Trek to Sathuragiri

We were planning for Sathuragiri Hills from last year. Public are allowed only 6 days in a month, 3 days each during New Moon & Full moon Days (i.e Day before & Day after with full moon or new moon days). We were waiting for that to fall on some Sunday to avoid taking leave. Also the hills are under protected category.

The plan was to start from Bangalore by noon and reach Srivilliputhur (~500 Kms) for night stay. Then start early in the morning, drive to Sathuragiri base for trekking up the hill. And get down by evening & return back by Sunday night around 12 'O clock.

The journey started around 12:30 PM on 25-8-18 from my home after a good lunch. Me & my friend Velumani were only the team.

As usual the city traffic slowed us down as we reached Hosur GRT junction by 2 PM. We took a tea & fuel break near Kariamangalam and resumed our journey. We reached Salem in 3.5 hours. The weather was good for the drive & it also rained in between.

With another tea break at Thirumangalam around 6:40 PM before some 50 Kms from our destination, we started our journey in the single road to reach Krishnan Kovil by 7:30 PM. We enquired about the rooms in that place & luckily there were a few of them. We enquired & got a room in a private Boys Hostel nearby, took the keys & rushed to Srivilliputhur Andal Temple (~8 Kms).

We reached the temple entrance by 8:30 PM to see a huge Gopuram which was a fascinating sight. We finished the darshan in Vatapathrasayee Temple & proceeded to Andal Temple where the security guard stopped me to say that people in shorts are not allowed inside. (Normally I used to wear shorts during drive/travel). With 10-15 mins left for the closing time, I got a dhoti from a nearby shop & finished our darshan. The architecture of the temple was nice with huge pillars & carvings in it. After a nice dinner in a nearby roadside hotel, we retired to our room by 10:00 PM. 

Srivilliputhur Andal Temple Gopuram  at night...

 

FYI: Srivilliputhur temple gopuram is the one that is seen in the Tamil Nadu State Emblem.

 

The next day started at 4:30 AM as we didn’t have a good night’s sleep because of mosquitoes, even with fan ON in full speed. We got ready by 5:15 AM & left to Thanipaarai which was 20 Kms from Krishnan Kovil. The road took us into some villages with good roads. We reached there around 5:45 AM & squeezed my car at the only available slot. The parking was full, may be because of the crowd that had arrived last night. People are allowed to climb the previous evening, night stay at the hilltop, have darshan & return in the morning.

Entrance at 6 AM. 

 

As we were waiting for the gates to open by 6:00AM, we had some tea in a local shop. When enquired about duration to climb up, the shop keeper told that it will take minimum 3 Hrs depending upon climbing experience. We estimated that we will return back by 4 PM only.

This was the scene when gates opened...

After a long wait, the gates opened by 6:30 AM. The initial path was made of concrete steps. As we walked, we saw some blood marks on the steps for almost 400-500 mts. It was then we came to know that there was a bear attack early in the morning (around 4:30 AM) because of which the gates were opened late. Some 2 men climbed down the hill early in the morning, which was not allowed & got attacked by the animal. We heard that the bear hurt the guy’s face & dragged him for a while. Luckily this happened near the entrance & the other guy brought some help at the right time. 

Initial path...

 

 

All the devotees were cursing that guys as why they have to get down at that time. With this interesting topic to talk, we continued our walk past the concrete steps to reach the Ganesh temple. Devotees performed pooja there & we continued our walk past the Karuppanna Swamy Temple & Pechiamman Temple.

Ganesha Temple... 

 

 

 

Now started the actual trek with only stones & rocks. We came across many devotees coming down. Then came the Irettai Lingam temple (2 Lingams insame sanctum) after some distance. The path was full of big stones & rocks some of which was also path for rain water during rains. No wonder many people lost their lives in the flood during 2015.
But this time it was dry & no sign of water nearby but there was greenery.

 

 

 

 

 

The trek path was dotted with many shops with all local refreshments at regular intervals. We hardly had 2 breaks for butter milk & juice as we walked non-stop to reach a place where there was provision to take bath. We understood that we are almost near the temple seeing the bathing place. In few minutes we were at the temple arch and for our surprise, we reached there it in 2 hours.

 

 

Bathing place while going up...

 

 

We entered the Sundara Mahalingam Temple arch, took some pics & walked through to the temple. On the way we say many mutts who do “Annadana” for the devotees. One such mutt person invited us to have food & go to the temple. We assured him that we will finish the darshan & come there. Many Sadhus were seated on the way to the temple. We entered the temple finished the darshan, posed for some pics & headed for the mutt as we were damn hungry.

Temple Entrance Arch...

 

Sathuragiri Temple Open Dates 2018...

 

 

 

 

The Sundara Mahalingam Temple...

 

 

"Annadanam" place 

 

From there we headed to Santhana Mahalingam Temple, which was half a KM from there & we had to climb a little bit. After darshan, we relaxed a bit there as many other devotees did. We started the descent by 10 AM through the same path. 

Path to Santhana Mahalingam Temple...

 

 

 

 

Bathing place while coming down...

 

 

On the way back we took a detour to Korakkar cave. 

Korakkar cave...

 

 

 

 

Sad scene to see the monkeys' thirst... 

 

Finally crossing all the temples & rocky paths, we reached the base by 12 PM. The blood marks of the attacked person were still seen that time. After having some refreshment we left the place in joy as we were 4 hours before our schedule.

At the Ganesha temple...

Target reached... at the entrance

 

As I had to take some photos of Srivilliputhur gopuram in day time, we reached Srivilliputhur by 1 PM. We took some pics, finished a decent lunch in a hotel nearby the temple & started to Bangalore by 2 PM.

Srivilliputhur Andal Temple Gopuram...

 

The drive was awesome till Salem after which traffic started. With some 2 tea breaks & a fuel break, we reached home at 9 PM.

My mobile app showed our activities as below...

As a conclusion, It was great to visit this place where 18 Siddhas were said to live here (This is also called as "Siddargal boomi"). Every trek is a different experience, with its unique identity.
I can surely say that this trek was much easier than our Parvathamalai Trek. Will plan to stay overnight on top the next time.
As for the facilities, drinking water is available at many places. Proper facilities/amenities are available at the top for a night stay and its safe for ladies too.

Route Taken:

Bangalore-Hosur-Salem-Karur-Dindigul-Thirumangalam-Krishnan kovil-Srivilliputhur: 500 Kms

Krishnan kovil-Thaaniparai-Srivilliputhur: 50 Kms

Srivilliputhur-Krishnan kovil-Thirumangalam-Dindigul-Karur-Salem-Hosur-Bangalore: 500 Kms