A trip to Yelagiri

When my dad made plans for us to go to Yelagiri, I was reluctant. Had been there with my colleagues for a workshop. "Not much to see there", I told him. Knowing my interest in birds, he tempted me saying it'll be great for birding. I was not convinced, as I searched on the web and could find not find much to say that it's a birding spot.

But, right from the time I got down from in front of the hotel (Yatri Nivas), I spotted birds everywhere and started clicking even before we even checked in! Before we move on, lets get all the basic info out of our way.

How to reach
From Chennai, we reached Jolarpet (the nearest railway station) by train. Jolarpet is closer to Bangalore, making it an ideal weekend getaway for people from Bangalore. From Jolarpet we took an auto-rickshaw to Yelagiri, for which we paid Rs 300. There are also regular buses which start from Thirupathur via Jolarpet. However, we're told that buses get fully crowded by the time they reach Jolarpet. On the way to the top, you'll cross 14 hairpin bends, each bend named after famous tamil kings and poets.


Accommodation

We stayed at Yatri Nivas which is a government owned hotel, but it is run by a private company as it has been leased out. I think the rates are fixed by the government, and hence the the tariffs in Yatri Nivas are the lowest you can get in Yelagiri (not considering dorms). We paid Rs 550 for a double room (The room had a TV and geyser) and they didn't even charge for an extra bed.

The place is decent. The rooms and the garden are very well maintained. The garden has various flowering plants and fruit-bearing trees (like Guava and Pomegranate) which attract a lot of birds. In fact, I spotted and clicked a lot of birds in and around Yatri Nivas.

Apart from Yatri Nivas, there are plenty of options for accommodation. There are tons and tons of hotels and resorts, but I was told that everything gets filled during weekends. So, if you're going on a weekend, make sure to call and book rooms, and send demand drafts if necessary.

Food
We tried only two places - Yatri Nivas (the place where we stayed) and Hotel Yelagiri (not far from Yatri Nivas). The quality is decent at both the places, and both are not over-priced. Apart from the hotels and resorts which serve food, there are several separate restaurants serving different cuisines.

If you are a strict vegetarian and you hate having food in a restaurant which serves both veg and non-veg, you'll have a tough time in Yelagiri. We enquired a lot, but everyone said the same thing - there are no pure-vegetarian restaurants there.

What to see?

There are 4 main villages - Punganoor, Athanavoor, Nilavoor and Mangalam.

If you can read tamil, do go through this sign board:


Nature Park: The summer-festival (Kodai-vizha) ground has been converted into a large beautifully landscaped garden, with a small artificial cascade. The place is superbly maintained and you can spend hours there just enjoying the beautiful plants and lovely birds. There's a musical fountain, which wasn't working when we went. But, I was told that regular shows do happen. It also has a children play area with swings, slides etc.
 
Punganoor Lake is a large man-made lake. You can walk around lake in the well laid-out pathway or enjoy a refreshing boat-ride. There's also a small park. You can take a walk around the lake and the park early in the morning or late afternoon/evening if you're interested in birding.

Murugan Temple
There's a small Murugan temple. After visiting the lake and boat house park, you leave from the back entrance of the park and walk about half a km to reach this temple. If you're to go through the main road after coming back through the front entrance of the park, it takes 3 km!

Nilavoor Lake
Another man-made lake, but this one is smaller. Boating is available. There's also a small park nearby, which again is well maintained. But, if you've seen Punganoor Lake, Boathouse and the Nature park, this is not worth it.
Right opposite the lake is a temple called Kadhava Naachiamman Temple, which opens only on Fridays. As it was not a Friday when we went, it was closed.


Jalagamparai
This is a small waterfall. There's a 6km trekking route to this place from Nilavoor. If you want to reach the place through road, you've to come all the way down from Yelagiri, reach Thirupathur and then drive to Jalagamparai. The total distance would be about 40km (including the descent from Yelagiri). There's a Murugan Temple. What's special about this temple is that the temple itself is shaped like a Shiva lingam.

Apart from this, there's Swami Malai temple, which can be reached by trekking. We didn't visit this temple.

As you might've figured there's very little to see at Yelagiri. To me Yelagiri is not a touristy location, but a calm, not-much-exploited getaway where you can enjoy nature. Maintenance of all the places - be it the lake, the gardens, the temple - is top notch, unlike most tourist places, which is what I absolutely loved about Yelagiri.

That covers the basics of Yelagiri tourism. To know about birding in Yelagiri, check out the next post.