stage Cascading water fall. The Suruli River supplying the falls originates from the Meghamalai
Meghamalai
Meghamalai, popularly called High Wavy Mountains, is a cool and misty mountain range situated in the Western Ghats in Theni district, Tamilnadu, South India. It is a place of natural beauty dotted with cardamom plantations and tea estates. The place is situated at an elevation of 1,500 m above sea...
mountain range. The falls drop from a height of 150 feet (45.7 m) gathers into a pool, flows for a short distance and again plummets an additional 40 feet (12.2 m).
History
The beauty of this falls finds mention in the ancient TamilTamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
epic, Silappathikaram written by the poet Ilango Adigal
Ilango Adigal
Ilango Adigal was a Tamil poet and a Jain monk, who was instrumental in the creation of Silappathikaram, one of the five great epics of Tamil Literature. Prince Ilango was the brother of Chera king Cheran Chenguttuvan , in South India. Ilango Adigal was born in the Chera dynasty that ruled parts...
. Near Suruli Falls are 18 caves which represent Indian rock-cut architecture of the 18th Century.
Tourism
It is one of the major tourist attractions in the Theni district and draws tourists from different parts of the state, particularly during the southwest monsoon. June - October is the best season due to monsoon activity, though there is some flow year round. This falls is tourist friendly with showers and changing area near the falls.There are frequent bus services available from Cumbum and Uthamapalayam
Uthamapalayam
Uthamapalayam is a panchayat town in Theni district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.-Demographics: India census, Uthamapalayam had a population of 22,104. 10% of the population is under 6 years of age...
to reach this falls on the way to Periyar National Park
Periyar National Park
Periyar is a protected area, and a nature reserve in the South Indian State of Kerala, set high in the mountains of the Western Ghats along the border with Tamil Nadu. It lies in the districts of Idukki and Pathanamthitta...
. The Tamil Nadu Tourism Department celebrates summer festival at Suruli falls every year. Construction of a bridge across the Suruli River at a cost of Rs.45 lakhs has increased tourist flow to the falls significantly.
Temples
Pothigai
The Pothigai Malai , also known as the Agasthiyar Malai, is in the Ashambu hills, part of the Annamalai Hills in the southern part of the Western Ghats of Southern India. Legend says that Sage Agastya created the Tamil language here.-Geography:The Pothigai hills is in the Thiruvananthapuram...
. Pothigai hills is a highly divine and spiritual center. There is a story that when Shiva
Shiva
Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
and Parvati
Parvati
Parvati is a Hindu goddess. Parvati is Shakti, the wife of Shiva and the gentle aspect of Mahadevi, the Great Goddess...
entered into divine matrimony at Mount Kailash
Mount Kailash
Mount Kailash is a peak in the Gangdisê Mountains, which are part of the Himalayas in Tibet...
in the north, the place was unbalanced because of the large number of holy beings witnessing the wedding. Lord Shiva asked Agastya
Agastya
Agastya was a Tamil/Vedic Siddhar or sage. Agastya and his clan are also generally credited with uncovering many mantras of the Rig Veda, the earliest and most revered Hindu scripture, in the sense of first having the mantras revealed in his mind by the Supreme Brahman...
Maharishi
Maharishi
Maharishi is the anglicized version of the Sanskrit word Maharshi महर्षि . Maharishi is often use as an addition to a person's name as an honorary title. The term was first seen in modern English literature in the 18th century...
to proceed to the South of India to balance the world. Agastya Maharishi then proceeded to Pothigai hills and balanced the world. Agastya Maharishi was able to visualise the wedding of Lord Shiva and Parvati on a Shivalingam that was at Tiru Kalyana Teertham at Pothigai hills. These hills are visited by several saints and sages from Himalayas particularly on a full moon day. The striking similarity between the profiles of Mt. Kailash and Agasthyamalai strengthen the mythological connections of these sacred peaks.
While Swami Arulananda was at Pothigai hills, he often visited Subramania
Subramania
Subramaniya may refer to* Lord Murugan, a Hindu god of youth* Kukke Subramanya Temple, a Hindu temple in Karnataka...
Swami temple in Tiruchendur
Tiruchendur
Thiruchendur is a panchayat town in Thoothukudi district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. This town has a different name called Thirucheer Alaiwai.-Demographics:...
. In 1981, on Thaipusam
Thaipusam
Thaipusam is a Hindu festival celebrated mostly by the Tamil community on the full moon in the Tamil month of Thai . It is celebrated not only in countries where the Tamil community constitutes a majority, but also in countries where Tamil communities are smaller, such as Singapore and Malaysia...
day (Full moon day in January), Agastya Maharishi appeared in Swamiji’s dream and asked him to proceed to Suruli Aandavar temple (Subramania Swami temple) at Suruli hills to practice Tapas
Tapas (Sanskrit)
Tapasya in Sanskrit means "heat". In Vedic religion and Hinduism, it is used figuratively, denoting spiritual suffering, mortification or austerity, and also the spiritual ecstasy of a yogin or tāpasá . In the Rigveda, the word is connected with the Soma cult...
. In this place, Subramania manifests as Suruli Aandavar.
Suruli Velappar
Velappar
Velappar Temple is a temple that is situated at about 15 Kilometers from Andipatti, in Madurai district, Tamil Nadu, India. It is in the midst of mountains and is reachable by climbing some 300 steps....
