Hogenakkal - Trichy - Thanjavur: 2nd, 3rd July 2011

So much travel-packed has the previous month been that I need to go on a vacation again, this time just to relax. A trip in a weekend, back to Chennai onMonday morning, slug at work, keep sleeps at bay and push them into the night, write a travelogue, start off for the next trip on Friday night... - the last three weeks went in this fashion. Too much fun in too little time. And what's more, the next trip is in the making!

9:00 PM, 1st July 2011
Chennai Central Railway Station:
The moment Shankar, my colleague at Alstom Grid, had announced about his marriage, we booked tickets to Salem and from Trichy. Gopi and Sridhar were stuck in a queue for Marrybrown burgers when I spotted them in the hulla-balloo of a Friday-night crowd. Aravind and Thiru stood nearby with their parcels too - porotta and chicken curry. Karthik was spotted tapping on his newly-bought Android touch phone. He looked very happy. He might have a lot of Apps. Or perhaps because of the trip to start. Vijaykarthik spoke on phone, walking around and as though lecturing to the person at the other end. Anantha (the tallest among us and hence the rightful owner of the longest name, ie, Jegannathan Ananthapadmanaban) was the eightth person to join, thereby completing the tally. Waking up early in the morning - the train would reach Salem at 5.00 AM - was the only worry.
We headed towards Platform 6, Yercaud Express, coaches S1 and S13 - I was in S1, with Aravind, Thiru and Anantha. I had a nice sleep at night. But Vijay woke up everybody at 5.00, announced arrival at Salem. We got up, packed things and then Aravind found that we were in Bommidi - Salem was still an hour away!! All mumbled a few curses and went back to sleep. Thank god, Vijay was 10 compartments away and he did not hear. Finally we crawled out of the train to Platform No. 4, Salem junction. Drowsy and heads down, we moved to a coffee shop and asked for tea. The man was as bold in saying that there was no tea, as the letters were in the board on top that read "FILTER COFFEE". Karthik had a glass of milk, which he confessed to me later as a bad idea, when he failed twice in emptying his bowels at Vijay's house. The house, just 5 minutes away, took 10 minutes to reach by bus!!! Peaceful area and wonderful neighbours - there was a girl next door who worked in Infosys, Chennai. The eight of us freshed up in the outhouse, said good-bye to Vijay's parents, set off in a Chevrolet Tavera Vijay had arranged. Very friendly driver. His skill plus the smoothness of the Salem - Bengaluru NH kept us in 90's, on an average. Trucks caused nuisance, here and there. Looked like they were on slow-driving races!! Felt pity at the trailer drivers. Now hunger struck - everybody put his head out in search of restaurants. Again Vijay came to aid - he proclaimed that there was an Adyar Ananda Bhavan (A2B, as Chennaiites call with love) near Dharmapuri. Heads pulled in and less bothered then, we all desperately tried to search for some movie song CD. The driver was helpless in this regard - he had only devotional songs. The SONY walkman that I had saved the day - Kadhal Virus and Kadhal Desam songs brought solace. I almost slept romancing over memory remenisces, while the vehicle halted in the parking lot of A2B. Now we jumped out, in no time the orders were taken and breakfast served. Awesome cuisine - infact this A2B served much better food than Chennai A2Bs. Idli and kichadi melted in my mouth. Bought a lot of Kurkure and Lays and Mirinda and 7-UP. The flower garden in front of the restaurant and the hills that stretched on the other side of the road together studioed a good background for photography. A few clicks later we were all inside the cab, huddled up because bags consumed a lot of space, and Lays and Kurkure were not to be crumbled! I love sitting in the luggage space at the back of big vehicles like Sumo, Qualis, Tavera, etc. Lack of ventillation, sometimes, was the only problem. Karthik and I started a discussion on automobiles. I thought I had an advantage being a mechanical engineer, but Karthik was very well equipped with updated info on the automotive sector. Sridhar also joined. We dug up to the level of energy conservation, and eventually it died out when none of us were sure of what we spoke about! Now we were on a diversion from the NH - towards Hogenakkal. On either side, the muddy terrain gradually gave way to a rocky one. Tiny bushes imparted a uniform but dull ornation to the hillsides. There were channels by the roadside which could have been streams once. Wherever we go, the deforestation network follows.

