AGASTHIYAR FALLS

These images are from Agasthiyar Falls in the Western Ghat Mountains of South India. A temple dedicated to the sage Agasthiyar clings to the rocky mountain above the Falls. Legend has it that when Siva married Parvati, he was worried that the influx of people from the South attending the wedding in the North would cause the North to sink, so he dispatched Agasthiyar to the South (to this waterfall, naturally) to balance the world. The waters that supply the Falls flow through forests filled with medicinal herbs, past Agasthiyar’s pure abode, and feed the verdant fields further below, contributing to the belief that the waters at Agasthiyar Falls have healing powers. Of course there's also a strong recreational component to the Falls’ popularity: it's fun (and cooling) to be pummeled by the force of the water’s 100 meter fall. -- [Click on Thumbnail for larger image - Move through images using the arrow navigation...]