Mannavanur Lake, Kodaikanal

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Top things to do at Kodaikanal
Poombarai- the Garlic village in Kodaikanal
Mannavanur Lake, Kodaikanal

Mannavanur, another sleepy hamlet to get in the list of “Offbeat places in Kodaikanal” is unbelievably a fairy tale place. The small village has a Sheep farming center, a serene lake and wide and wide expanse of grassy land and slopes to let yourself run and run.

Kodaikanal is an awfully touristy hill-town, which most of the popular hill towns are, be in north or south. Container loads of tourists pour in, fit in taxis and crowd the view points to let anyone have any view. We are a nation who visit places just like a mall. We wear crisp fine clothes, sit in the car, get down at the point, stroll like a snail and then eat like an elephant. In between we do look for a while at the views!

Read my Satire on Kodaikanal and its touristy character here.

But not everything is lost. Thanks to this habit of majority of people, many places which do not fit in this routine are left for the itchy feet to explore. Short hikes around Kodaikanal and small villages like Poomabarai and Mannavanur around Kodaikanal are those kind of places.

Read my blog on Poomabarai- the garlic village, here.

So one fine morning, we reached Mannavanur village. Plan was to be in Mannavanur for first half and spend the second half of the day in Poombarai village.

The way to Mannavanur passes through Pine and Eucalyptus forests. En route, you can get out for some wider view photography of Poomabarai village.

Once you reach Mannavanur, the village and the area housing the Mannavanur lake is separate. We did not explore village much. You have to buy tickets for yourself and camera, which was not much.

Once inside you walk for some half a kilometer and then the fun begins. A small group of sheep, some small creek, a few wooden bridges to cross and everywhere the grassy meadows, rolling hills and some large trees. I felt like pinching myself to believe that I was in Tamilnadu and not some Himalayan or Alps country.

Boys ran here and there and everywhere, rolled down the meadows and jumped over the streams. And to add to it, there was not a single traveling soul besides us.

As we took voluntary tours and detours, suddenly we found ourselves looking at a pristine lake in the valley-esque setting, with water swaying gently with breeze.

We began to descend to reach the shores and we reached to a wooden plank to sit at the lake.

There were round coracle boats and kayaks at the farther end of the lake. If you want to do boating, you have to buy another ticket. I would say, just walk aimlessly in this fairy expanse and sit along the lake or under the shade of some tree.

The lake when full is approx. 40ft deep and during summers it is 15 to 20ft deep. There was a full time rescue diver on shore of the lake.

How to reach Mannavanur Lake from Kodaikanal

Mannavanur is some 35 Km from Kodaikanal town. The village is well connected with roads as major towns fall nearby this place. You can find government buses as well or can hire a cab to this place from Kodaikanal town.