There are many fabulous places around metro city Bangaluru to explore. Some natural blast while some are historic monuments. Hogenakkal Falls is one of the places full of nature at the River Kaveri to refresh you. It can just be a one day trip from Bangaluru as it is just 180 kilometres away from the city. The Hogenakkal Falls are situated the Dharampuri district of Tamil Nadu state. Let me tell you what Hagenakkal means as it is quite uncommon word. It literally means Smoking rocks because it is made of two words from Kannada language and these are Hoge and Kal. Hoge means smoke and kal means rock. As the fall drops from the rock it generated fog made of tiny water drops and thus it has got its name smoking rock i.e. Hogenakkal Falls but Tamil people call it Marikottayam. There is not a single fall but there are several small falls that make this place spectacular in true sense. The longest drop is 20 meters. You can sight local kids and young diving and enjoying here. The Hogenakkal Falls can be considered smaller version of Niagara Falls of USA. It won’t be too much if you call it the Niagara of India.This place is a major tourist attraction famed especially for the medicinal baths under the falls. This place has another speciality and that is in its rock. The Carbonatite rocks present here are said to be the oldest in entire South Asia while one of the oldest in the world. If things materialise the proposed drinking water plant can be established here in future. The Kaveri River before creating this beautiful water fall passes through the dense forest from where it brings medicinal elements in its water from the plants grown in the forest. That is why bathing in the river before or after the fall you get the benefits of the medicinal water. There are many masseurs can be sighted here. They offer full body massage in Rs. 50 with some medicinal hot oil for five minutes. After the massage taking bath in the fall water is said to be very refreshing and therapeutic. Many tourists try these massage and baths here.Another attraction here is the hide boat ride offered here. It is called Theppa Ride or Coracle Boat ride. These are round shaped shallow boats and it is really exciting riding in these small boats. You can try your hands on the boat too. They will take you to take a round of River Kaveri by boats. These boats are built by using bamboos and for bottoms waterproof hides are used. These boats are moved with only one paddle. In rainy season boating is not allowed as the flow and quantity of water can be dangerous. Parisal and harigolu are the other names of these types of boats in Tamil and Kannada language respectively. There are many snack stalls can be found here serving fishes, rice cakes (paniyaram), some Indian sweets called poli, etc.There are not much option of accommodation here. The Tamilnadu hotel of Tamil Nadu Government can be considered good if you want to stay here otherwise Dharampuri has better accommodation facilities but it is 46 kilometres away from here. Winter season is the best time to visit this place. From September to February is the recommended period to come here. you can take the route from Bangaluru to Krishnagiri via Chennai National Haighway to Dharampuri. From Dharampuri it is just 46 kilometres drive to Hogenakkal Falls. So get ready to enjoy the natural but tradition spa at Hageakkal Falls.Summer temperature – 230c– 340 cWinter temperature – 130c – 270cRuchi Mahajan