Nagalapuram is a place situated on the Eastern Ghats of South India. The history is that it was built at the time of Krishnadevaraya of Vijayanagar Empire reigme in memory of his mother Nagala Devi. It dates back to early 1500s. Perennial streams make the place a perfect leisure spot.
We started the trip from Chennai by 8AM. The drive to this place is took us about 3 hours from Chennai and is 103KM from the city. The best route in terms of time consumption would be via Koyambedu-Padayanallur-Cholavaram-Periyapalayam-Uthukottai-Nagalapuram-Pichatur-Arai. The roads by this route are not well trodden and one can maintain an average speed of 70-80Km/hr max. We reached the destination by around 11AM. Please note that there are two entrances to the falls. One is via the West Gate (well known and common entrance) and the other is via East Gate. Recently, there was a fatal accident in the falls and the East Gate has been closed since then. So the only route available is the West Gate for which you need to enter via Arai Village. Remember that there are no good places to dine and you have to make your own arrangement for food. Another heads up is for people who have their own car. I have heard stories where kids from the nearby village break in the glass of cars in order to steal any valuables that are visible from outside. So kindly restrain from keeping any such valuables visible from the outside. However, this wasn't the case for us. Our car was safe and sound when we reached back. Moving on, we had our homemade lunch and started the trek by 1PM.
Another heads up - The first 30mins of the trek was under the scorching sun. Temperatures rose till 40°C as it was the peak of summer. The best way to start the trek would be around 7:30Am - 8AM during summer. It takes nearly 30-45 mins to reach the first water spot. There is an iconic tree that shows up just before the first stream and is an indication that you're on the right path. Also, there are two to three paths splitting away from the main route. Yet, the yellow arrows guides us to the final destination.
From here it is another 45mins trek to the main waterfalls. Beware that the pool in front of the falls is nearly 40ft deep and there has been a lot of mishaps occurred. Be advised, if you are not comfortable with depths it's better to stay away from the main pool. There are numerous spots en route where the water is crystal clear. Pertain to those spots and you'll cherish those memories for a lifetime.
We left the place by 4PM so that we can have enough time to get some portraits. It was a 2 hour walk down the hill and we left by around 6PM. On our way back we took the Uthukkottai-Tiruvallur-Thirumazhisai-Porur route and the roads were much better compared to the other one. We then had our dinner in Sangeetha at Thirumazhisai and reached home by 10PM.
This is one of the best weekend getaways that could be planned from Chennai within a budget of ₹.1000 if you're traveling by car alone. If you team up with 5 people it could very well be brought down to 500 per head including the dinner expenses. Hope this was of some use to you all :)
