Velliangiri (Vellingiri) - Overnight Trek - Seven Hills - At its toughest

After Sathuragiri, we (I and my friend) wanted to visit Velliangiri and we were waiting for the right time. Finally we decided to go on Saturday (next day after full moon), second day after the general elections.  The plan was to start from our home and return to Chennai on Sunday night. As usual we failed to book Tatkal ticket for our return.

We started from our home respectively from Dharmapuri and Namakkal on April 20th afternoon. Both of us reached Erode around 4.15 PM and got into a private bus and it started heading towards Coimbatore. It’s the same route that I used to travel on the weekends of my collage days and it made me to look back into those old memories. While we were at Karumathampatti, it was drizzling and it started raining heavily the more we go into the City and that made our plan doubtful. We crossed KMCH, SITRA, CMC/CIT, HOPES, PEELAMEDU and finally reached GANDHIPURAM and realized that,"Oh It didn't rain here". We roamed around the roads of GANDHIPURAM to find a mess for our dinner and ended up in a normal hotel and had a light dinner. When we enquired about the bus to Poondi, one conductor told in a rushed tone "Go and catch that moving 7.15 PM bus". We had a slight run to get into the bus. It started running through the roads of the City and it was slowly taking us away from the City and finally we reached the base by around 9.00 PM.

We worshipped the God at the base of the mountain and we went through a plastic clearance check. You are not allowed to carry any plastic items. We didn’t anticipate that much crowd. Everyone was holding a stick but we skipped to carry it. We started climbing the 1st hill. The stone steps welcomed us and made us tired soon. We stopped two times for a quick refresh and after sometime we reached the start of the 2nd hill. The god's sculpture (vellai vinayagar) is what people call it as end of the 1st hill. We were told that 1st and 7th hills are the hardest ones. It gave us a little relaxed feel once we climbed up the 1st hill. We enquired about when the steps will end and we were told that "go for little more distance and the remaining is kind of pathway only".  We were little happy to hear that and soon realized it is not. The 2nd hill also was kind of steps only. We crossed valuku parai (the steps are carved in a big rock almost for 50 yards) and papamati sithar cave and further we climbed up. There was no clear boundary between 2nd and 3rd hill and we continued on the pathway which had steps structure formed by stones and mud.  In between we stopped couple of times to have snacks and "sukku kothamalli coffee". At last the pathway changed to a different form with minimum steep steps and also it’s a different kind of soil in sandalwood color. Yes. That was the 4th hill. The air was filled with chillness and it energized us. We continued. The 5th hill also had similar track like previous one. We were threatened by lightning and thunderstorm. However we moved with crowd. After a while we reached the end of the 5th hill and we stopped for another sukkku coffee  around 11.00 PM and it was wonderful.

We started walking again with new energy.   We thought of going nonstop. We have to climb up the 6th hill and then climb down across the valley and again we need to start climbing up the mammoth 7th hill. Once we reached the top of the 6th hill we were surprised as the powerful solar lights on the "Suyambu Lingam" temple gave us the hint about the height of the 7th hill. We started climbing down on the 6th hill. There was a rough and deep slope and series of wood were placed in a ladder form to pass that and we crossed it very carefully using our hands and legs. We walked further more down. It started drizzling and we didn't have either plastic bags or some trekking bags included with cover to safeguard purse and wallet. Though the plastic bags are not allowed for people to carry, the two sides of the pathway were filled with so much of plastics and bottles. Every shop there used to sell lot of items wrapped in a plastic. There are even no dustbins placed. We felt worse looking at all these. After few minutes’ walk we stopped around 11.30 PM in a shop as it started raining more. It was a little big hut hence around 50 people were standing/sitting inside for the rain. That place was nearly at end of the 6th hill. After around 20 minutes the rain had come down. People returning started moving to escape another possible rain. Also the shop owner urged everyone to free the hut and we too started moving down the hill. After a while it started drizzling again which made us little worry.  Soon we reached the end of 6th hill and there were few more little shops. We didn’t stop there and we marched towards the 7th hill along with the people. Almost around 25 minutes would have been passed, the rain started thrashing. There was no place to hide. We couldn't go either up or down. We were trapped squarely in the middle of the hill. We spotted a rock but it didn't help us to hide but it allowed us to stand there safely. People stopped where they were and there were around 10 people standing with us. Soon the rain hit us forcefully. We just sat at one side of the rock holding our bags tightly in the desire of saving our phone and purse. We couldn't even move an inch and we just adjusted ourselves little according to the rain directions in the brightness of the lightning. My T-shirt was also on top of my bag. Every minute I was squeezing it and placing it on top my bag again to avoid more water getting inside the bag. I was holding my bag very tightly between my body and legs. My friend was sitting next to me in a fixed stance and holding his bag tightly. We sat simply in the squat position at the opposite direction of the rain. In between we tried to find another spot to hide but we failed. Almost after half an hour we were shivering and thinking of "What to do, if it not stops". We thought of going down, however people there suggested that going down is not a good idea. Water started flowing across the path we climbed up. 15 more minutes passed by and we were clueless and everyone there started sensing a kind of fear including us. At last the speed of rain drops was decreased and it came back to drizzling mode. We got cramps in our legs when we tried to move and the shivering didn't stop. We managed to find another rock with the help of a lightning on the other side the hill which played as temporary shelter for us. Three more joined us. We relaxed for a while and still it was raining slightly.  All of our clothes were wet. Luckily we were able to save our mobile and purse, though the rupee notes were little wet, everything was safe. Time was around 1.15 AM. 

