A Journey to Velliangiri Mountains
A Journey to Velliangiri Mountains
A JOURNEY TO VELLIANGIRI MOUNTAINS
A) Introduction
Coimbatore is on the international circuit with flights, railways and road transport to different cities of Tamil Nadu. The inter-state connectivity between the districts of Palaghat, Trivandrum, Cochin are also made as success path among Kerala state. It would be my pleasure speaking about one of the natural scenario and trekking path namely, The Velliangiri Mountains. The Velliangiri Mountains also called as Sapthagiri Mountains or seven Mountains located at a height of approximately 5,833 feet (1,778 meters), from the foot of Poondi. A trek to this mountain is a memorable experience. We can see the outstanding greenery and mountainous regions of Western Ghats from this mountain peak.
B) Pathway to Reach
The Poondi near Siruvani is 30 km away from the commercial center Coimbatore city. The state transport Corporation ply buses between Coimbatore (Gandhi Puram) and Poondi every day (Route number 14 series). Special bus services are available during festive occasions like Maha-Shivrathri. The season that are suitable for trekking this mountain is between mid-Feb to mid-May (in Tamil month’s maasi, panguni and chitirai). Restriction entry is made by the forest department in the other months than on new moon day and full moon day of all months upon prior request. We have to be careful about Elephants near Bamboo Trees and other animals. Probably people prefer nights to avoid sunlight distraction and de-hydration of water in our body.
i) Initial preparation
Starting our journey from Poondi Shiva temple with blessings and positive vibrations with forest check post at the base camp to filter the plastics which will mischief the wild animals. During the screening, plastic papers are re-wrapped to newspaper covers. The water bottles are allowed with a condition of non-disposal on the path of the mountains. It is good to buy a bamboo stick for support for getting down the Mountains due to the steepness of the mountains. Usually trekking in the form of good team would avoid hassles in trekking. It is recommended to wear loose cloths and without slippers to avoid slip.
ii) The first Mountain
Once the screening is completed, we can start our journey to reach the target. The thrilling life scene is starting from the first hill. It is the only hill with steps made of rocks and stones with or without correct shapes at the entire flow. It would take barely 45 minutes to reach the first Mountains from the foot path with non-stop movement. The movement with regular break would take around one hour to reach the first hill. We could enjoy the greenery around the path with good blossoms and sometimes with movement of monkeys, goats and even Elephants at rare case. Once we reach the first Mountains we a positive vibes in the form of Vinayagar statue which sounds us to climb to the other Mountains from there. There we could find some shops selling the energy boosting items like warm sodas, lime water and some eatable items.
The cost would be little bit higher due to the transportation issues. No mode of transportation other than the human paths are present there. We could take some rest of 15 minutes by having these energy boosters as no more shops till we reach the fifth mountain would be present.
iii) The second Mountain
Continuing our journey from first Mountains to the second Mountains is an enjoyable one. It is due to the fact that, only hill with normal soil rods could make our paths very much faster and smooth. It is journey of around half an hour in dry place with little grass. Reaching the second Mountains not necessarily to take the rest more than five minutes. Taking more rest could lead to ache in legs and also creates tiredness.
iv) The third and Fourth Mountain
After the rest, moving towards the third Mountains, having some rough paths and so having a five minutes break. Successfully reaching the third Mountains and the way to fourth Mountains is more drastic and tremendous one. We should put some good efforts to reach the fourth hill. The path could be with green blossoms of trees. Water is flowing out from the reservoir of water tank (called as ‘sunai’ in Tamil) coming out of the fourth Mountains. This is the purest form of water. The clouds which make the rain stored as reservoir would reach out as water in the Mountains. Taking this water makes us more relaxed and give way to climb the rest of the Mountains.
v) The fifth Mountain
After enjoying the beauty of fourth Mountains, we had started our journey towards the fifth Mountains. The path towards it is also a smooth one with semi soil and coarse paths. Reaching the mountains we could find a tunnel of water reservoir. People used to take a bath in the reservoir irrespective of the coldness of water. The temperature level also gets decreased once we reach higher and leads to the increase in humidity. We could take some snacks like Murukku, santhagam, strong tea after having the bath there.
vi) The peak
Once again the hurdle of paths started until the reach of target. Starting from the fifth mountain moving slowly in the very coarse paths and the altitude becomes steep. The path of sixth mountain is very narrow and behind the huge rocks. The humidity of air is still reduced making us shiver once we reach the sixth mountains. Though the travel makes a hotness in our body which can withstand the coldness of air. The seventh mountain and our target is approached having more breaks on the rocks. This could take some more time to reach the peak due to very narrow altitude of mountains. We could acknowledge the reach of Seventh Mountain by seeing the divine javelin in arranged manner for a length of 50 meters. It would take approximately 6 hours for a normal walker to reach the peak.
Following that we could visit and get the blessings of statue Shiva. It is a fantastic moments reaching the target and enjoying the beauty of Western Ghats. Due to the narrow space available on the peak, it is guided by the temple priest to move aside the paths. It is also recommended to move away from the peak and at a minimum distance can find the huge rocks which could be resting place for a long time. We can take some snacks, get energized and take deep rest. In the mean while we could some snaps of nature with the help of flashes in mobile as it might be a dark in nature.
vii) Towards the Land surface
People used to take rest till the morning and enjoy the beauty of sunrise. A few people would start getting down immediately after visiting the peak. It is also a good practice to avoid the fear of wild animals. Let us enjoy the sunshine and take more snaps for a memorable event. After that we could start our journey towards the foot hills of Poondi. There we could use the bamboo stick for support as we would be tired climbing up the mountains. The bamboo stick is a hero for people to get down. We can enjoy the nature and take snaps reaching the up-next Mountains and taking some snaps over and at required spots.
We could enjoy realize the path that we cross during climbing and feel the thrilling experience. After a travel of approximately five to six hours towards the Poondi, we would reach the Lord Shiva temple located downstairs. There is an arrangement for the trekking people to have some meals at Poondi temple.
C) Conclusion
With this I conclude saying that it is a good experience travelling the Mountains and enjoyed the greenery, climate. As related to health, we could feel our entire body cleaned and removed the wastes in the form of sweating. This could give us best relief to our physical structure, mental issues and the team enjoyment. It also gives the feeling of our journey along with the friend’s team. The government is also taking necessary steps to ban plastics by the support of people.
image source
- Velliangiri-Mountains: https://alchetron.com/cdn/velliangiri-mountains-787559f5-820f-4f94-a110-2a6ac325c90-resize-750.jpeg
- Mountain: https://www.google.com/maps/uv?hl=en&pb=!1s0x3ba863a165245ad1%3A0xd0434bece410fb63!3m1!7e115!4shttps%3A%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipMZmcNRPpv0s3Hsmm7MGvn-HmXsJkrfNVEhfKjH%3Dw213-h160-k-no!5svelliangiri%20mountains%20-%20Google%20Search!15sCgIgAQ&imagekey=!1e10!2sAF1QipMZmcNRPpv0s3Hsmm7MGvn-HmXsJkrfNVEhfKjH&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiA1vup9MzqAhXR7HMBHcpADa4QoiowI3oECBYQBg#