Temple in praise of Kartikeya is located near the falls. This temple is shaped like an OM Pranava
Aum
Om or Aum Om or Aum Om or Aum (also , written in Devanāgari as and as , in Sanskrit known as (lit. "to sound out loudly"), ', or ' (also as ') (lit. "Auṃ form/syllable"), is a sacred/mystical syllable in the Dharmic or Indian religions, i.e...
. OM is the source mantra
Mantra
A mantra is a sound, syllable, word, or group of words that is considered capable of "creating transformation"...
of the universal. This Mantra was generated before the Earth and all planets were created. At this cave one can hear the OM Mantra when you are in meditation frequency. This statement was told by Omgara guru Sidhar Gunaneethy, who is the founder of Rishi's Meditation.
800 m (2,624.7 ft) above the fall is the Kailasanathar Cave Temple. At Kailasanathar cave a lot of Sidhar
Sidhar
Sidhar , is a village in West Punjab, Pakistan, situated in Faisalabad District. The village belongs to the Araeen Family. It is located on the Jhang road in the west of Faisalabad next to Faisalabad airport near new sabzi mandi....
s meditate at a natural spring with waters having medicinal powers. Now also a lot of Meykanda Devar
Meikandadevar
Meikanda Thevar was a Hindu poet and expert in Hindu metaphysics and theology.-Personal life:Meikandadevar was born Seetavana Perumal at the town of Vennei-nallur situated on the river Pennar.-Works:...
's souls are there. Kailasanathar cave is connected with the Sathura Giri Mahalingam Kovil Cave. The Palani temple
Palani Murugan Temple
The Hill Temple of Palani is one of the most famous temples of Murugan in India. It is located in the town of Palani, 100 km southeast of Coimbatore and a similar distance northwest of Madurai, and in the foot-hills of the eponymous Palni Hills...
Murugan statue was built by Bogar with Navapasana (A unique type of medicine created using nine types of poisons). The bogar installed the statue before he came to Kailasnathar temple. Here he took a lot of Herbals
Herbalism
Herbalism is a traditional medicinal or folk medicine practice based on the use of plants and plant extracts. Herbalism is also known as botanical medicine, medical herbalism, herbal medicine, herbology, herblore, and phytotherapy...
and constructed the Murugan's Navapasana Statue.
The Dargah
Dargah
A Dargah is a Sufi shrine built over the grave of a revered religious figure, often a Sufi saint. Local Muslims visit the shrine known as . Dargahs are often associated with Sufi meeting rooms and hostels, known as khanqah...
at Suruli is an important worship place for some Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
s. This is named after Abubacker Masthan who lived around 1630s in this area and is buried here.
India-based Neutrino Observatory
In November 2009, Minister of Environment and Forests, Jairam RameshJairam Ramesh
Jairam Ramesh born April 9, 1954, is an Indian economist and an influential politician of the Congress Party in the United Progressive Alliance ruling coalition of center-left political parties heading the Government of India. He is a Member of Parliament representing Andhra Pradesh state in the...
, in a letter to Anil Kakodkar
Anil Kakodkar
Anil Kakodkar is an eminent Indian nuclear scientist and mechanical engineer. He was the chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission of India and the Secretary to the Government of India, Department of Atomic Energy. Before leading India's Nuclear Programme, he was the Director of the Bhabha Atomic...
, Secretary, Department of Atomic Energy (India)
Department of Atomic Energy (India)
The Department of Atomic Energy is a department directly under the Prime Minister of India with headquartered in Mumbai. The department is responsible for nuclear technology, including nuclear power and research....
(DAE) and Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission of India
Atomic Energy Commission of India
The Atomic Energy Commission is a governing body functioning under the Department of Atomic Energy , Government of India. The DAE is under the direct charge of the Prime Minister.- History :...
(AEC), denied permission for the Department of Atomic Energy to set up the India-based Neutrino Observatory
India-based Neutrino Observatory
India-based Neutrino Observatory is a proposed particle physics research project to primarily study atmospheric neutrinos in a deep cave under Ino Peak near Pudukkottai, Tamil Nadu, India. This project is notable in that it is anticipated to provide a precise measurement of neutrino mixing...
(INO) project at Singara
Singara
Singara was a strongly fortified post at the northern extremity of Mesopotamia, which for a while, as appears from many coins still extant, was occupied by the Romans as an advanced colony against the Persians...
in Nilgiris, as it falls in the buffer zone of the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR).
Instead, he suggested an alternate site near Suruli Falls. The Minister said this site did not pose the same problems that Singara posed and environmental and forest clearances should not be a serious issue. He also assured the DAE that the Ministry would facilitate necessary approvals for the alternative location. Dr. Naba K. Mondal of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
The Tata Institute of Fundamental Research is a research institution in India dedicated to basic research in mathematics and the sciences. It is a Deemed University and works under the umbrella of the Department of Atomic Energy of the Government of India. It is located at Navy Nagar, Colaba, Mumbai...
, who is the spokesperson for the INO project said:
"But Suruliyar too is in a reserve forest.Reserve forestYou may be looking for forest reserve, a generic term associated with protected forest areas, which is also used as a specific term for protected forests in some countries...
area that is dense and would require cutting down of trees, something that was not required at Singara. Can the government assure us that clearance for this site will be given?" he asks. "Alternatively, we can move to the nearby ThevaramThevaramThevaram is a panchayat town in Theni district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.Thevaram located in the border of Kerala separated by western ghats-Demographics:...
, which is about 20 kilometre away from the Suruliyar falls. This forest area has only shrubs but there is no source of water here and water will have to be piped over a distance of 30 km (18.6 mi),"