Yercaud – A Perfect Weekend Get Away

Yercaud a hill station in Salem District Tamil Nadu is about 230 kilometers from Bangalore and makes for a superb weekend getaway. The climate of Yercaud is pleasant throughout the year and attracts a variety of tourists and travelers.

Yercaud derives its name from “Yeri” Lake and “Kaadu” Forrest in Tamil. Located in the Shevaroy range of Hills in Eastern Ghats. Historically speaking stone age implements have been found in the shrine in Shevaroy hills. 

Yercaud Lake View

How to Get there -  

By road – Take the Hosur road from Silk Board signal, reach Hosur then take the NH 47 superb stretch of road, reach Krishnagiri – Dharmpuri then Salem then reach Yercaud taking a turn from the highway into a smaller road. With about 20 hairpin bends and awesome view you will reach the top of the hill.

By Rail – Nearest train junction is at Salem

By Bus - There are plenty of buses available to Yercaud from Bangalore and other places in Tamil Nadu. 

When to Go – Yercaud has a pleasant climate through the year , but sees more visitors during summer. The rainy times are also quite enjoyable with a splendid view. 

What to do – There are plenty of things one can do in Yercaud depending on your preferences. There is the Yercaud lake right in the middle of the town, it is touristy and is thronging with visitors, but the road side food available around the lake is delicious and a must have. Especially the maize corn. 

The walk upto Montfort school is pleasant and takes you through the charming town. The green house which cultivates a variety of flowers and spices. Some of the view points are “Pagoda point” “lady’s seat” and “Karadiyur View point” , the best is probably the Karadiyur view point with a brilliant view of  the valley , you can reach here in a car/bike and walk about 1.5 to 2 easy kilometers and the route is full of vegetation and sometimes you can get to see loads of butterflies while you take the walk. One can also choose to trek or cycle in Yercaud there are many fascinating routes to take. 

Karadiyur View Point

The temples that you can visit are “Sevarayan Temple” and “Sri Lalitha Tripura Sundari “ temple . 

If you prefer to eat well and stay within the reach of your hotel and laze your weekend in an awesome place with the best weather conditions , this is the best place to visit. It has many resorts and hotels that are clean and nice. Some of the hotels have options of taking entire cottages if you are going in a large gang, were you get a balcony and large rooms.

The Summer Festival would also be a great time to visit Yercaud when there are flowers shows, Dogs show, Boat races and a village fair, this happens for a week in the month of May.

Parinitha Konanur

Mysore – The Land of Maharjas, Mythology and More

Mysore is one of the oldest cities in India, and has had its share in the history of the country. This old city houses many historic relics, monuments, places of interest, art and architecture, legends and more. 

Situated about 150 kilometers from the capital of Karnataka Bangalore, Mysore has been for long known for being the capital of the Kingdom on Mysore, and has also been the cultural capital of Karnataka for centuries and continues to be so till date. The most renowned Mysore Dasara , has become well known throughout the world which takes place in the Mysore palace. The Mysore fort was built by Charamaja Wodeyar III in the 16^th Century, what was then called the Mahishuru Fort, now anglicized to spell “Mysore”. 

This city of wonder has been the center for art and literature for centuries , Mysore also gives its name to the splendid “Mysore Silk Saree” a specific smooth silk saree variety. Mysore was also ruled by Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan, when it reached its peak of military Power.

When travelers go to Mysore, there is a lot to see, if you happen to go there during the Dasara festival the which is the “Nada Habba” or the festival of the state of Karnataka, one can witness the splendid festivities go on through the ten days of the festival. One can witness the happenings in the palace and the procession in front of it. Also do try and befriend a localite and visit their house, the “Dasara Gombe” is an arrangement of dolls during the festival and most localites will have it arranged in their house, till date. This is the most splendid sight, with new additions and old traditions mixed and juxtaposed to a lovely rhythm. 

The places to visit are – 

Apart from the palaces – are – The Chamundi Hills where legend has it that the Demon Mahishasura was killed by goddess Chamundi after a battle. The legends of Chamundi and the history of Mysore have always been interlinked and is therefore a must visit place.

The other Near by places of interest are –

The Brindhavan Gardens, KRS dam, along with this there are loads of places near by for a days visit like Himavad Gopalaswamy Betta which has a temple on a hill top with a splendid view , Then there is the “Somnathpur Temple” a magnificent temple with Hoysala architecture, it is situated about 35 kilometers from Mysore. 

Bylakuppe , the Tibetan Monastery in Kushalnagar is about 85 kilometers from Mysore. 13 kilometers away is Srirangapatna – a must go place when you visit Mysore, which has a fort, the Daria daulat Bagh and a museum. 

