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ROAD LESS TRAVELLED

Oh! Deer

Land of the illusory deer, says SOMA BASU

Photo: SOMA BASU

Spot it if you can At Poiman Karadu

This turned out to be an adventurous trek to a mysterious hilltop. As the name suggests — "Poiman Karadu" is a "hillock of the false deer". Barely nine km from Salem, on the Salem-Namakkal Highway, you come across this illusory point, which is both difficult to freeze on your camera and explain about. But nonetheless, it makes for an intriguing spot for a RLT.. The place is so famous that you don't need any help in locating it. But yes, there are chances that you may miss the vantage point from where the exact view is available.

While driving from Salem towards Namakkal, just get off at the Agricultural College. Enter the campus and walk straight till a department building stops you. Now turn back and look right across the road. Initially, it is not easy to figure out anything. You only see an outline of rocks covered in a mesh of bushes and trees on a hillock. Don't give up. Gradually you will be able to see a narrow cave between the rocks. Let me assure you, that's not all. Remain focused and you will spot something like a deer inside the cave. It is an amazing sight. The moment you take a step forward or sideways, the deer disappears. But step backward and you can clearly see the image of the deer, white in colour. It is difficult to capture it on camera given the distance — you need to stand to the east of the hill to see the illusory deer.

After the "deer sighting",intrigued by the magical phenomenon, I decide to climb up the hill-top. Not a difficult trek, though one has to be careful about a few rolling stones and slanting rocks at some points. But lo behold! When I manage to get a foothold at the entry of the cave — which I saw so clearly from across the road — I find it narrow and dark except for a few streaks of sunshine. And yes, you guessed it right; there is no deer either! The experience can be both baffling and exciting. I return to the Agricultural College campus on the opposite side and take a glimpse of the "false deer"! You can do this as many times as you wish but during broad daylight. Perked by this new experience, I travel towards another equally interesting and mysterious "Bear's Caves", roughly 45 km away in Yercaud. And yes, no bears here — either real or imaginary! Formed by two huge boulders by the side of Yercaud's oldest bungalow, the Norton Bungalow, on way to Servarayan Temple, this place too makes for a unique spot. It seems decades ago, the caves and the sprawling 1,500 acres around the bungalow used to be a play home for bears. Today, though under private ownership, the occasional straying tourist is allowed inside the area. There is an interesting story about the caves — it extends beyond the nearby Servarayan Temple (one of the six abodes of Lord Subrahmanya, where the innermost shrine is cut out of a single solid rock) up to Kaveri in Karnataka (480 km away). It is even believed to have an underground passage that links Salem with Yercaud and said to have been used by Tipu Sultan as a hiding hole and an escape route during war! Though in the bygone era, saints are believed to have traversed the entire length of the strange caves, I am told it is no not possible to explore it. After walking through coffee, pepper and cardamom plantations, I do see a beginning of a cave. After a few hundred metres, a fallen rock blocks the passage inside the dark cave.

Before I started off I was warned by a friendly man at the gate that only the thinnest of people can squeeze past the constriction in the passage, which after three km is blocked by rocks, and also that the ancient caves are full of boulders, bats and snakes. Neither slim nor brave, I am happy to return safe from the mouth of the Bear's Caves.

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