Naagamale Trek

Some noises in the wild –> some sweat in your pants

Youth hostel Mysore had arranged a trip to Hogenakal & a trek from Gopinatham to M.M.Hills.

Author: Santhosh G R

Participants (as I know it): Ms Madhu a.k.a Mrs Santhosh G R, Prasanna, Parasivamurthy, Pushpa, Matilda madam, Kumuda, Yogi, Aman, Ganesh, Rukmini, Fateh Khan, Ittagi.

Day 0 / Feb 11 Friday

Me and Madhu were to board the Tuticorin train at 9pm at Bangalore. Rest of the huge gang (around 25) would board the train at Mysore. The evening was hectic what with the rigmarole of packing, putting in the sleeping bag, food, stuff. Parsivamurthy called up in between, asking us to get a “bandli” (a cooking vessel) to make some rice. We bought a thick heavy bandli, which would be a bane for everyone later.

The whole train journey was a whole lotta noise, songs in kannada, hindi. Youth hostel members have a unique way of singing. One of the songs was sung very innovatively with the whole gang dragging each word of the song to endless infinity, it took them almost 5 minutes to sing the first sentence. ( Kannada song listeners would definitely appreciate the song from ManasaSarovara “neene saaakida gili”, where “neene” is dragged for a minute, “saaakida” for a minute, and so on). Another popular song was sung by using only the first two words replacing the words of the whole song. (Again for kannada song listeners, imagine the song from bandhana “nee meetida nenapellavu”, but being sung only with the words “nee meetida” substituted for all rest of the words; and hilarious coughing of vishnuvardhan imitated to the boot).

We had puliyogare with cucumber/onion/yoghurt salad for dinner. Yogi celebrating his birthday distributed sweets. We also had a look at a woman called Matilda madam, a rather roundish woman whom we felt was nowhere near a trekkie and wondered what she was doing here.

We reached Dharmapuri at midnight. After cajoling the station-master, Prasanna & Parasivamurthy managed to get the first-class waiting room to spend the night. We had tea at the railway canteen; with people describing the tea to be more water than milk (guess, the british way of a spot of milk in hot water). Spreading newspapers, mats, carpets, sleeping bags we went to sleep in the waiting room. Some people slept on the platform. The night was slow, and thick with the buzzing of mosquitoes.

Day 1 / Feb 12 Saturday

The day began early at 4:30 am. We used the spartan facilities of the waiting room for our Local/STDs/ISDs as pointed by kumuda later (Local is for your urges, STDs if you want to take a pee, ISDs for the nefarious necessary activities of potting).

We walked around 2 kms early morning to reach Dharmapuri bus-stand. The walk on the national highway was scary, with buses and lorries passing by you at breakneck speed and no indications of slowing. After tea/coffee we boarded a DVD bus to Hogenakal. As we neared Hogenakal everyone woke up from his/her slumber to admire the picturesque drive thru mountains and valleys.

Hogenakal is on the banks of Kaveri river (even though major portion of the water comes from the Kabini river, people still revere it as Kaveri). In kannada Hogenakal means “Smoking Stone”. This is because the water falling over the rocks and in rapids creates a fine mist like smoke over the rocks. Kaveri river here forms the border between the states of Karnataka and Tamilnadu. Its and idle place to enjoy water and water-falls.

Deciding to have our breakfast, we walked over to a sandy beach by the river, where the organizers of the treak went to making the breakfast with zest. The menu was Ragi-huri-hittu; A combination of thick milk, fried ragi powder(south karnataka’s staple cereal), jaggery. Mixing all the above you get a semi-solid black ball (black being the color of ragi), interspersed with pieces of jaggery. I remember awaiting to eat these balls in my childhood. Most of the others, not being familiar to this rough food, awaited the making with dread and terror. There were jokes galore on the preparation, with a lot of them taking umbrage if it was to be served later. All in all, the food went in and served us well for the rest of the day. We walked towards the falls, with a host of theppa-steersman following us.

The best way to see Hogenakal is on a theppa (a coracle which can seat around 5-6 people, ~2 mts in radius). The boatsman places you carefully in the theppa according to some very good balancing positions; note that coracles don’t topple if well balanced. The boatsman’s eye of balancing is skillful. You sit around the theppa with our back to the sides and all around you is the flowing river.

We took theppas for hire (along with the steersman) for a sum of Rs 200 per theppa. The ride was amazing. Some masseurs also accompanied us in the boat. The theppa is steered in fits and stops, not for a long distance because you reach the rocks of Hogenakal within 10-20 meters.

