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ROAD LESS TRAVELLED

Heard but not seen

Where a bloody tale meets serenity, writes Pankaja Srinivasan

The younger brother was furious. All along, he had believed what his sister-in-law served as lunch was what everyone else at home ate. But having come home early one day, he discovered that his older brother got better food and the humble ragi was reserved for him.

In a rage, he flung his plate (that landed at a place called Onne Betta), ground his sister-in-law to a paste in a mortar and threw himself off a mountain. His grief-stricken brother followed him to his death. Catharine Falls is where all this happened.

You would never guess that this place was the scene of such blood and gore. Today, it is serenity itself and the effect is augmented by the mesmerising sound of water falling from a great height. Tinkling, whooshing sounds reach your ears as you try to locate where they come from. A solitary bird (eagle, kite?) soars above completing the picture.

This is no Niagara Falls. So don't expect any thunder and spectacular grandeur. Insufficient rains have caused the falls to retreat coyly between two cliff faces. So you hear the tantalising sound of the falls, but unless you are brave enough to clamber down and stick your neck out from the edge of a slippery hillside, you will have to content yourself with only hearing St. Catharine and not beholding her.

A viewpoint is there, but it is ill kempt, has walls with big hearts gouged into it complete with arrows and drops of blood — no doubt someone's protestations of undying love — and railings that do little to prevent anyone from going over the edge.

The railings are either buckling or completely missing in parts. This place is marked as a tourist destination. A little more attention by the tourism department would be welcome.

Of course, a defaced viewpoint and a missing railing can never take away from the beautiful scenery. That is a given. But what is interesting is the number of local stories that abound here. The Pandavas are popular heroes and if lore is to be believed, they spent their exile almost entirely in the Nilgiris. In fact, villages and hamlets are strung together by stories of the Pandavas as they moved from place to place, evading detection and capture by Duryodhana.

Each area has its own favourite legend. The Bakasura hill, not too far off, is the place where Bheema felled the mighty Bakasura who used to make a regular meal of the nearby villagers. Small temples abound with a faithful following and of course, there are stories like the one about the two brothers who both fell to their death at Catharine Falls. There was a time, not too long ago, when in memory of these brothers a sacrifice was conducted at the base of the falls and after beheading the animal, the pujari (who is supposed to be the descendant of the brothers) had to hold the remains of the animal carcass in one hand and climb up the cliff with only one hand!

As views go, Catharine Falls is lovely. It is off the beaten track, but not so much that it is difficult to get to. And even for first time trekkers, it is not a difficult walk as the terrain is quite flat and through a tea estate.

How to get there

Catharine Falls is about 12 km from Kotagiri and approximately 7 km from a small town called Aravenu on the Kotagiri/Mettupalayam Road. From Aravenu, one has to go via Moon Road to reach the falls.

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