North East Monsoon tourism: a hidden story at Thaiyur lake

A revetment wall at Thaiyur lake becomes the point of convergence after heavy rains in NE monsoonal months. What happens to the water that cascades down this wall is a narrative in itself

One might be drawn to a place for the wrong reasons, and along the way discover the right one for valuing it the way it should be. Recently, discovery of this nature happened, spread over two mornings (November 12 and 13), south of Chennai.

Thaiyur lake can draw feet from outside Thaiyur, some of those feet substantially removed from Thaiyur panchayat’s borders. The carpet outside Thaiyur is scuffed threadbare by such feet not through the year, only when the north-east monsoon lords it over these parts. A revetment wall on the lake’s eastern side is the point of convergence for those seeking a quick, purse-friendly escape from their oppressive routines. It is the outlet point for surplus water. When the lake fills up to the brim, water cascades down the revetment wall and this flow of water simulates a waterfall. During weekends in NE monsoon months, this “waterfall” draws day-trippers from a wide range of addresses in Chennai and Chengalpattu districts.

There is bathing. There is gawking. There is selfie-ing. There is selling. And there is parking.

“Do not be surprised to see ‘tourists’ flocking to this space in cars,” says Cycling Yogis’ founder Ramanujar Moulana, who sussed out this patch just after Cyclone Nivar in November 2020.

The patch morphs into a picnic spot shot through with mild commerce wheeled in exclusively for such weekends. Here is Ramanujar’s account: vendors selling their wares on pushcarts and motorised kiosks dot the patch during weekends following a cyclone or just heavy rains. “These are usually sellers of fast-food eats and desserts,” notes Ramanujar. That is just half the story, one guaranteed to spice up Insta pages. It has shock value. “What? A waterfall in Chennai?” The images of a waterfall not at Amirthi in Vellore or at Courtallam in Tenkasi, but in an extended part of Chennai city, in a piece of Chengalpattu district, most certainly make a weekend story.

The hand-me-down, already-filed report by Ramanujar would have been complemented by a recent and fresh report of cascading waters from the spot if November 12 (which promised more than it delivered in terms of raindrops) and 13 had blanketed the land in a thick wet cloth. The water was not far below the rim. Even if it had tipped over the brim, a true waterfall effect would not have been achieved. It takes sustained downpour to create the eye-catching effect Instagrammers would lap up (see the post-Nivar images shared by Ramanujar). The real story — or rather, the story that should get greater air time — lies and spreads in the vicinity of Thaiyur lake, the space overlooked by the revetment wall. It is a drainage basin that is in a fulfilling, self-contained relationship with the Thaiyur lake, no meddlesome third party driving a wedge between the two.

The villagers call it variously — maduvu, odai and so on — basically terming it a conduit for surplus water. The basin is low-lying easily accumulating water, which one saw gurgling eagerly towards it on those successive mornings. This basin is rich in biodiversity, as illustrated by chirps. Not too far from the lake and the basin, there are temples, five at least, dedicated to different deities in the Hindu pantheon. The topography places these temples on higher ground, and one can easily see that helped by gradient, the surplus water would rush to the basin.