Parli : A Tranquil Retreat

A little distance after Ottappalam, and a bit before the Palakkad central station, is a village called Parli. It is a 15 minute ride from Palakkad, eight kilometers from the city. Lake any Kerala village, the roads are less crowded and less polluted.

And as you ride along, you come across a small bridge that overlooks the Bharathapuzha River also called river Nila. What makes this spot special is that it is where two rivers merge to form the Bharathapuzha – the Kannadipuzha and the Kalpathipuzha.

The legendary Bharathapuzha, which used to be a vision of beauty till a few years ago before all the sand mining and industrial waste have left the river a sad mess, is now a memory saved in a few Malayalam films and the hearts of those that sat on its thick white sand beds on full moon nights.

On the way one can also see the Kalladikodan Mala (Kalladikode Mountain) which is part of the Western Ghats. From the mountain, flows the Meenvallam waterfalls, from the originating point of the Thuppanadu River. There are ten steps to the falls, eight of them in the upper hills of a dense forest. It is ideal to be visited in the months of April and May.