CHENNAI: With the water flow in the Cauvery river dropping sharply, the tourists flocking to the Hogenakkal falls are now seeing a seldom seen Telugu film relic: the ‘Jaganmohini cave’.
The inflow from the Cauvery has dropped to less than a fraction of what it was in the same period last year. While this has a direct bearing on tourism in Hogenakkal falls in Dharmapuri, which is frequented by thousands of tourists from several parts of Tamil Nadu and neighbouring states, including Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Kerala, the visitors are now able to see the ‘cave’, said a Daily Thanthi report.
The cave was not a natural formation, but one that was carved into the rock for the shooting of the 1978 film ‘Jaganmohini’, a horror-mythology in Telugu language. After the film because a box-office success, the cave also became popular, and began to be called Jaganmohini cave by the locals and tourists who visit from other places.
However, when there is adequate water in the river, the cave gets submerged. It is only visible when the flow drops drastically. Now, with Karnataka stopped release of water from its storage dams, the flow has gone down to a meagre 300 cubic feet per second.
Making use of the opportunity, taxi drivers and tourist guides are taking visitors to the cave.