Built across the Vaigai river near Andipatti and opened in 1959, the dam stores water for irrigation across southern Tamil Nadu and drinking water for Madurai. Below it is a park with gardens, lawns and fountains that are lit up in the evenings, making it a popular outing for local families. When heavy rain in the Western Ghats fills the reservoir and the shutters are opened, the spillway becomes a sight in itself.

The Suruli falls in two stages through forest at the foot of the Meghamalai hills, and the pool at the bottom is a favourite bathing spot. The caves and shrines around it have long been linked with sages and hermits, and the Suruli Velappar temple draws pilgrims, especially on new-moon days in the Tamil month of Aadi. The falls are at their fullest after the monsoon rains, between about June and December.

Known to the British as the High Wavy Mountains, Meghamalai is a range of the Western Ghats in Theni district, with tea and cardamom estates spread over hills around 1,500 metres high. A road with dozens of hairpin bends climbs from Chinnamanur through forest to the estates and a chain of small reservoirs. The surrounding forests are part of a tiger reserve and shelter elephants and gaur, and the area is still far quieter than the better-known hill stations.

The tall gopuram of this temple, rising about 59 metres in eleven tiers, appears on the official emblem of the Tamil Nadu government. The temple honours Andal, the only woman among the twelve Alvar saints, who was born in Srivilliputhur and composed the Thiruppavai, hymns still sung across Tamil Nadu every December. It is one of the 108 Divya Desams.

Tenkasi means 'Kasi of the south', and the town is named after this temple, begun in 1445 by the Pandya king Parakrama Pandya, who is said to have been told in a dream to build a Kasi here for those who could not reach the Ganges. Its towering rajagopuram fell into ruin over the centuries and was rebuilt and consecrated in 1990. The halls inside hold some of the finest sculptured pillars in the region, with life-size figures carved in deep relief.

The Main Falls, Peraruvi, drop about 60 metres down a broad rock face on the Chittar river, and the pool at the bottom is packed with bathers when the south-west monsoon fills it, roughly from June to September. The water runs through herb-rich forest on the Western Ghats above, and many come believing it has healing power. Courtallam is often called the spa of South India, and the old Kuttralanathar temple stands right at the foot of the falls.

Five Falls, or Aintharuvi, lies a few kilometres up the hill from Courtallam town, where the stream splits and comes down the rock as five separate falls side by side. There are separate bathing areas for men and women, and in the monsoon season the place is busy from early morning. The road up passes forest and fruit and spice orchards, and the falls are a good counterpart to the crowds and noise at the Main Falls below.

This Shiva temple sits at the foot of Courtallam's Main Falls, and its plan is laid out in the shape of a conch. Tradition holds it was once a Vishnu shrine and that the sage Agastya turned the image into a Shiva linga. Close by is the Chitra Sabha, one of the five halls where Shiva is believed to have danced, its walls and ceilings covered with paintings in natural colours of gods, saints and temple stories.

Set on a rocky hill above the village of Panpoli, close to the Western Ghats, this temple to Murugan as Kumaraswamy is reached by a long flight of steps or a road that winds up the slope. From the top there are wide views over paddy fields, tanks and the hills around Courtallam. The temple is a popular stop for pilgrims on the way to the falls, and is at its busiest during the Murugan festivals of the Tamil calendar.