BharatSangraha

Pandya Nadu · Eastern Coastal Plains

Terrain and eco-zones

Semi-arid to sub-humid, sitting in the rain shadow of the Western Ghats and taking most of its 800–900 mm from the northeast monsoon between October and December. Summers are hard and dry — 38–42 °C through May on the plain — while Kodaikanal, two thousand metres up and forty kilometres away, rarely exceeds 22 °C and takes more than twice the rainfall. That gradient is the region's single most useful fact.

Landforms

The Vaigai basin — a broad, gently sloping interior plain of red loamKarisal — self-mulching black cotton soil across the Virudhunagar dryland, which cracks open in summerIsolated inselbergs around Madurai — Yanaimalai, Nagamalai, Pasumalai, Samanar Hills, Thiruparankundram rockThe Palani hills and the Kodaikanal plateau, with shola forest in the folds and grassland on the topsSirumalai, a low detached massif carrying its own banana and coffee microclimateThe Kambam (Cumbum) valley, a trough between the Ghats and the Varushanad range

Rivers and waters

Vaigai — the region's river, seasonal, ending inland in tanks rather than in a deltaSuruliyar and Mullaiyar, the Ghat-fed headwatersPeriyar, whose water is diverted east through the Ghats into the Vaigai catchmentGundar, Vaippar and Arjuna, the southern dryland streamsSeveral thousand eris and kanmois, which are the region's real hydrology

Through the year

SeasonMonthsTypicalWhat it is like
SummerMarch–June28–42 °CThe plain empties into the shade and the hills fill up. Chithirai falls in this window, which is why the biggest festival of the year is also the hottest week of it.
Southwest monsoonJune–September26–36 °CLittle rain on the plain, which is in the shadow, but strong dry wind through the Ghat gaps — the reason for the wind farms around Aruppukottai and Theni. The hills and the Cumbum valley get their rain now.
Northeast monsoonOctober–December23–32 °CThe real rainy season. The tanks fill or they do not, and the year is decided accordingly.
Cool seasonJanuary–February20–31 °CPongal, jallikattu at Alanganallur, and the best travelling weather. Jasmine prices are at their annual peak because supply is at its low.

Best time to visitJanuary to March for the plain and the temples. Kodaikanal is pleasant year-round but crowded from April to June. Chithirai in April or May is spectacular and genuinely uncomfortable — plan for heat and for crowds measured in lakhs.

The climate, landforms, rivers and seasons of Pandya Nadu, and the best time of year to visit. (4)