PAYANIGA

Sunrise at Kodachadri, in Western Ghats of Karnataka.

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Most of my travels are limited to Karnataka and when I came to know that there is trekking plan in Tamilnadu, I jumped in. Parvathamalai, a pilgrimage near Polur in Thiruvannamalai district of Tamilnadu was our destination. Since it takes 4 to 5 hours to climb up, we left Bangalore on Saturday morning to reach Thiruvannamalai by noon. After visiting & roaming around the Shiva temple, we started towards Parvathamalai. It was past 2 in the afternoon when we started climbing.

Parvathamalai is more of a pilgrimage than a trekking spot. We saw pilgrims of all age – from as young as 3-4 years to as old as 70-75 years – climbing up & down the hill en route our trek. There is a temple of Shiva at the top, which the hill is approximately 3500 ft above sea level & is in Thiruvannamalai district of Tamilnadu. There are two routes to reach the peak – one from village Thenmathimagalam which is lengthy but easier and the other from Kadaladi village which is shorter but steep. We took the latter for both climbing up & down.

The path from Kadaladi village starts off like a jeep track and soon narrows down to path where one has to walk one behind the other. Most part of the hill is shrubs with trees scattered all around. That means you can be under a shadow only now and then. The shrubs in the initial stretch were dry & full of thorns. Three fourth of the hill is a steady climb and can be covered without much fuss. The final part is the steep climb on rocks, which is not so difficult if you are there on a bright sunny day. But that will be challenging if you have to climb that stretch after Sun has gone done in the west, with a surprise drizzles making the rocks completely slippery.

We reached the top around 7.30, after the tough final climb. Apart from the visit to the temple & packed dinner which we carried, it was just talking, talking & talking till we slept. Coming down the hill was easier, thanks to gravitational force. We took little over 2 hours to reach Kadaladi. A nice bath in cold water was refreshing before we boarded the vehicle back to Bangalore.

Few things to keep in mind, if you are planning to vist the place and/or stay overnight at the peak – there is no water available at the peak. Every drop of water – be it for drinking or any other purpose has to be carried along. It’s better to carry food, though food is provided at the temple. Reason, most of the devotees climb the hill without bringing food. Last, but most important, please don’t litter.

Photo Credits – Srik. I lost all the photos of the trip as the memory card of my camera got corrupted.

Looking back into year 2008 in terms of travel – January was a lull. And to compensate that, I managed three trips in a span of five weeks. First of the three was a two day road trip in first week of February – to Hariharapura and Sringeri in Chikkamagalur district. Two weeks passed and I was trekking from Kanoor to Nagavalli in Sharavathi valley (the last trek before the summer). Another two weeks down, it was time for a long ride. The ride of the year to West coast, covering 950 KMs in bike plus 250 KMs in car. We travelled across 10 districts, visited 15 places in four days.

April, I went on a day visit to Melkote (summer – wrong time to be in Melkote) and Kokkare Bellur. Month of May, another lazy day drive to Nanjanagudu & it was time for a dip in river Kapila. End of June, I was climbing up the hill Parvathamalai near Thiruvannamalai in Tamilnadu.

It was another lull barring 2 short escapades before the Blogger’s trip to Binsar in October. Between July & October, I just managed to visit Kaidala & Mandharagiri (Basadi betta or Basthi betta) both near Tumkur and Kaigal falls in Andhra Pradesh. October, and time to head North. I was in Binsar, Uttarakhand along with fellow travel bloggers for 4 days lazing around the Kumaon mountains. End of October, it was time for long drive with family. We visited few places in and around Shivamogga including Jog falls. Details to follow soon.

In first week of December, I went on a day ride visiting Chamundi hills in Mysore, Nanjanagudu, T Narasipura and Somanathapura. It was some what happy note to end the year. I trekked up Kodachadri peak in Western ghats, the highest peak in Shivamogga district.

Year 2009 has started on a wrong foot quite similar to last year. All work and no travel. Couple of travel plans got cancelled due to unavoidable circumstances. Searching for a silver-lining & hope to travel soon.

“Do you want to go on a boat ride? I’ll take you to Sangama, Agasthyeshwara temple and bring you back.”

I heard a voice right behind me when I was parking the two wheeler near Gunja Narasimha Swamy temple in T Narasipura (Tirumakudalu Narasipura). I couldn’t see any boats except for few coracle look-a-likes but made of iron (called as ‘kupparike’ in Kannada).

“You mean on those?”, I asked Bhaira, owner of the voice to which I got an affirmative gesture. After enjoying a coracle ride in Nanjanagud few months ago, now it was time for more fun on those floating metals. Those floating objects (‘kupparike’) are mainly used for extracting sand from the river bed. During their non-working hours of sand extraction, they ferry people to the other side of the river. And those boats are 10 to 12 ft in diamter and 1.5 ft deep.

Tirumakudalu refers to the confluence of three rivers – Kaveri, Kapila (a.k.a Kabini) and Sphatika (a mythical spring or lake) – similar to the mythical river Saraswati which joins rivers Ganga and Yamuna in the North. And the place Narasipura got the name because of the famous Gunja Narasimha Swamy temple.

As we drifted along, our conversation continued. Bhaira became our guide along with the job of boatman. Agasthyeshwara temple which is sandwiched between rivers Kaveri (southern bank) and Kapila (northen bank). Legend says that the temple was built by Sage Agasthya, hence the name. And Bhiksheswara temple which is on the northen bank of river Kaveri is said that the temple has links to the Neolithic phase (stone age).

When you stand near the sangama (confluence) of the three rivers and you get to see temples in all directions – Agasthyeshwara temple, Bhiksheswara temple, Moolasthaneshwara temple, Anandeswara temple to name few prominant ones along with the abode of Gunja Narasimha Swamy.

It was around 2PM when I reached the place and unfortunately all the temples were closed. May be thats a sign to visit the place again leisurely. :)

Places in & around Mysore:

• Somanathapura
• Nanjanagudu
• Gopalaswamy betta
• Ranganatittu
• Mysore Palace