Trek to Parvathamalai

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 and down.

The path from Kadaladi village starts off like a jeep track and soon narrows down to a 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 the 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 a 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 visit 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. Because 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.