Parinitha Konanur

Palolem - The beauty of South Goa

The first time I had been to Goa I was expecting unbearable seaside heat, dry climate and people filled beaches, thronging with commercialized  hot spots. But to my pleasant surprise it was not as hot, it had a lot of greenery and vegetation  even though the north beaches were commercialized it wasn’t enough to wrinkle my nose. 

I remember three years ago being absolutely fascinated by the place, feeling that the reverence for the place from variety of people was neither over hyped nor misjudged due to less exposure to unknown beaches. I was ecstatic to find curving roads lined with trees and small Portuguese influenced colourful and quaint houses. Happy and friendly people walking by, though the restaurant owners at the beaches were more clichéd than the most popular Bollywood movie, with their fake accents and their poor imitation of what they thought of the west. Though the only disappointing part was that I was of the belief that this hippie heaven would have retained some of its classic rock and country music feel, I was heart broken to hear trance everywhere, except a very few shacks and restaurants playing a few Bob Marley numbers. 

Sunset at Palolem ...

This time we decided on south Goa , Palolem and its surrounding beaches. A good choice, if I say so myself. We left Bangalore on the Chennai Vasco Express, to be dropped at Margao station. Margao is 45 kilometers from Palolem, so we hired a bike at Margao for 150rs a day, a nice active, new and all. Then we started our ride, even though I expected good roads, I was pleasantly surprised at how nice these roads were, clean, new tar, without humps or cavities to mar our pleasure of riding. The 40 odd kilometers flew by without a glitch. We arrived at Palolem roughly around 3.30. Got a shack on the beach for 200rs per day, You can get for cheaper rates in off season. But this one had an attached bathroom and a small little sitting area in front. We unpacked and ate a lot, to satisfy a hunger that was caused by not eating in the night and morning. The sunset was just spell bounding. Very little people scattered around, mauve and pink painted skies, reflected immaculately on the surmounting waves. 

The next day we left to Agonda which was an easy 8 kilometers away. Agonda is even less populated than Palolem. It was more popular with the localites, than with tourists. That is always good, because you get to see local habits and behavior and probably even mingle with them. There were large families that had gathered around trees, with food supplies and Frisbee. We just laid down under a tree and spent the hot afternoon in the cool breeze reading and sleeping under it. After a good meal we sat down to experience another sunset. Here the sunset was more golden with a crisp silhouette of the hills. The way back was equally enthralling with non lit roads and a cool breeze.

sunset at Agonda ....

The next day we thought of going to Vasco, but that turned out to be about 65 kilometers, we started of late so that would be too late, so we thought of Old Goa. This a man told us would be 25 kilometers from when we reach a particular spot on the highway. We took the superb road again, the hot sun not bothering us with the thick vegetation providing a superb feel and a cool air. Then we reached a spot where we saw a board going to Cabo De Rama to our left. We asked how far Old Goa was from there, they said it would be another 25 kilometers, we had already traveled a cool 20 kilometers by then. So we made an impulsive turn to Cabo De Rama. The road was almost empty throughout. Whomever we asked for directions, dint know there was such a place at all near by, we had a feeling that we weren’t pronouncing it right. Because when we aksed for Palolem – they pronounced it as “Palll-o – llim” , we still headed on, then we found this large clearing, with a stench, my friend told me it must be the fish drying area, it turned out to be so too. There were hundreds of Cranes and Herons perched on the stone bricks, obviously attracted by the number of fishes available easily. The smell was over whelming. There was an old lady who explained it all to us, what they did , how they got the fish and how they dried it. Then we headed to Cabo De Rama. There the road just ended on to a church and fort, or so we thought. The Santo Antonio church was perched amidst the fort structure. The Glass covered shrine for Mary was beautiful with over hanging Bougainvillea. 

Mary's Shrine in Santo Antonio Church in Cabo De Rama ...

Then we went up the fort, the view is so splendid that everyone needs to go there to experience it. Then we did a little bit of exploration and found our own secret passage. The place has an amazing aura, a feel that is hard to describe. The green waters below lashing, huge eagles soaring above the rocks, the fort menacingly looking down. We spent quite a lot of time there and headed back. We had seen a board that said this way to Agonda, I guessed that would be a nearer route back and we took it. Now this road was immeasurably pleasurable even more than the roads we had already taken, some parts of the road were caved out of eart and green vegetation over hanging it, just pure beauty. And in parts of the route one can see the shimmering beach below, the view is exquisite. That was our last day at Goa so we ate to our hearts content, with a sunken heart that dint want to leave. 

Parinitha Konanur