In sometime a group of 8 people joined us under the same rock. Everyone started throwing conversations and the place was quite fun filled for some time. It was around 2.30 AM and we were in a comfort place. Few were suggesting to stay there till the SUN rays shows light. But also we had a question "how long it will take for SUN rise in this hill". People started moving up and down the hill. The rain almost stopped. Three from the group moved on. The rest of us stayed in that high altitude from where you can see the clouds over Siruvani dam with straight eye sight. Nearly more than an hour passed by, rain stopped completely and the place was covered by mists in all directions. My body started shivering more as the cold mists were slapping heavily. We all realized that the only way to keep the body warm is to continue to walk either up or down rather than getting frozen under the rock. We both of us started moving up, the path was so slippery and most of the time it was like crawling. Also as there was a crowd, we were going slowly. Around 4.30 AM we reached the Lord Shiva temple on the top made up of three covered rocks. It was a divine feeling to get the Dharshan on that high altitude surrounded by clouds.  We told ourselves "Yes! We did it".

With a happy feeling we started climbing down from 7th hill. As the pathway was very muddy we were coming down slowly. We reached the base of the 7th hill and it was a clear weather outside. We continued further and at the end of the 6th hill we spotted an awesome view of Siruvani dam covered with clouds. We clicked few shots in our mobile. Also when we looked back we were astonished with the view of gigantic 7th hill with a rock on the top and we told ourselves, ‘Oh! No! It’s huge really'.  After spending some time, we left from there. 

When we were walking across the 5th hill, we were presented with a spectacular view of SUN rays started hitting the ground tearing the clouds on the land side. Soon, Sun also started increasing the density of its rays and we were getting tiredness. We realized pain in our legs and we couldn’t go faster. We stopped couple of times for a quick refresh. The steps were not reducing quicker. Somewhat we managed to reach the 1st hill. We had to climb down through the stone steps of big hill in a little sunny weather. We lost all our energy almost. Our legs were out of our control. Couple of watermelon pieces gave us good breath. Slowly we reached the base around 10.00 AM. We had left with no energy and we decided to go Coimbatore and we reached there around 11.15 AM. We thought of returning to Chennai as we couldn't even think of visiting other places. There was no direct bus to Chennai, we boarded a Salem bus and after a late lunch at Salem we boarded a Chennai bus around 4.15 PM. Finally we reached Chennai around 1.30 AM and we reached our home around 2.30 AM. What else, Time for a deep sleep.

Are you planning to Visit?

Based on the information I gathered from the shop owners, It is allowed for three months from Maha Shivarathri (Tamil months of Maasi, Panguni and Chithirai). If you ask me for  English Months, it changes somewhere from February to May. There are special buses in addition to normal buses during this occasion.I would suggest to start at night and plan for a sunrise at the top. As these three months falls in summer, day trek would drain all your energy. Misty Morning on top of the 7th hill would give you a blessed feeling. Girls are not allowed. Only aged ladies and kids are allowed. Girls can visit till the temple at the base of the hill.

Please make sure that you carry a torch and hand stick (can be bought at the base) and necessary snacks items, glucose (if required) and water. Also please don’t carry any plastic (remember it is not allowed) and avoid carrying too much luggage. Bags with rain cover would be more advisable.

Finally,

The 13 hours of journey became never forgettable one with witnessing all sort of weather conditions including normal, rainy, misty and sunny. Though my legs were paining for couple of days, it gave me a feel of an accomplishment.

End Note:

I would like to extend my sincere thanks to each and every one who spends time to read the blogs. I am very lucky and fortunate to have group of friends who provides continued support. I am very much thankful for their feedback on the initial versions and motivation.