This beautiful, quiet waterfall is 25 km from Darampuri and 80 km from Bangalore towards Salem. Here the Cauvery viver enters the plains and the river dashing against the rocks is a great sight. Hogenakkal is a riverine spa where, according to its devotees, good health can be had for the asking.

The sound of the Cauvery, roaring between rocky banks, is a constant presence in most places in Hogenakkal. The river, here flows through a wooded valley, splitting and merging and splitting again around rocks, and little islands with towering trees, and boulder-strewn outcrops which are covered only when the river is in spate with the rains of the monsoon.

People cross the current-rippled waters in circular coracles: basket boats covered in buffalo hide or plastic. These boats are not nearly as flimsy as they look and their design has remained unchanged for thousands of years, though the plastic covering is a recent development.

A causeway joins some of the islands, serving the malishkarans, the masseurs, and their patients. Armed with oils, powder and a knowledge of the fourteen massage points in the human body, they seat their clients on slabs of rock and get to work. After which their customers must be sluiced down in the bathing cubicles, standing under cascades of flowing Cauvery water.

A coracle ride through the turbulent waters of the river to the base of roaring falls is the highlight of any Hogenakkal trip.The water under your frail craft explodes with power, tossing you from side to side, threatening to swamp and capsize you. And all the while those beautiful falls hurl torrents of fury, bellowing, spraying you with their anger, overwhelming your senses, drowning all through. It is a spectacular, nerve-tingling experience which one can hardly forget.

The spot is particularly impressive in July-August. A huge weekly fair is held in the nearby village of Pennagaram.