Pamba River

Pamba River is the sacred staging point for the Sabarimala pilgrimage — the last road-accessible base camp, 5 km below the Ayyappa temple, where millions of devotees take a ritualpurification bath before the forest trek. Known as the "Ganga of the South," the Pamba is one of Kerala's most revered rivers and flows through the Periyar Wildlife Reserve. The riverside at Pamba during pilgrimage season — a sea of black-clad devotees — is one of India's most extraordinary sights.