Interesting Facts!

  • Pichavaram is the world's second-largest Mangrove Forest.
  • Pichavaram Mangrove Forest covers about 1100 hectares of area.
  • In the Pichavarm Mangrove Forest, there are more than 3000 water passages, but the boats can pass only through 400 passages.

About Pichavarm Mangrove Forest



        Pichavaram is a village which is located approx 15km from Chidambaram which comes under the district of Cuddalore in Tamil Nadu. It is separated from the Bay of Bengal by a sand bar. There are nearly 40 islands and more than 80 species in the Pichavarm mangrove forest. The fact is the mangrove forest trees are 60mtr in height but few feet of the trees will be into the water, which helps to maintain the temperature and quality of it for the inhabitants.

How can you reach Pichavaram Mangrove Forest?

        If you are traveling by train, then the nearest railway station is Chidambaram, from Chidambaram railway station it takes around 30 mins to reach (i.e.,) approximately 13 km by road.

       If you are traveling by air, then the nearest airport is Chennai and Tiruchirappalli. From Chennai airport to pichavaram it takes around 4 and half hours to reach (i.e.,) approximately 220 km by road.

   From Tiruchirappalli airport to pichavaram it takes around 3 and half hours to reach (i.e.,) approximately 185 km by road.

Season to visit

        The best season to visit the pichavaram mangrove forest is from November to February. The place will be a little hot for most of the months, but from November to February the climate will be a little cool and the best time to visit is by afternoon.

        During these particular months from November to February, you can see a lot of birds and the forest will be more greenish and a little denser, which will be beautiful to see.

My trip experience at Pichavaram Mangrove Forest

        


        I always wish to visit new exciting places, in that way I and my family went on a trip to Chidambaram by road to explore and enjoy the Mangrove Forest which is located in Pichavaram. I reached Pichavaram afternoon around 3pm, I went to the booking counter to enquire about the boat,  I find there were 2 types of boat one is a motorboat and the other is a rowboat. I opted for a rowboat because people there said that if I choose a rowboat then I can explore many passages and so I planned and booked a rowboat for one hour, Since we are total of 6 members we paid Rs 500 for an hour and then paid Rs 10 for the forest department as an entry fee. Each Passenger will be given a Lifejacket and it is mandatory that everyone should wear it. 




        It was a bit sunny day and still had a nice breeze. The rower who came with us was really nice and I just entered the real beauty of nature. The rower gave us more information about the forest, he said there are many species of plants and these plants will grow only in saltwater. As we moved further we were able to see many small passages, but it was not that deep enough to row these boats. The backwaters are not that deeper but u cant walk that easily because of its swampiness.
        
         


         Actually, we are allowed to pass through some of the passages only due to safety reasons. One peculiar thing I noticed is all leaves in these trees had salt deposits. The rower said, During Tusanami these forests saved their village from the huge waves. 


          By the way, the man who rowed a boat said some information like some movies have also been taken in this Mangrove Forest MGR's Idhayakani, Sarathkumar's Suriyan, Vishal's Thuparivalan, Kamal Hassan's Dasavathaaram, and many of the movies have also taken. Finally, it was an awesome ride and we left around 5pm from the Pichavaram. 
               

         I hope this blog will be interesting and my experience which I shared will also be helpful to travel to "The Mangrove Forest" in Pichavarm.