Panchalimedu

Panchalimedu is a viewpoint near Kuttikkanam in Peerumedu taluk, Idukki, about 940 m above sea level and reached from Murinjapuzha or Amalagiri on the Kottayam–Kumily road. Deep valleys, meadows and grassland surround it, and the Koruthodu valley near Mundakkayam, with its rubber estates, can be seen from the top. Visitors come in summer to trek, and in the monsoon mist and thick fog settle over the hills. On 14 January Ayyappa devotees camp here to watch the Makaravilakku flame appear on Ponnambalamedu.

Local legend says the Pandavas and Panchali stayed here during their exile, which gave the hill its name. One of its two hills carries a temple to Bhuvaneswari Devi, approached by a walkway and run by the Travancore Devaswom Board, with Shiva lingas, tridents and Naga idols nearby; the other has a Christian shrine. Close by are Panchalikulam, a small round pond where the Pandavas are said to have bathed, and Pandavaguha, a cave with marks believed to be Bhima's footprints.