TIRUNELVELI, Tamil Nadu

Main Attraction: COURTALLAM WATER FALLS

Courtallam waterfalls are located at Tenkasi Taluk of Tirunelveli District. Many seasonal and few perennial rivers such as the Chittar River, the Manimuthar River, the Pachaiyar River and the Tamirabarani River originate in this region. Courtallam has nine waterfalls. They are Peraruvi (main falls), Chitraruvi (small falls), Shenbagadevi falls, Thenaruvi(honey falls), Aintharuvi (five falls), Pazhathotta Aruvi, Pazhaya Courtalla Aruvi (Old Courtallam falls), Puli Aruvi (Tiger Falls) and there is another small falls inside the Government Horticulture Park above Five Falls.

These waterfalls provide an important tourist attraction and there is a famous health resort in Courtallam. The waterfalls flow from a height of 90 metres from top of the hills. The season commences from the month of June and ends in the month of September every year.

Brief History

The history of Tirunelveli was researched by Robert Caldwell (1814 91), a Christian missionary who visited the area. Tirunelveli was under the rule of Pandya kings as their secondary capital; Madurai was the empire's primary capital. The Pandya dynasty in the region dates to several centuries before the Christian era from inscriptions by Ashoka (304 232 BCE) and mention in the Mahavamsa, the Brihat-Samhita and the writings of Megasthenes (350 290 CE). The province came under the rule of Cholas under Rajendra Chola I in 1064 CE; however, it is unclear whether he conquered the region or obtained it voluntarily. Tirunelveli remained under control of the Cholas until the early 13th century, when the second Pandya empire was established with Madurai as its capital.

The Nellaiappar temple was the royal shrine of the later Pandyas during the 13th and 14th centuries, and the city benefited from dams constructed with royal patronage during the period. After the death of Kulasekara Pandian (1268 1308), the region was occupied by Vijayangara rulers and Marava chieftains (Palayakarars, or Poligars) during the 16th century. The Maravars occupied the western foothills and the Telugas, and the Kannadigas settled in the black-soil-rich eastern portion. Tirunelveli was the subsidiary capital of the Madurai Nayaks; under ViswanathaNayak (1529 64), the city was rebuilt about 1560. Inscriptions from the Nellaiappar temple indicate generous contributions to the temple. Nayak rule ended in 1736, and the region was captured by Chanda Sahib (1740 1754), Arcot Nawab and Muhammed Yusuf Khan (1725 1764) during the mid-18th century.

In 1743 Nizam-ul-mulk, lieutenant of the Deccan Plateau, displaced most of the Marathas from the region and Tirunelveli came under the rule of the Nawabs of Arcot. The original power lay in the hands of the Polygars, who were originally military chiefs of the Nayaks. The city was the chief commercial town during the Nawab and Nayak era. The city was known as Nellai Cheemai, with Cheemai meaning "a developed foreign town". The Polygars built forts on the hills, had 30,000 troops and waged war among them. In 1755, the British government sent a mission under Major Heron and Mahfuz Khan which restored some order and bestowed the city to Mahfuz Khan. The Poligars waged war against Mahfuz Khan seven miles from Tirunelveli, but were defeated. 

The failure of Mahfuz Khan led the East India Company to send Muhammed Yusuf for help. Khan became ruler, rebelled in 1763 and was hanged in 1764. In 1758, British troops under Colonel Fullarton reduced the Polygar stronghold under Veerapandiya Kattabomman. In 1797, the first Polygar war broke out between the British (under Major Bannerman) and the Polygars (headed by Kattabomman). Some Polygars (such as the head of Ettaiyapuram) aided the British; Kattabomman was defeated and hanged in his home province of Panchalaguruchi. Two years later, another rebellion became known as the Second Polygar War. Panchalankuruchi fell to the British, after stiff resistance. The Carnatic region came under British rule following a treaty with the Nawab of Carnatic.

After acquiring Tirunelveli from the Nawab of Arcot in 1801, the British anglicised its name to "Tinnevelly" and made it the headquarters of Tirunelvelli District. The administrative and military headquarters was located in Palayamkottai (anglicised as "Palankottah"), from which attacks against the Polygars were launched.