Darga
12–25 October 2026
Kandoori (Uroos) at the Muthupet Darga
The 725th annual Uroos of Hazrath Shaik Dawood Kamil Valiyullah — flag hoisting on the 12th, flag lowering on the 25th. The town fills for the fortnight; book early.
A lagoon and a forest that grows in salt water, a seven-hundred-year-old Dargah, and a town that fills for one fortnight in October.
The lagoon behind us is where the rivers meet the sea through a forest that grows in salt water. You go in by boat, and it is best at first light.
That is the forest’s Tamil name — alai is the wave, and this is the wood that stands in it. About 120 square kilometres of tidal forest and lagoon where the Koraiyar and Paminiyar rivers reach the Palk Strait, one of the largest mangrove stretches in India. The trees are mostly Avicennia marina, the grey mangrove, standing on pencil roots that breathe at low tide.
Between 2022 and 2025 the Forest Department and sixteen fishing villages, under the Green Tamil Nadu Mission, replanted more than 2,000 hectares here — digging fishbone-shaped canals so the tide could reach dead ground, then planting over a million propagules by hand. The birds came back first. Work continues, so a channel is occasionally closed to boats; we check the day before you go. Current forest and festival dates →
Tell us the morning you want to go and we’ll book it with the operator, so you’re not waiting at the jetty. Early is better — the birds are busy and the water is still. How boat trips work →
A hat, water, and something for the sun — there is very little shade on the lagoon. Binoculars if you have them; you will use them. Best months are November to January.
A four-minute walk from the gate, the Darga is the heart of the town — visited from across Tamil Nadu and beyond, especially during the annual Uroos. The market around it is where we buy fish in the morning.
Thanjavur and its temples are under two hours by road; Vedaranyam and the Point Calimere sanctuary about an hour. Most guests come for a weekend and wish they had stayed a night longer.
Festival dates at the Darga, what is happening in the forest, and the best months for the lagoon — kept up to date by us, so you can plan around them.
The 725th annual Uroos of Hazrath Shaik Dawood Kamil Valiyullah — flag hoisting on the 12th, flag lowering on the 25th. The town fills for the fortnight; book early.
The high point of the Kandoori: the sandal tower is carried around the Darga at midnight. Thousands come for this one night — ask us weeks ahead.
Some channels may be closed to boats while canal work is on — we check with the boat point the day before.
Flamingos, pelicans and the migrant waders arrive with the north-east monsoon. Morning boats fill up on weekends — ask us to book the night before.
Dates follow the Islamic calendar for the Darga and the season for the forest, so they move each year. Not sure? Call us before you book.
See which rooms are free and send a request — we confirm every booking personally.