Meena (27) was washed away in flash floods at around 5 PM yesterday. Seventeen tourists were rescued, forest department officials said.
Meena's body was later found stuck in between rocks about 500 metres away from the falls and was retrieved.
Over 3,500 tourists were at the falls yesterday as it was Independence Day and officials alerted them, thus averting possible major casualties, officials said.
The flash floods were a rare occurrence not seen in the last two decades and lasted about 15 minutes due to a sudden gush of water after heavy rainfall at the catchment areas of Siruvani dam, they said.
In view of the flash floods, the department decided to ban entry of tourists and would decide on reopening at the earliest, the sources said.