10 AM, 2nd July 2011
Jetty, Hogenakkal:
How frightening is Hogenakkal if read as "hoge na kal", meaning tomorrow wont exist!!! It seemed true - even though Hogenakkal was a tourist hotspot, there was no sign of any measures taken to preserve it. No cleanliness, garbage thrown on the roadsides, I felt pity. Hogenakkal
village charges Rs. 20 for vehicle entry. And there is separate parking fees in TTDC parking lot. After changing to boxers and shorts, we meet the "parisal" employees union to negotiate rates. [Parisals are small circular boats made of bamboo and tarpauliin sheet, using molten tar to fill gaps]. A parisal can carry 6 persons apart from the oarsman. We gave in for Rs. 2800 for 8 of us - 4 each in 2 parisals. In rainy reason when water-level is high, it is difficult to approach the falls in a parisal from downstream. Parisals and their passengers are taken to a place some two kilometres upsream, in a goods carrier [see photo above]. At that place, where the Cauvery shows her majesty - it was where the river was the broadest, the water was less turbulent at the shore, and so it was a relatively good place for the parisal to enter. All of us roared as the oars took us inwards. It took a moment to come out of that delight, the magnificent panorama that a parisal ride offered was breath-taking. [In photo, just after the parisal took off]. We yawed and swayed in the waves, the oarsman manoeuvred across the waves with sturdy reflexes of his arms. Crocodiles were in plenty, he said, and they had not tasted human flesh so far, he claimed. If at all a croc attacked anybody, it was hunted down and killed before it started preying on humans. Frightened on hearing this fact, nobody dared to put their hands in water to splash on others' faces. The flowing river was so beautiful that all of us ignored the hot sun and enjoyed the scenery. I was spell-bound at the oarsman's expertise in navigating through the unpredictable and irregular waves, and cutting across the flow, right through it was no silly task. Wow. Respect.
He took us to a bank where there was a small bridge that ran half way across the river, and offered a close-up view of the falls [see photo below, left]. The falls have a U-shaped edge. Water caved in from this edge into the depth below, and down there, water was milky-white and foamy. From the view point, those who liked taking risks may go to a particular spot on the edge - where a small tree shooted out from a protruding rock. This was the favourite photoshoot destination at Hogenakkal, there was a commotion of people waiting for their turn (to risk their lives), crowdy enough to push a person or two down the cliff. We too clicked many photos at that place. Got wonderful snaps, soon all would change their social networking profile pics. There were intermittent sprays of water that rose from the bottom of the falls, and due to this, it was very difficult to take photos, for fear of the moisture damaging the digi cam lens. Although we took care, there was moisture along the sides of the lens, and it was tough wiping and blotting it out. The oarsman, now our guide, showed us a place where it was possible to take bath and swim. The next moment, I was in, swimming across a small but powerful stream. Most of the others followed, though only after their turns of oil massage that they had booked for. I saw the massuer twisting and folding Vijay's arms behind, and he howled!! Aravind and Thiru enjoyed it
the most, they were the last ones to hit the water. Anantha and I decided not to have massages, so got to remain in water for a longer time. I paid for my over-excitement, when I was washed a dozen feet down the stream while I tried to swim against the flow. I caught hold of a rock, thank god. There was no real danger though, the worst would have been being stranded on a rock farther down the stream. About an hour spent there was gone with the blink of an eye. All the non-vegetarians had fried fish. Tempted, Karthik, Vijay and I bought mangoes! But sweet mangoes they were, pure and fresh, no ripening chemicals injected. You never get such mangoes in Chennai.
Upon the guide's instructions, we got into the parisal again, and he took us to the opposite bank, from where we proceeded to restaurants for lunch. We veggies chose TTDC hotel, while the NVs had arranged somebody to cook for them. It came out very expensive for them - cooking cost Rs. 700, and they bought fish for Rs. 250. I had to be satisfied with one of the last plates of meals served in TTDC hotel that afternoon - meals with no good curry and a very 'cordial' waiter who gave us a snare when we asked for more curd. Ah! But no complaints as we were too hungry. The idea of checking out the smaller falls around seemed ridiculous to a few, but finally all decided to stick as a team and proceeded towards the falls inside the woods where there was a provision to take bath right under the falls, with rows of hand-rails for support and protection. Water came down with such force, it was hard to believe it was water itself. The splashes were rock-hard, and my neck and shoulders became red and ached after I remained under the water for a long time. My shorts were taken all the way down to my feet when I decided I better left hold of the shorts and caught the rail. I got the shorts back though. We came out after sometime, dried our clothes and returned to the car. On the way we captured many videos in Karthik's handycam, most of which have my stupid commentary running.
It was 5 PM when we finally started off from Hogenakkal. Reaching Shankar's reception at Trichy was in doubt. When doubt gave way to impossibility, we decided to take our time. Dropped Vijay near Salem, as he preferred staying home. On the way to Trichy, visited Namakkal Anjaneyar Kovil. The 32 feet tall idol was the biggest one I have seen inside any temple. Had dinner at a restaurant 'Annapurna' at Namakkal, and we were the only ones in that deserted hotel. The hotel must be atleast a decade old. When someone asked a waiter when this hotel was built, the waiter replied "No idea sir, I have joined only a couple of days back". Thank god nobody asked when the idlis served were made!! I would not have been brave enough to receive a similar answer, no, not when I had already swallowed three idlis!! Again, we gave more weightage to belly-filling than to taste, and consoled ourselves. Sleep slowly invaded one by one when back on the road to Trichy, and all except the driver were asleep when one of the rear tyres got puntured. All of us got out of the car, and the driver was at work replacing the puntured tyre with a stepney. We dumbly watched the spectacle from the middle of the road. I was numbed by sleep, I did not even think of offering help. All of a sudden out of nowhere a police squad came and shooed us off the road. It was an accident-prone area, they warned. Trichy was about 10 kms from that place, and it was 11.15 PM when we reached the hotel in which Shankar had arranged our stay. The room allotted to us was an A/C dormitory, spacious enough for 10-15 people to sleep. Through my sleepy eyes and drooped eye-lids, I saw Meni, Guna, Anwar and team playing cards. They invited us to join but we were badly in need of sleep, and in ten minutes, all were in snore-deep sleep.

