Tirunelveli is a city in the far south of Tamil Nadu, about 160 km from the southern tip of India at Kanyakumari. It sits on the Thamirabarani River, one of the few perennial rivers in Tamil Nadu, which keeps the surrounding district unusually green for this dry corner of the state.
The city is most famous outside Tamil Nadu for a single product: its wheat halwa. Tirunelveli halwa is a dense, ghee-saturated sweet made from wheat starch that has been refined and perfected here over generations. Pilgrims and travellers passing through have spread its reputation across south India, and locals are quietly insistent that what you find elsewhere is an imitation.
Beyond the halwa, Tirunelveli is a busy commercial town. The Nellaiappar Temple complex in the centre is worth visiting — a large and active Shiva temple with a tank and an impressive collection of mandapams. Across the river in Palayamkottai, the 19th-century cantonment town that grew up around a British fort, you'll find the substantial Holy Trinity Cathedral and St Xavier's College. The town is also a base for trips to Courtallam, a waterfall resort 60 km north that draws crowds during the monsoon months when the falls are in full flow.
The surrounding district has a significant Nadar community, historically dominant in the palmyra palm trade, and the area around Tirunelveli is dotted with palmyra-fringed roads and fields of rice and banana.