Parvathamalai trek - Path of the rishis...

About Parvathamalai:

One of the most popular theories attributed to the origin of Parvathamalai is that it was formed when a part of the Sanjeevini mountain that Lord Hanuman carried, fell down to form this existing hill. Parvathamalai is a part of Javvadhi hills and as the name suggests is a hill standing tall at approximately 3500ft above sea level. The hill is located south-west to Chennai close to Thenmathimangalam village  in Thiruvannamalai District, Tamil Nadu. The hill is also popular for its medicinal plants. Devotees mentioned the hills hosts 119 varieties of medicinal herbs.

It's been a while since I did a trek and was itching to go to one. Heard about Parvathamalai a week ago, and googled some information. It wasn't too far from Chennai and could be covered in a day. So put on my planning hat to do it this weekend. Made some quick calls, but being short notice all my friends had other plans. Finally managed to gang up my sister Deepika, and cousin Udaya for the trip.

The morning, 06 Mar, 2011:

Started my drive from home early at 5:30 am, and made sure we hit the Bangalore highway by 6:00 am. Had our breakfast past Sriperambathur,and then drove past Kanchipuram and Arcot. I preferred the Arcot-Arani-Polur route because it saves me about 30 kms compared to the Dindivanam-Thiruvanamalai route. I was skeptical about the road conditions once I got off the Bangalore highway at Arcot, but to my surprise, the roads were pretty well maintained all the way to Polur and have to regrets on taking this route. Drove past Arcot, Arani and reached Polur at 9:30 am where we had to wait an hour for Udaya who had a wedding to attend and was noticably late. We hurriedly made it to Thenmathimangalam, the village from where we would begin our trek. The locals advised to offer some prayers at the local temple before beginning the ascent as it would safeguard us against all evils. Well, we didn't want an inauspicious start after all, so went ahead with the prayers. At sharp 11:30 am we began our ascent.

The Afternoon:

At March, this part of India gets pretty hot in the day, thats the tropical sun for you. 11:30 wasn't too pleasant. I was hoping the forest trees would help us soon. The first stretch is about a 2 km walk to the base of the hill, where again we found a temple. The temple offered us hot rice porridge, and we obliged. It was a filling one after the 2 km walk. This also marked the beginning of our trek. 

The second stretch is where there are steps that take you till one-third the distance. The steps are relatively easier to walk, and get steep in some places. If you've done the 3000 odd steps in Tirupathi, this is a cake-walk. Ok not exactly a cake-walk but definitely do-able. But before we began climbing an old man requested us to carry what were small bags of sand and bricks all the way to the hill-top. We had a choice between a brick bag, or a bag of sand. Already carrying 5 kgs on me (Water bottles, eats and camera) I wanted to load test myself,  so took 2 bags of sand (approximately 2 kgs) and Udaya one brick. it was to help the construction of the temple above the hill. Now we got into business. There are some numbers written on the steps, but not sure if they are the number of steps completed or the distance completed, Didn't make any sense to me anyway. Took small breaks for Deep and Udaya, and were relieved to see the steps getting over and rocks coming along. 

This meant 2 things, either the destination is near or real far that steps can't be laid farther. Deep was hoping it was the former, to her dismay it ended up being the latter. Having trekked before, I knew walking on boulders is much easier than steps and was proved right once again. We couldn't see the mountain top but managed to do great deal of walking in the forest. This stretch was in the shades, the forest trees protecting us. We had lime soda in the occasional make-shift stalls, quite helpful actually. We finally reached the base of the top cliff around 3:30, almost an hour behind schedule, thanks to our long breaks.

The final ascent:

I heard a lot about the monkey troubles, but we were fortunate not to be troubled by any, that's probably our hands were relatively free, except for the bags of sand and brick. We got some splendid views from this side of the hill, we indeed felt we were over the top and could see villages on either side of the mountain. The other hills were dwarfed by the sheer size of this one. We had one last hurdle the great rock to climb. To our surprise or rather shock, this was much steeper than I had imagined. It was a 90 degrees climb, ok that's a little overboard, but must have been about 80 degree climb and trust me, it's not easy to make this 

ascent. We had to rely on our tired legs, strong hands and the iron railings embedded in the rocks to make this climb. All 3 of us made it through with little fuss, but looking back, it's quite scary and we were always just one step away from what could be a terrible incident. Well, moving on, the last stretch is also little challenging, but eventually all managed to make it. At this point, Udaya was the most tired of us three and was slowing us down. We reached the mountain top at 4 pm, Almost an hour behind schedule again.

The descent:

Now the thought of driving in the dark was bothering me, so decided to start back and started our descent at 4:30 pm sharp and gave ourselves 1.5 hours to reach the car park. The descent as always was more tricky but quicker. We gained plenty of momentum in the boulders but got tired soon too, especially Deep. She was hoping steps came soon, and when it did, she was hoping we end this walk soon. It was getting dark soon too because the mountain was blocking sunlight on this side of the mountain. We took short breaks and finally made it to the car park at 6:30 about 30 minutes behind schedule. I took the same route, Polur, Arani, 

Arcot, Bangalore highway and finally reached Chennai at 11 in the night. 

On the whole, an eventful day and I liked the thought of making it to this trek with my sister and cousin. It gave them a feel of what treks mean. I'm already looking forward to my next trek shortly.

Directions:
Chennai to Arcot 110 kms [Drive on the Chennai Bangalore highway and take the left into Arcot]
Arcot to Arani - 24 kms [Drive past signboard to reach Arani]
Arani to Polur - 28 kms [Drive past signboards to reach Polur and drive beyond the railway crossing]
Polur - Thenmadimangalam - 18 kms [Take the right at 3 kms after Polur rail crossing and drive straight for 15 kms to reach the destination]
Trek begins here. 
Approx driving time: 4 hours with short breaks
Approx distance: 180 kms one way.
Road Conditions: Good

Wildlife:

- Rare birds which are uncommon in the metro. 

- Insects, nothing that will harm you.

Trekking Conditions:

Difficulty level: 
- Difficult for non-regulars if you're trying to return on the same day.
- Moderate for regular trekkers if you're returning on the same day
- Easy if you're staying overnight.

Tips: 
- Carry plenty of fluid if you're making it between Mar and Sep due to hot tropical weather
- Avoid trekking during rains, will make the terrain slippery and prone to falls, especially since the last phase is on the rocks.
- Begin climbing as early in the morning as possible, giving yourself enough time if you plan on returning the same day.


It's worth a visit, especially because of it's proximity to Chennai and its relatively safe for newbees, except for the last stretch.