Yelagiri Hills

They call it 'The old man's Ooty'. It gains this reputation from the low-cost of living that it still preserves. Commercialisation has still not dawned upon this location. Urbanisation has somehow managed to refrain from making a mess. Pristine, peaceful and beautiful, Yelagiri hills offer a simply fantastic weekend getaway. Housed just at a distance of 100 miles from Bangalore, and 150 miles from Chennai, the encompassing green hills and the dense vegetation on them, extend a lavishly created performance. The salubrious green with a typical hamlet silence is thoroughly scintillating. There are quite a few resorts in the Yelagiri hills and some of them are of the best quality. Athvanur is the last place that offers prime cottages. After this, there is sheer jungle, rocks and just that!

Swamimalai

A three-kilometre walk along the ghat road to a very sparsely populated village 'mangalam' and then a four-kilometre journey up the densely vegetated hills leads one to the Swamimalai peak. At a height of over 1500 metres from MSL, Swamimalai lends an excellent trekking experience to amateurs. Extremely constricted rocky mud ways lead stealthily through the jungle up to the extremum. A rectangular view point built on top of the hill gives a vantage point to the visitors. A gentle drizzle would be sweeter. The Jungle, however, appears bereft of any wild species with the sole exception of snakes and a few bears. Some villagers testify to have seen small herds of spotted deer. The jumbos that once ruled the forests do not exist today, thanks to immense poaching and granite rock-blast activities.

Jagadamparai falls

Slim, nimble and beautiful, she flows silently between the hills. Like a kid lost in his own world of activities, like a woman with dawned beauty, like an angel in the silence, like the sole ray of hope to a sailor at sea, she spends her time flowing down the hills making the typical sloshing sound of the magnificent liquid on the planet. Be it the time of the brilliant sun or be it the opportunity for the amazing moon to show his resplendence, Jagadamparai is intensely involved in her work of washing away rocks. The Jagadamparai valley is worth a journey. A ten-kilometre down-trek from the Yelagiri hills to the hamlets at its base is a path very treacherous. As one came down the hills, the path gets steeper. At certain vantage view points, the dramatic sight of all the surrounding hills converging down to the bottom is fearsome. There are some plane areas where Jagadamparai flows with a lesser intensity. One could walk through her to the other side during the journey. A deafening silence flushes out the valley except for this woman, who spends all her time in the valley, alone. A 25 foot-tall 'Shiva Lingam' stands at the base of the hills. The five-headed snake, adiseshan, stands right up from the ground, providing shade to the black lingam. The temple is on the banks of the Jagadamparai. In the planes she irrigates the surrounding paddy and maize fields.

Bhiman falls

The Bhiman falls is a simple leisure site at a distance of 50 odd kilometres from Yelagiri. Located amidst the 'Javadi Malai', the Bhiman falls has quite some history to care about. It is believed that Bhima, one of the sons of 'King Pandu' bent down at this place often to worship the Sun God 'surya', during his time in the forests. The government of Tamiznad has made significant efforts to promote tourism in the Javadi Hills along with the Yelagiri chain. Cemented pathways on both sides of the falls offer a spectacular view. Neatly watered and regularly attended gardens add to the bounty. Here and there, there are a few tree-top bamboo houses that offer a photographic view of the scene.

In a nut shell, Yelagiri provides a striking series of inviting treks and chilly falls in strong amalgamation with places of well necessitated leisure.