6:00 AM, 3rd July 2011
Temple Inn, Trichy:
Anantha and I woke up early, had bath and reached Srirangam Ranganathaswamy temple [the gopuram of the temple in photo] by 7:30 AM, but the kovil doors close in front of us for 'sevai' or 'pooja'. It would re-open at 9 o'clock. In the meanwhile visited Thiruvanaikoil Jambukeswarar Akilandeswari temple. The temple premises extended over a vast area, with a towering 'Rajagopuram' and many high outer walls or the 'Prakara's. The largest one, known as the 'Vibhuti Prakara, stretched over a mile. The 'shivalinga' was a couple of feet below the ground, and at during rainy season, it got half submerged by the Cauvery water flowing underground. This temple, representing water, is one of the 'Panchabhuta Sthala's or the five main Shiva temples in Tamil Nadu, each representing one among the five great elements. The idea of having breakfast at the Mandapam was good, since we could meet Shankar, say hi to him, rush back to Srirangam temple, stand in the Rs. 50 special 'darsan' queue, and have a good darsan of Perumal/Vishnu. Still, we just made it in time to the Mandapam for Muhurtham. Wished the newly weds - Shankar and his wife Gandhimati a happy married life and we proceeded for lunch. It was splendid - so many Tamil delicacies, all very tasty. Hats off to the caterers. There was hardly time left to take rest at the hotel, because we packed out things and started off in a Tavera again, this time arranged by the local boy Gopi. But he decided to stay back at his house in Trichy. 'Kallanai' was the next destination.

