PAYANIGA

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.

Just back from Sharavathi valley after a two day adventerous exploratory trek, from Kanoor to Nagavalli. Though Kanoor – Doctor mane (Doctor’s house) – Kanoor Kote (Kanoor Fort) is a known explored trek path, we kept Kanoor as starting point and end point Nagavalli via Doctor’s house & decided to explore a new route with the help of Ganapati of Sharavathi Adventure Trails.

If you ask me which was the best moment of the trek, it’s very difficult to pick one from the below list –

• Traveling in a luggage carrier for 10+ KMs after a bus journey of 10 hours
• Getting scratched by thorns as we trek. And you look ahead to find no path, all you can see is thorny bushes
• You reach stream after 4 hours of trek or rather say exploration, and jump into it immedeatly
• Lunch is ready & served, you are hungry, but you can’t eat because it’s steaming hot :)
• Everyone volunteers to help for preparing dinner. Menu: Chapathis, Rice, Sambar & Moong dal Kheer (hesaru bELe paayasa)
• No lights around and you have moonlight dinner
• After a sumptuous dinner, you go on a night trek for a KM
• And to top it all, journey of 40KMs sitting/lying down on the bus top
• You duck/bend every time when someone shouts to avoid tree branches & electric wires

Virupapura hillock & the stone mantapa
Virupapura, one of the few places that I have visited countless number of times, is a tiny village which has a story linked to Ramayana. Situated around 75 KMs from Bangalore and a stone’s throw way from my native, the place gets the name from Rama. Previously known as Virupakshapura and along with the time, name got changed to Virupapura.

Shivagange as seen from the hill-top
Main reason for me to visit this place repeatedly is the small hillock to the north east of the village & the panoramic view it offers from the top. My usual routine used to be – climb up the hill which doesn’t take more than 15-20 minutes, reach the lone stone mantapa, sit & ponder for hours.

Temple of Lord Siddarameshwara
Link to Ramayana – As per the local stories, when Ravana kidnapped Sita, Rama & Lakshamana in search of her reached this place. And Rama built a temple of Lord Shiva (called as Siddarameshwara temple by villagers) here on the hillock. And there are plenty Custard Apple trees (Sitaphala or Sita’s fruit).

Present sorry state of the hillock
I visited the place after a long gap of 8-9 years. And I could see lot of changes. One main change that bothered me was stone-quarrying. Almost 25-30% of the hillock is missing when compared to old days. Take another 3-4 years, that good old small hillock which inspired me into treks and hikes will disappear forever. It’s hard to digest but that’s the sad truth.

How to reach there –

B’lore – Nelamangala – NH48 – Marur handpost – turn left – Kudur – Sugganahalli – turn left – Virupapura

Or B’lore – Nelamangala – NH48 – Tippasandra handpost – Sankigatta – Mayasandra (my native village :) – Virupapura.

Distnace approx 75 to 80 KMs

Update: Republished as photos were missing :)
Update 2: added route details

Previous: Kumara Parvatha

We woke up to witness a beautiful & peaceful morning. Rain God was in a good mood & we were spared from getting drenched. We repacked our backpacks, thanked our hosts & started back towards Beedalli. We were bit late to reach the place & we missed the bus again. Luckily a jeep was available and owner of the jeep agreed to take us to Mallalli falls & then drop us at Somavarpet.

To reach Mallalli falls, one has to take a deviation at Hanchinalli. Hanchinalli comes 2 KMs before Beedalli when travelling from Somavarpet towards Beedalli. From Hanchinalli it’s a bumpy jeep track for 2 to 3 KMs. And then a walk for almost a kilometer. It was completely misty even at 11 in the morning. End of wonderful walk brought us to the view point which gives us a majestic view of the falls. Though we had lots of time, we decided not to go down to the foot of the falls as it was very slippery on the rocks.

We spent a quality time over there enjoying the roaring waterfalls. And then headed back home. A jeep journey till Somavarpet, a quick lunch & then back to Bangalore by bus. End of another wonderful weekend & still Kumara Parvatha peak unconquered.

Waterfalls of Karnataka:

• Dabbe falls
• Somavathi falls
• Soochippara falls
• Jog