Kailasanatha Kona being the full name is shortly known as Kona falls. It's a very good place to hangout, particular if you are residing in Chennai or Tirupathi.
Driving Directions :
The distance from Chennai(from Koyambedu) and Kone falls is just around 95 and only 10 km from Puttur but you don't have to drive till Puttur if you go via the Red Hills route. But, If you wish to go via Poonamallee-Tiruvallur-Tirutani and Nagari you have to take a right exactly on the outskirts of Puttur By-pass. Both the routes are pretty good but the one via Red Hills is a better one for the reason its a bit safer as it has wider roads at some parts atleast. Also for the fact that traffic is quite less compared to the other.
Route1 : Guindy - Porur - Poonamallee - Thiruvallur - Tiruttani - Nagari - Puttur
Route2 : Guindy - Koyambedu - Red-Hills - Periyapalayam - Uthukotai
You can also plan your trip from/to Tirupathi which is only around 40kms away.
Finding the exact location :
However finding the exact location of the Falls has been a difficult task for so many people who have been there. While coming in NH5 you have to look out for a narrow road that takes off from the highway at exactly 10kms before Puttur. So you need to watch for the milestone (on the right side of the road) that reads “Puthur 10″. This entrance comes immediately after that milestone on the left side of the road with a welcoming Arch in front. From here its a 2km drive to the foothills of the falls.
Kona Falls - An Overview:
The falls avails you a shower with its fresh and sacred water. You can bath either in the falls or start trekking up the hill where you can find a lot of small pools formed naturally by rock-cut ponds which gives you the feel of a natural swimming pool.
Activities to do:
Trekking
Swimming
Relaxing
Where to Eat:
Puttur is just less than a half-an-hour drive which is quite a big town. This is the only nearest place to the falls
where you can find some good hotels either inside the town or on the bypass road.
Adventure - Riding, Swimming and Trekking:
Our trip was very interesting. We were part of the group Metal Men - "Burn the Road".
Imagining what Metal men is all about? We are the riders of Royal Enfield's Thunderbird.
We started from Chennai on a fine Saturday morning. We were a group of around 20 people each one having a separate bike.
At around 7.30 AM we were at the outskirts of the city after all the necessary planning and Breakfast.
And now came the BIG moment.. Everyone sat on their bikes and one behind the other, we burnt the road as well a lot of fuel. For the next two hours it was completely noisy with the engines screaming as loud as they can and everyone on the road-pedestrians to Huge trailers looked at us with amusement.
It was our turn to rule the Road - We overtook every single vehicle that was before us with the sounds of our yelling engines.
By 11.00 AM, we reached our destination after having a few pitstops here and there. We had a very brief look at the falls which din't had much water though it was active. So soon after we decided to trek the hill through its forests. It was very pleasant as we elevated up and we were actually in search of the ponds which were supposed to be a wonderful pool of fresh water to swim.
After 30 mins we found ourselves before a small but natural pond made of rocks and which was 6 feet deep.
We decided to trek up the hill for some better pools as told by some local guys. Amongst those who had come that day, we were the one to trek the most. We went very deep and high into the forest in search of the origin of water. But finally gave up this search and started chatting with ourselves in a very shady place.
After a tiresome trek:
After all the trekking we came all the way down deciding to have a swim in the same pool that we saw downhill. Hoooooo! Everyone started jumping into it and we were really having a great time there swimming and chatting. Even those who din't knew swimming managed to take their chances today for the pool wasn't that deep at all.The water was fresh and chill. So that was really a natural swimming pool. I would wish one of such kind (made up of rocks) in my home instead of the artificial ones.
All together it was a wonderful ride as well the trek and swim. If you are adventurous you can trek as high as possible. Its really a good place to trek. You don't have to get anyone's permission to trek the hill. People say that there are better pools atop the hill but we missed them. So if you are adventurous enough try trekking up the hills as high as you can.
END OF AN AWESOME TRIP
