Papanasam Falls Tirunelveli Tourism place- Information and details

Papanasam

Papanasam Falls (also known as Agastiyar Falls) are located in the town of Papanasam. It is a small town, yet popular tourist destination situated in the Ambasamudram taluk of the Tirunelveli (Nellai) district of Tamilnadu. The nearest towns are Ambasamudram, Vickramasingapuram (Vikramasingapuram), Kadayam. The place is also styled as Papavinasam.

Papanasam Falls drop down from a 120 meter high place, conjoined with the rocky walls of Pothigai Hills. The river Tambaraparani (Tamirabarani), which flows from the Western Ghats of the Pothigai Hills, reaches the plains at Papanasam. You can find a shrine of Agastiyar Munivar at the foot of the falls and every year his idol is brought out as a procession to the Papavinaseshwara Swami temple to witness the marriage anniversary of Lord Shiva & Goddess Parvathi. The name "Papanasam" or "Papavinasam" means "clemency of all sins". The water of the falls is believed to have healing powers and get rid of sins of the people, who take a drench in it.

Papanasam situated in Tirunelveli District and has a famous temple called the Papanasam Temple. Papavinaseswarar, an incarnation of Lord Shiva, is the presiding deity of this temple.
Another attraction of this village is the Papanasam Dam, also known as the Thamirabarani River Dam. It is believed to have been built during the British era and is surrounded by high mountains and huge trees. The dam is about 240 m high, 5.4 m wide and 265 m long and has a total catchment area of around 147 sq km.
Monkeys of different breeds can be spotted around this dam. Boating can be done in the nearby lake.

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Agastiyar Munivar Temple:

Close to the waterfall, you can also find the temple of Agastiyar Munivar. The temple is situated above the waterfalls; attached to the rocky walls of the mountain. An idol of Saint Agastiyar Munivar is installed here. This is the place where Agastiyar Munivar had meditated, during the wedding of Lord Shiva & Goddess Parvathi, to balance the world on the south. Later, Lord Shiva appeared to him and blessed him.
Kalyanitheertham:

It is a sacred pool from where Papanasam Falls get the water. The pool is situated at an elevation of 125 feet over the head of the falls. A temple of Lord Shiva can be found near the pool

Papanasam is good tourist place

Papanasam is a small beautiful village away from the tourist trail and located at the foot hills of Western Ghats, on the banks of river Thamiraparni. The place is easily approachable from the nearest town Tirunelveli. Papanasam Temple. It is 45km from Tirunelveli from where buses ply to Papanasam. It is located in tirunelveli district of tamilnadu. It is 35km away from courtalam falls tourist place.

It is believed, once there was a Pandyan king who converted to Buddhism and ill-treated those amongst his subjects who did not convert to Buddhism as he decreed. Unable to face the harassment, a family with who were ardent devotees of Lord Shiva, left their home with their two children and went to a neighboring state.

Unfortunately the family got caught up in a war that was raging there and the children, one boy and the other a girl, got separated from each other. Many years later they arrived in Banares the holy city, where they met each other, fell in love and got married without realising that they were brother and sister. They establish out their mistake afterwards and sought ways of absolving their sin. By chance they met each other, fell in love and got married without realising that they were siblings. They were advised to wear black and to bathe in all the sacred waters in India and when their black clothes turning white sill be an indication that they were absolved of their sin. Accordingly they go from place to place in search of redemption and finally when they bathed in the river Thamiraparni at Papanasam their clothes turned white thus indicating the absolution of their sin. Hence the deity in this temple, Siva, is refered to as ‘Papavinaseswarar’ - the redeemer of sins. The river Thamiraparni passes in front of the Temple. The Papanasam water falls and Banatheertham water falls in the river up hills are very sacred, beautiful places.


There is a Siva temple in Papanasam worshipped by sage Agasthiyar. The deity here is known by the name ‘Papa Vinasar’ meaning one who removes our sins. People have a faith that their sins will be removed if they take a bath in Agasthiyar Falls and worship Lord Papavinasar. A huge mass of people gather here everyyear on the full moon day of the Tamil month Chittirai.

Papavinaseshvara Temple which is nearer to the water fall has broad flights of steps leading down to the water.

Panatheertham: The holy river Tambrabarni commences its course from "Panar theertham". It is located just opposite to the upper dam. One can reach this spot crossing the dam by boat.
Kalyanitheertham : This is a holy Pool which is located at an elevation of 125 feet from Agasthiyar falls is getting water flow from this Pool only. Near the Pool, there is a temple dedicated to Lord Siva.
Agasthiyar Falls & Temple: Legend has it that it was close to the Papanasam Falls, on the banks of the Tamiraparani river that as Siva and Parvati appeared before Agasthiya, the falls came to be known as the "Agasthiya falls". When Shiva 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) in order to balance the world.To commemorate the visit of the divine couple, The Agasthya temple was built there This is located half way to the Panatheertham which is at a distance of 4 Kms from Papanasam Siva Temple. One can reach these Agasthiyar Falls and temple by trekking a distance of 3 kms.

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Location:

Papanasam is
45 kms west of Tirunelveli,
180 Kms. south from Madurai,
100 Kms. north from Kanniyakumari and
140 Kms. northeast from Thiruvananthapuram.

How to reach

Airport: Trivandrum-international Airport (140 Kms) / Madurai-domestic Airport (180 kms.)
Railway station:Ambasamudram Railway station 5 kms.
Bus stop: Regular bus services are available to near by towns