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A range to rival Everest
S. MUTHIAH
A view of Lambton Peak
WHEN IN the middle of 2003 I wrote in Miscellany (June 30) of the plans to celebrate the bicentenary of the commencement of the Great Trigonometrical Survey of India, one of the world's greatest scientific projects of the 19th Century, I had pointed out that the `Father' of that survey is little remembered but that his successor, whom he had trained, George Everest, is internationally recalled ever since the world's tallest peak was named after him. A few days later, I heard from readers Theodore Baskaran and Dharmalingam Venugopal that Lambton was indeed remembered, at least in South India, for there was a Lambton Peak and Lambton Range named after him. They might not be as impressive as the Himalaya and Everest, but it might be an idea to develop this area near Coimbatore as an eco-tourism resort, thereby enabling Lambton and a historic project to be better remembered. Having seen during a recent visit how they've made the Blue Mountains a major Australian tourism destination, including in its promotion its coal-mining heritage, I can well imagine what they'd do if they had the Lambton Range and Peak to promote.
Reader Baskaran had at that time also promised me a picture of Lambton Peak and he's kept that promise. His picture, taken from a side road to Thadagam village that leads off from the 10th kilometre mark on the road to Mettupalayam, accompanies this piece. You can trek to the peak from Thadagam negotiating a bridle path. And at the top of the peak, there's a small temple of uncertain date.
Lambton Peak is at the northern end of the Lambton Range, better known as the Koradu or, more popularly, Kuridi Malai range between Mettupalayam and Coimbatore. The range is about ten kilometres from Coimbatore and provides a backdrop to the city. The peak, Baskaran tells me, can be seen as you approach Coimbatore from Erode. It can be seen from Yercaud on a clear day, he adds, while Venugopal says it can be seen from the Nilgiris on such days.
The Lambton Peak picture reminds me that photography is among Baskaran's many interests. And so are Indian breeds of dogs. Not to mention the Posts, from whose service he retired as Postmaster General. A combination of all three interests led to his photographs of four Indian breeds — the Himalayan Sheepdog, the Rampur Hound, the Mudhol Hound, and the Rajapalayam Hound of southern Tamil Nadu — being used as the basis for the illustrations of the stamp series of Indian breeds which was recently released at the Kennel Club of India's National Dog Show held in Madras.
Baskaran tells me that the Club has launched a project to breed Rajapalayams and revive the breed. The kennel for this is being set up on the Mamallapuram Road.
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