Kerala’s Second Largest Irrigation Project – Thenmala Dam
Thenmala in Malayalam means ‘honey hills’. It is so named because of the good-quality honey available here. The dam located at Parappur is Kerala’s second largest irrigation project. It was constructed under the Kallada Irrigation and Tree Crop development project in the early 60s. it also has the longest reservoir in the state.
Surrounded by the Shendurny Wildlife Sanctuary, Thenmala has been declared an eco-tourism spot by the government. Standing over the Kallada River, the dam is more than 80m tall. There are facilities for boating and trekking here.
Besides the dam, Thenmala has an eco-tourism project that has the highest walkway in the state, facilities inside the project for trekking, biking and river crossing. Thenmala is only about an hour’s ride from Kollam and about an hour and a half from Kerala’s capital, Trivandrum. There are buses from both the cities. The nearest railhead is in Kollam.