Hogenakal is also famous for it’s masseurs and therapeutic nature of the water. Sometimes the theppa-boatsman acts as the masseur. Reaching a mini water-fall amidst rocks with a small pond we retired for some good massage. Massage is not a fine art, it’s a rough art. The masseur pounds the living daylights of you. Using copious amounts of oils, he goes about thrashing your whole body to pieces. You just grab on to the stones for balance and show a non-chalant attitude to the pounding. Once the pounding stops you fall into a daze, the daze giving over to a soothing demeanor in your whole body. After the massage I swam in the waters and reached the water-fall. It is said that only the force of the water falling over your head from the heights can drive the oil from your head after the massage. The swim was wonderful, anytime you stop you feel a hundred pinpricks, which is the fish trying to eat the dead-skin from your body. Some more pounding by the masseur, this time with soap, which you wash away in the river. Madhu had the same experience, albeit in a secluded place by a female masseur, she came out glowing with the feeling and enjoying it to the hilt. She was very pleased with lalitha her masseur and tipped her heavy.

We had an idyllic ride on the theppa around hogenakal, visiting its innumerable falls and water-carved rock formations. There was some local lads who were willing to jump from a height in to the water, if payed 5 rs. A lot of the rock had been carbed hollow by the flowing water. Riding further we were in between cliffs of rock with the river flowing calm in between. We reached the other bank where we had to board a bus.

Our next destination was Gopinatham, a village amidst the dreaded Veerappan territory. When alive, this place resounded with the deeds of the poached Veerappan, with even the police fearing to go here. The ride to Gopinatham was uneventful, except for some of the team riding atop the bus, trying to dodge the various electric and telephone wires, and branches of the tree.

We had lunch at Gopinatham, having tea at a hut, with chapattis and obbattus. A borewell served us with water to drink and to wet our towels, hats and hair. The heat was intense with the sun sweltering. After lunch we started our long trek.

We had to trek from Gopinatham to Naagamalai, uphill; around 10 kms. After the first kilometer, the whole trek was uphill thru the mountains. We were carrying some heavy watermelons and cooking utensils; which bogged me and madhu in the first kilometer. After reaching a temple we put our foot down, saying that we will eat the watermelon and reduce the burden of carrying it. The temple was unique with the statue of one of the forms of durgi; the uniqueness being a man, dressed in regal hunte-wear standing beside the goddess, like her equal but with shoes on (which is a taboo in India). Someone quipped it might be an earlier version of Veerappan sans the the famed moustache. The rest of the journey was arduous and team spilt into multiple not everyone being able to cope up with others.

Me and madhu were in the group forging ahead of others. One of the surprise members of the group was the afore-mentioned Matilda madam. She trudged on and on with gayful abandon, swallowing the miles with ease. We were surprised to see her trudge on with such ease, what with her weight and shape. It was a true revelation.

At around 5pm, me and madhu walked ahead of others, wanting to reach the summit faster. Coming to a bend in the path, we stopped to rest. The moment we stopped we heard a loud noise, two shrill cries. We froze. It was an animal, a wild animal and it sounded very near. Deciding to move back and join the rest of the gang, we took two steps when we heard the noise again. Madhu could see the sound of footsteps on the forest floor. The next sentence she uttered was “kusi, take out your knife”. I was ready with the knife in my hand. The following sentence was “kusi, we are standing with our back to a wild animal”. So we faced opposite directions with our backs facing each other. It was chilling. It was an interminable wait, for a long time. Silence. Madhu also told about her sweat, and her legs all being wet and sticking to her pants with sweat.

Finally we heard the voice of the rest of the gang catching up with us, Matilda madam hurrying ahead and asking us if we heard the sounds too. She was alone when she heard it. Deciding to walk together we proceeded.

It was getting darker and we still could not see the end of our walk. At a rest on the way, Parasivamurthy pointed to a far off flag waving on top of the mountains. It seemed a good 2-3 miles further away. He said that was our destination. Naagamale. Madhu was pissed off, so far to go and the dark setting in thickly around us. No way, would we reach it before sun down. Her resolve was to walk faster, much faster than the others. Gathering up the remnant strength from the pits of her stomach she walked ahead, in fact speeded ahead, overtaking everyone. I was surprised by her stamina and walked behind. We reached our destination very soon.

What we had reached was not the flag that we saw fluttering ahead earlier, but a well and a flat land. This was where we would be cooking food, and sleeping for the night. There was a small pond beside the well.

