Climate is cool. It has good trekking trails. Government accommodation available. The town is on the Ashtamudi lake. The picturesque promontories, the beaches at Thirumullavaram and Kochupilamoodu and the Thangassery lighthouse are the attractions.
Boat rides and backwater cruises are available.
The temple has no idol or deity. Half an hour's drive from Kollam to the north takes one to Vallikkavu or Amritapuri, the birth place and ashram headquarters of the world famous Indian godwoman, Mata Amritananda Mayi. The shrine at the Subramanya temple at Umayanallur is said to have been consecrated by the greatest of Indian saint-philosophers, Adi Sankaracharya.