Parunthumpara is an amazing offbeat destination for sightseeing and trekking alike!! It is an enchanting little village in Idukki, Kerala. It is situated near Vagammon. 'Parunthumpara' means the eagle rock. There are two points of attraction in Parunthumpara called the Suicide Point and Tagore Head.
This place is a must see for every traveler who wishes to explore offbeat destinations in India. It is a perfect combination of green hills, milky white waterfalls and pristine forests. It is known as Parunthumpara because of the bird’s eye view that this beauty gives us. The nearest railway station is Kottayam and the nearest airport is Cochin International Airport.
Take a taxi to Parunthumpara and enjoy the scenic route as well. Don’t forget to stop enroute and click amazing pictures at the tea estates lining these roads.
It is an all year destination which is a feast to the eyes. However, the best season to visit would be the rainy season from July to September. The rest of the year you get to see clear blue skies and sprawling green mountains. But during the rainy season your experience will be surreal. We were a group of 3 girls travelling in August. We reached the highest viewing point by car and enjoyed the view and clicked pictures together. It was cool because of the height of the place and the rainy season. The view down below in the evening was just unbelievable.
Parunthumpara is a collection of high hills and deep valleys. And when we looked down the cliff, we could see fog and clouds floating around driven by the winds. We decided to go down a little further. A steep downward climb and it started to drizzle a little. Unaffected by this we found a couple of rocks to make our seat and enjoy the beauty. In just 2 minutes we were covered by fog and couldn’t see past 5 meters. Our excitement knew no bounds as this was the first time that we encountered such a thing. Freezing winds and a light drizzle encouraged us to walk down further to suicide point and Tagore head. We made it to Suicide point.
I have to say I’ve seen nothing like this in my life. The beauty, the fog, the wind, the forest; it is all an experience that will cherish in my heart forever. We could not make it further down to Tagore’s head as it is a little dangerous to tread during this season because of the slippery trails and low visibility. The climb back up is taxing and took us a more time and energy than anticipated as it is pretty steep. But it is worth the time and the experience. And you should all visit this heaven on Earth at least once in your lifetime!!!