2:30 PM, 3rd July 2011
Kallanai, Trichy:
Built centuries back by the Chola king Kariakalan, Kallanai or the Grand Anicut still stands as an engineering marvel. This is a place where the joint waters of Cauvery and Bhavani rivers split into two - Kollidam and Cauvery, which engulf between them the Thanjavur delta[in photo, the two regulators across the two rivers are visible. Photo courtesy: Wikipedia]. The king deployed thousands of labourers to regulate the flow to the two daughter rivers thereby diverting the flow to form a third branch. This water was used for irrigational and house-hold purposes. The British, awe-struck at this unbelieveably constructed dam and that too in a plain, however repaired and strengthened the regulator to the way it stand today. Under the leadership of Sir Arthur Cotton, in 19th Century, a dam was built across Kollidam. When I saw a few young boys jumping into the river from atop a concrete shed nearby, I was tempted. Aravind helped me to climb on top of that shed and then without any second thought, I leapt. Then I realized the depth, the flow, the power of the river. It was an absolute thrill!! After coming in terms with reality, I dried my clothes and joined the others who waited for me. Masala mangoes and cool 'nannaari sharbath" quenched my hunger and thirst. The next destination was Thanjavur Brihadeeswarar temple or Peruvadaiyaar Koyil or Rajarajeswaram.

5:00 PM, 3rd July 2011
Brihadeeswarar Temple, Thanjavur:
This Shiva temple was built in the 11th Century by its patron Rajarajachola. [In photo, the main tower of the temple]. Even though three centuries younger when compared to Srirangam temple, the Thanjavur temple exhibited older architecture forms. It was difficult to imagine how 15 - 20 feet tall monolithic pillars were transported and sculptured. Lack of automated assistance infact was a factor for increased manual skill-level of ancient artists. In modern times, all you need is the know-how to operate the interface. The Thanjavur temple has a very well kept lawn around. Right in front, facing the main 'gopura', is a huge 'Nandi'. There was a lot of space left in Karthik's handycam, so we took many videos again of the marvellous architecture around. There was a little bit of shopping to do in the market outside the temple. I bought a lamp - pot which can be hung on a hook, and has a special technique of emptying and re-filling oil. The car took us back to Trichy at 9 PM. The road was not good, the driver was equally bad, and it was a horrible sleepless journey. Sangeetha (with open roof dining) was the most happening hotel in Trichy. We entered the hotel and searched for seats everywhere for about 15 minutes. When it was sure that we will miss the train if we hang around there some more time. Luckily there there was another Sangeetha (closed roof) next door, and we were the first persons to enter the hotel on that evening. The waiters flocked around us to take orders. Food was very good, and we rushed to the railway station, reached there at 10.00 PM.The train started at 10.20 PM. All eight of us had adjacent seats, so we occupied the cabin and chatted about the trip and each one shared his experience, and this session was captured in a video - this was the last clip in the handycam that trip.

5:00 AM, 4th July 2011
Tambaram, Chennai:
The crawl starts again at Tambaram railway station. Gopi, Aravind, Vijay, Sridhar and I board a bus. Gopi fixes himself in a gujaal when as a reply to his "two Pallavaram, anna", the conductor comes up with an early morning PJ - "thambi, there are no two Pallavarams, there is only one."!!! Oh my god. When the conductor came to me he had to nudge me to bring me to senses - I was thinking about the next trip!!! Already.
Here again, I had a wonderful team with me for the trip. Sridhar, Aravind, Thiru, Anantha, Gopi, Vijay and Karthik (as in the photo from left ) - we made a real good team. Vijay was an incredible, his knowledge about temples and history is much above the levels of any tourist guide. Karthik, our tour manager did a good work, with his fool-proof accounting and meticulous organizing. And we already have a plan set and tickets booked for our next outing. I dont disclose it hear, for preserving the element of surprise. :)

Footnote - Tips for travellers:
1. The A2B at Dharmapuri is the best place to eat on the Salem - Bengaluru NH.
2. If you want a parisal ride, visit Hogenakkal on a weekday in the rainy season. On weekends, due to rush of tourists, the parisal fellows might increase the rate and cut down the ride time so as to come back and get the next group. Simple logic - the more rounds they get, the more they earn.
3. There is a Rock-fort temple and another place "Mukkombu" in Trichy which are must see. I missed those.
4. Srirangam temple opens at 6:00 AM, and it is best to be there by that time. You can get darsan and come out by the time the doors close at 7:30 for sevai. After 9:00 AM, on weekends, queues might give you a hard time with more than two hours wait. Thiruvanaikoil does not have such a problem.
5. Visit Kallanai in the evening. A bath in the Cauvery will refresh your body.
6. Spend an evening and sunset at Thanjavur Brihadeeswarar temple. The lawn and the breeze are enough to shed off the day's fatigue.