Beautiful Picnic Location in Kerala – Malampuzha near Palakkad

The Malampuzha dam is in the central portion of Kerala and near to Coimbatore of Tamilnadu and not far away from Karnataka. It is a nicely located town of Palakkad earlier known as Palghat of traditional Kerala culture and is near to the cultural centre of Kerala, Thrissur. Palakkad is the gateway for the people travelling from the Northern side of India to Kerala. Nearby major towns are Coimbatore and Thrissur.

Mala means mountain and puzha means the river in Malayalam. The river has got the name Malampuzha and thus the name was given for the dam as Malampuzha dam, which is maintained by the irrigation department of the Kerala state government. Malampuzha dam has pleasant weather during October – November every year. From June to October, there will be heavy rains. From April to June, there will be high heat and heavy sweating.

Rain is enjoyable in Kerala. Only thing is that you must be ready to face some wind, a bit of drenching, even though you carry an umbrella or raincoat.

It is a very nice attractive picnic spot which has a lot of revenue because of the tourist s. Public holidays and Sundays are recorded. The garden open for public at 9:00 a.m. and closes at 8:00 p.m. to enter into the garden adults have to pay fees of rupees 40 and the school children have to pay only rupees 10.

There is a road to go over the dam and bye going up we can observe a very nice panoramic view of the entire area. On one side, there is a huge water body with a very nice backdrop of the Western Ghats Mountains. This will kindle the artist anybody's mind. Bluewater body and lighter blue mountains and sky blue of the horizon also make the location unique and beautiful.
On the front side dam, there is a garden. This garden is so beautiful that anybody sitting there can enjoy and forget everything of everyday chores. There is a toy train, hedges and a rose garden, there are tiny waterways and there are attractive fountains.
The Malampuzha garden has rock garden landscaping with sculptures which are of only of its kind in South India. Well, known architects have prepared the landscape and conceptualized the rock garden. There is a kids train which runs around. For a ride by this train, there is a separate ticket. There are different selfie camera photo-taking places and photo points in the garden, with a touch of modular art.

Attractions in the Dam and Garden

There is lush green, all around. The garden has greenery and the lawns are well maintained. There is a rock-cut garden, which is unique being only of this kind in South India. Mr Nek Chand, famous architect has conceptualised and built the garden.

Yakshi

A large sculpture of Yakshi – lady statue is the attraction here, which is the contribution of the sculptor known by this – Mr Kanayi Kunhiraman, who has also designed many sculptures in Kerala.

Udan Khatola

The best attraction here is the rope car. These rope cars run parallel to the dam for about two kilometres at a height of about 60 feet from the ground give an aerial look into the entire area. This gives a real flight experience about the beautiful landscape. On one side we can enjoy seeing the water body of the dam and on the other side we have the village. Down below there is a beautiful park. Everything together makes it a beautiful having for the picnicking tourists.

For the tiny kids, there are a lot of play items in the garden. These are the slides, rope swings, see-saw, rod-climbers, which are enjoying a lot. In fact, there are two portions of the garden. One side is paid entertainment and the other is the free area.

Timings

9 AM to 8 PM every day including holidays.

Water pool exclusively for women between 2 PM to 3 PM every day.

Facilities

With regard to the food, there are average small coffee shops available here and there but for good food, we have to reach Palakkad Town. If you planned well, in the beginning, you can carry some snacks and good food from Palakkad Town on the way and have you there in the garden lawn. There are some seating arrangements as well in the garden.

The garden is eliminated from 7 p.m. sexy will be a very nice beautiful look buy the illuminated lights and the water fountains with colourful lightings and it is worth enjoying the beauty in the cool evening.

In the garden, we can carrier camera phones on mobile phones. But for photography and videography, we have to pay additional fees.

The other public amenities are available, such as luggage cloakroom, toilet, wheel-chair, etc. for the use of tourists.

How to reach

Malampuzha dam is located 9 kilometres away from Palakkad Town. The nearest railway station is a Palakkad junction. The nearest city is Coimbatore which is around 25 kilometres in Tamilnadu.
Other attractions in Palakkad district

The Palakkad district has many tourist places. Important among them are the famous pilgrimage centres of the Hindus. The Kalpathy Vishwanatha Swamy Temple, Vadakkanthara Bhagavathi Temple, Jain Temple, Kumarapuram Prasanna Venkatachalapathy Temple, Emoor Bhagavathi Temple are the important ones.
The Silent Valley National Park is the biodiversity hotspot located in the district. It is a protected area of the forest; there are endangered and endemic animals and plants located inside the protected area. Tourists are not allowed to enter freely. If you have to enter into the buffer zone of the National Park, you need to obtain advance permission by writing to the Conservator of Forests, Palakkad Range. Lion-tailed Macaque is the monkey in this forest, which is an endangered animal.
The three other ecotourism places are Nelliampathy, Attappady and Parambikkulam wildlife sanctuary.
To sum up, Malampuzha dam and garden is a holistic enjoyable location to spend some time as a trip for a picnic, walk around enjoy. If you are travelling by Palakkad you should never miss this location for cooling down your batteries.