Relieved to have reached a safe!! haven, we washed ourselves, drunk lots of water and got about the job of cooking. It was a huge affair with all the girls getting to the job in gusto, and most of the men sauntering about. Meanwhile some of the guys made some very powdery tea, which was relished by everyone. We had a very very hearty meal of vegetable pulav & curd raita.

A big discussion ensued after the meal, of whether to stay beside the well or trek up towards the flags. One group did not want to stay near the well, because of the pond and the prospect of some animal coming there for a drink. The other group wanted to stay put as this as safe as it gets. Meanwhile, we heard the animal-calls again in the dark of the night. Many dogs rushed ahead barking at an unseen object. Madhu was scared, and I scared her more pointing at the trees asking her to visualize a ghostly hand. Finally the group reached a decision to trek up. It was another arduous walk, after a heavy meal and in the night. However bulbs lit our path on the way up. It was another half and hour before we reached the top.

The place was amazing. We had reached a rocky outcrop. One side of the outcrop had a small temple, with a jagali ( a cement platform ) in front of it. Close to 20 people could sleep on the platform. On one side of the platform, you had a breath-taking view of the whole country, we could make the silhouettes of the other mountains. In another direction to the north, we could make out lights in the yonder distance which was Male Mahadeshwara hills, our destination for the next day. After a lot of shuffling, we laid down our heads and went to a blissful sleep.

Day 2 / Feb 13 Sunday

The day started early again, with me getting up at 6. I walked out into the forest trail beside the temple, in search of a closed bush. Finding one I finished my morning kriya’s. Prasanna showed us a path to a distant machan (watchtower) where you could have an amazing view of the whole valley. We trekked to the place, so as to view the sunrise from the machan. However, sun rose out of the mist and horizon midway in all its glory. After snaps of the sunrise we walked further to reach the machan. The view from the top was breath-taking. One could make out the river kaveri, mettur dam in the distance, the madumalai ranges in the distance, and the deep green valley. Many expressed their disgust at the plastic strewn around the machan.

Naagamale is the name given to the rocky outcrop where we rested. From a distance one can see a huge rock in the form of a lingam. Behind it is a thinner rock, like the hood of the snake, and over the lingam. This gives an impression of a shivalingam with the hood of the snake protecting it. Hence the name Naagamale.

After madhu finished her ablutions, I packed our bags, taking most of the luggage from her bag into mine. A pujari turned up, and offered us prasad and theertha. A photo session, with a lot of cameras clicking and we were on our way down to the well. Breakfast consisted of leftover pulav and puffed rice in milk. As a part of the team had gone to the watchtower a bit late, they arrived late for breakfast. Deciding to trek ahead of them, we set off in the hot sun.

Unlike what we had felt the previous night, Naagamale is surrounded by many villages. Sadly, even though there is electricity at Naagamale, there is none in the villages. That was the reason, we couldn’t see any lights the previous night.

The road to MM hills, winds thru the mountains. It is a narrow path, but unlike the path we took the previous day, a lot of villages use this path. This is the only road that the villagers can take to reach MM hills. Few coffee shops and rustic hotels litter the path. Some of the vistas from the path are breathtaking. But the sun, beats down on your head with utmost intensity. We proceeded on this path with intermittent rests. Once we rested on the verandah of a local school. Here we took over some “extra” luggage which was to accompany us for the rest of the journey. Madhu mixed some orange and lime juice into our water bottle, which later turned out to be a disaster for her, not having plain water to drink. Kumuda picked up a localite for accompaniment and trudged on with her. Rukmini, Pushpa, Fateh khan, Prasanna and us trekked along, passing each other, every other mile. Pushpa sprained her ankle in between, but it was not serious. We saw a lot of tourists trekking to visit Naagamale, and a lot of localites trekking to MM hills to cast their vote, this day being the Panchayat elections. I gulped down 3 glasses of buttemilk in between, which led me to have a constipation. At one of the borewells, madhu dumped her head so as to make it all wet to escape from the heat. At around 3 we reached MM hills, but to our ill luck, the free lunch served at MM hills had finished.

To enter the MM hills temple, we removed our shoe and jumped around on the hot tar road to reach the temple. The temple was not remarkable except for some garishly painted sculpture on the gopuram. Mahadeshwara, the god, sits atop a tiger. He was asked to fetch milk from a tiger, which we got with ease. The temple celebrates his success.

Madhu and Pushpa had lunch in a local restaurant and we boarded the bus back. We reached kollegal and found that there were no buses to Bangalore. Choosing to go to Mysore, we boarded the earlier bus to reach Mysore.