April in Courtallam is the heat-dry peak. Daytime 33-37C, nights 27-28C, humidity 70 percent, rainfall under 20mm. The catchment is at year-driest. Main Falls reduces to a trickle that barely covers the bathing platform; Five Falls splits into uncountable thin threads; the 7 remaining smaller falls (Tiger, Shenbaga, Old, Honey, Fruit, Orchard, Pazhaya) are dry or running at unsustainable rates. The 9-falls-experience that gives Courtallam its tourism reason does not exist in April. Oil-massage practitioners (the 2,000-year-old Mallipuruan-and-Siddha tradition) still take walk-ins at ₹500-1,500 per session — these become the only remaining draw of the town this month, and the practitioners depend on the dry-season passing trade. Dam-release alerts from the upstream Manjolai-Manimuthar storage bring occasional 6-12 hour artificial flow events; these are not the herb-infused current the town markets but tourists sometimes time visits to a known release window. Hotel rates at year-low: Hotel Vetri Mahal ₹1,000-1,800, Sundara Mahal ₹1,200-2,000, homestays ₹500-800. Skip — the brief flags Mar-May as the avoid window.

Why April scores 2.0/10