Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
To detox your spirits
|
There's nothing spectacular about Yercaud's beauty, and that's precisely its charm
|
The temperature is cool all year round and the place is easy on the pocket.
KNOWN AS the "poor man's Ooty", Yercaud is easily overshadowed by its more commercialised and expensive counterparts — Ooty and Kodaikanal. Perhaps its lake isn't as handsome as the tranquil green waters at Kodaikanal. And the view from the top may not be as that afforded by the panoramic mountainside of Ooty.
Nevertheless, at an altitude of 1500 metres, this quiet and unexploited hill station deserves to be experienced if only for its quaint beauty. The sedate pace, the serenity, and the lush misty expanse of coffee, orange, butterfruit, silver oak, and pepper vines are sure to win you over once you negotiate the hairpin bends to the top of the Servarayan (Shevaroy) hills of the Eastern Ghats.
Yercaud got its name from the Tamil words yeri and kaadu, which translate as lake and forest, respectively.
And, aside from the solitary lake, the endless expense of green is all that meets the eye. Take a long walk away from the lake into the mysterious wooded hillside or climb up to the Murugan temple for a heart-stoppingly beautiful view of the valley, and you're guaranteed an experience as exhilarating perhaps even as mystical as you could hope for in any of the more celebrated hill stations in the country.
Here are two major attractions that draw visitors to Yercaud — the temperatures are cool all year round, and the fact that it is easy on the pocket. But don't let the budget factor fool you into believing that you might be headed for a completely tame experience.
Scenically, Yercaud is as enchanting and picturesque as the more commercialised hill stations on the Western Ghats and trekking can be one of the most pleasurable ways to spend the vacation. If not trekking, even plain good old walking is an agreeable activity.
At the highest point sits the Servarayan temple dedicated to the deity Servarayan and his consort Kaveri. The cave at the temple extends far beyond the shrine's limits. Legend has it that it extends all the way to the very source of the Kaveri in Kodagu, Karnataka — a distance of 480 km. Very few have explored the entire cave, an enterprise beset with dangerous terrain and poisonous snakes.
Aside from the resorts and lodges, there are small cottages which double as nurseries and guesthouses. The nurseries are perfect for exotic flowering plants and fruit saplings. Essential oils and plant extracts like citronella and eucalyptus oil are sold at reasonable prices here as well. There is nothing flamboyant about Yercaud's beauty; and this is precisely its attraction.
It's the perfect place for a tranquil weekend to detox your spirits. If you strain your ears above the urban cacophone, you can hear the hills calling.
How to get there
YERCAUD IS an hour's drive from Salem, which is five hours from Bangalore. It is well connected by road to Trichy, Madurai, Bangalore, and Coimbatore via regular bus services.
The most popular seasons are February to June and September to November, while late November and December tend to be cold and misty. Around April there are the pleasant showers, which bring the coffee bushes into blossom.
Where to stay: Hotel Tamil Nadu, Ph: 04281-22273;
Sterling Holiday Resorts, Ph: 22700-07, Hotel Shevaroys, Ph: 22001; Hotel Select, Ph: 22525. Check out the homestays.
SOMIKA BASU
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
|
