Catherine Falls view from Dolphin's Nose

Catherine Falls is a double-cascaded

waterfall A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in severa ...

located in

Kotagiri Kotagiri or Kothagiri is a taluk and a Panchayat town in The Nilgiris District in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the third largest hill station in the Nilgiri hills. Kotagiri is located at . It has an average elevation of . Demographi ...

The Nilgiris District The Nilgiris district () is one of the 38 districts in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Nilgiri ( en, Blue Mountains) is the name given to a range of mountains spread across the borders among the states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Ke ...

, in the

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n state of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

. It is a major tourist spot, located on the Mettupalayam road branching off at

Aravenu Aravenu is a village in Kotagiri Taluk of The Nilgiris District, Tamil Nadu, India. The population is largely Badaga and it is thought to be an original Badaga Hatti. It is the headquarters of the Jackanarai panchayat. It is located from ...

. The upper fall drops to the floor, and is the second-highest in the

Nilgiri Mountains The Nilgiri Mountains form part of the Western Ghats in northwestern Tamil Nadu, Southern Karnataka, and eastern Kerala in India. They are located at the trijunction of three states and connect the Western Ghats with the Eastern Ghats. At le ...

. The waters from the upper stream of the Kallar River are crossed by the Mettupalayam-Ooty road beyond the mountains in the southwest. The combined height of both falls is about . It has been generally claimed that Catherine Falls is named after the wife of

M.D. Cockburn Montague Dundas Cockburn ( ; 31 January 1789 – 28 September 1869) was a Scottish coffee planter, and district collector of Salem, in Tamil Nadu, India, between 1820 and 1829. Cockburn is known as the "Father of Yercaud" for developing the re ...

, who is said to have introduced

coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. Seeds of ...

plantations to Kotagiri, however the name St. Catherine's Falls was in use even in 1852 while Catherine Jane Cockburn née Lascelles died in 1879. The native name of Catherine Falls is Geddhehaada Halla, meaning "Foothills Dale River". The entire waterfall can clearly be seen from the top of Dolphin's Nose. It is also possible to take a road to the top of the falls.

References

Waterfalls of Tamil Nadu Tourist attractions in Nilgiris district {{Waterfall-stub

See also

References