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I have been visiting several spots around Bangalore with my mother. This place I discovered, thanks to a friend. Then I looked up more information about this weekend spot that I wanted to visit. Although we are at the peak of summer, the Kaveri river, which lends its water to the falls, is gently flowing. Also, we have not one but two Niagara Falls-esque spots in the country! This one doesn’t look like the original (I’ve not visited the place yet, but I have seen photos) now, it does look strikingly similar during rains, when the falls run full. However, you can only take a coracle ride in the dry season. The other Niagara Falls of India is the Chitrakoot Waterfalls, Chhattisgarh.

The falls in the pictures is Hogenakkal, Dharmapuri, Tamil Nadu. This is the spot where Kaveri river is divided between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Hogenakkal in Kannada means a misty stone, and in Tamil, it is referred to as Marikottayam (mari means rain, kottam means fall). If you have seen Roja movie, the song chinna chinna aasai (Chotisi asha) was shot here, as was Snehithane (Alaipayuthey), Mazhaiye Mazhaiye (Rhythm) and Raath Ka Nasha Abhi (Asoka). The hollow rock structure you see is smoothed by the harsh flow of the water when the falls run full.

But what I loved about the place is the freshly-caught-and-cooked river fish. I’m a recently converted non-vegetarian, so the fishy smell can at times be a bit too much for me to deal with. But 50 bucks for two pieces of pomfret fish fry is a steal… and it was absolutely delicious too! Give it a shot, you can thank me later.