Ooty’s beauty – In two derivatives
Derivatives of Ooty? What does it mean? Does it mean seasonal change of Ooty, two shades of Ooty or something else? This time it’s a bit different. I am taking you people to a fun run through Ooty of Tamil Nadu. Does it mean two places with the same name? Not at all. One Ooty belongs to rich while the other one belongs to poor, known as Poor man’s Ooty. Through this article I am describing everything about these two hill stations.
Ooty – Queen of all Hill stations
Why is Ooty so special among all tourist destinations when we search for hill stations? Does mist of Ooty bring something rare? When we search our old autograph pages, it’s sure there will be some mention of Ooty somewhere, particularly among South Indians. For many persons, it brings back some romantic thoughts while for others it showers those memories of lost college days. Those pine trees, tea plantations and eucalypts trees begins to appear from the mist of lost memories. Small houses like match boxes give a spectacular view at night. Friendship, honeymoon or romance – Ooty is everyone’s sweet and favourite dream.
You can place camera anywhere, Ooty is beautiful in all angles – say famous directors and cameraman. It’s every director’s hot favourite. Those romantic scenes captured in between the pine trees in the background of mist make us all love this beautiful hill station. Can anyone imagine some scenes of Kashmir of movie ‘Roja’ was picturised from Ooty? Using salt, light and cotton, art director created another Kashmir in Ooty. Film shooting is common in Ooty.
Ooty also known as Udhagai (abbreviated from Udhayamandalam) is the district capital of Nilgiri district. You need to start from Mettupalayam and cross 14 hairpin bends to reach Conoor. Again you need to travel a little distance to reach the hill top. On the way you can see blue mountains, green forests, small streams and waterfalls. You should stop your vehicle at a few view points to see deep green valleys and town beneath. If it’s early morning or evening those deep valleys will be filled with mist.
Ooty lake – let us begin here
I am sure it’s the most beautiful spot of Ooty for those who love lakes and horse rides. It’s an artificial lake built by John Sullivan, the engineer who created this hill station. To get full enjoyment of the lake and nearby park, visit it in the evening after 5 pm. Entry is allowed till 6.30 pm only. When you return back you can buy a few Ooty plants for your garden. You can see a lot of people spending their evening watching the lake or lying on grass mattress. Those who return back after a lake ride say, “My mind is not satisfied yet”. Some people are interested in taking photographs to capture all those scenes to see it after years. Some people are interested in Anthakshari while a few others in game shows. Horse ride is also available there. It’s children’s favourite to see whole Ooty riding on a horse.
Fantasy rides, dashing cars, ghost house – kids have a lot to enjoy in the park. They can also enjoy a fine ride of about 1 km along the lakeside in a train. It costs 10 rs only. Yet kids love it most. Let me add one more thing, when you sail in boat to reach the other bank of this artificial stream you can see the deer park. You can view them from the boat, but no entry point from that bank. You need to pay the same amount as casual deposit in a cash counter before you go for boating. In case you are not able to return back in half hour, you will lose that money paid by you. Pedal boat, speed boats and guides to sail boats for you – all are available there. We need to give tips to the sailor. He will take a family photo for you, if you ask him so.
Doddabetta Peak
This peak is the highlight of Ooty tourism, the place notorious for suicide point where lovers used to commit suicide in love failures. Now security has been tightened to make it a hot destination point for the tourists. Telescope view from the tower, walk through the garden, having a cold ice cream in the morning, the slope to the Doddabetta Peak view point – everything is so special. This peak is situated at 2,623 meters high, making it the highest point of the district. The green view from this point and the tower are both breathtaking. People are willing to spend hours at this destination. Why not? It’s the jewel of Ooty.
Doddabetta Peak view is best in the early morning and late evening when mist adds extra ornaments to nature’s beauty to decorate it more. Visiting time is 9.30 am to 5.30 pm. You need to climb about 10 kms from Ooty main town to reach this ‘suicide’ point. On the way you can see a lot of pine trees and see small groups here and there enjoying the journey and taking photos in the forest. Those trees were planted years back by the British. Shooting of movie ‘Roja’ was done beneath those pine trees.
On the left side of view point you can see Mettupalayam and Bhavani Sagar. On right side, you can see Mysore and Gundelpett. You can see persons busy with their mobiles and cameras to take photos. Persons without both these items are rare to see. That may be the reason why Tourism Department adds extra 30 rupees for every tourist spot to carry camera inside. On return it’s possible to see wild yaks in deep woods, a common scene of this location. Do not disturbthem if you don’t want to get into trouble.
Tea factory tells the story of tea making
When you return back never forget to enter the tea factory. It tells you the story of tea making and gives a sample tea when you return. Will anyone be present in this chilled Ooty town who doesn’t prefer to have a tea once returned from Doddabetta Peak! Though this tea factory is under private sector, it functions under Tamil Nadu Tourism. Everything is well arranged that tells the story from tea leaf collection to the final story of tea powdering to different categories. When we drink sample tea and see people before tea shops inside to buy tea, it’s sure this thought will come in our mind, “Business is success with tourism and tea promotion!”
Just near the tea factory you can find homemade chocolate shops and Ayurvedic medicines shops. You can buy some natural facial packs too, though they are high-priced. Tea and chocolates are the assets of Ooty. There is a chocolate factory just near Canoor diary firm from where chocolates reach shops of Ooty. Small shops and big shops of Ooty are filled with such home made chocolates of different variants. Outside the tea factory, you can get the amazing view of small homes in slopes from the hill top. You can buy a few bundles of yellow coloured Ooty flowers and natural honey when you return.
Botanical garden – beautiful view of natural slopes and trees
This vast spread garden is filled with a lot of trees and grass lands. It’s one among the main attractions of Ooty. Most recently an Italian garden has been introduced. During season the garden is filled with a large variety of flowers. Seasons everywhere – when you see people around, you feel so. Some people are busy in playing games while others, taking rest. Boards are placed in every corner asking not to pluck flowers or damage plants, if so fine will be leased. You can walk for distance enjoying the lovely scenery and flowers if you are interested. It gives a lot of fresh air to breathe. You can buy Ooty plants also. Flowers blossom well in the cold climate comparing high humidity places of normal regions. Tibet markets, fruit and flower markets, perfume shops and medicinal shops – you can find a lot of things that you can’t find anywhere else. You can purchase those things if you need.
Shooting locations near Paikara Lake
Paikara lake is beautiful than Ooty lake. Famous Pine Forest of Ooty is on the way to this charming lake. Many beautiful movie songs have been picturised in this location. Beneath the pine forest, flows a silent stream, so romantic! Grass land at 6th mile is another favourite location of directors. Though those grasslands appear near we can have long distant walks through the grasslands.
Sunset at rose garden
Another spectacular spot to watch is of course, rose garden. If you have enough time, you can spend one day here buried in the rose beauties. Garden is so vast and has been constructed on a slope. It’s an amazing evening walk to see the town view from the mountain top. You can see steep cuts downwards as if steps are provided. If it’s evening, you can get the amazing view of sunset. After that each home opens its eyes in the form of lights. From small type roses to big ones, from white to green, roses are of thousand varieties spread in the hill slopes. You can enter this rose garden till 5.30 pm while entry to Botanical Garden is till 7 pm.
The beautiful St.Stephen’s Church
The description of Ooty is incomplete without John Sullivan and Stephen Church. In the church cemetery you can find the tombs of John Sullivan, his wife and daughter. This church is really nostalgic and takes us to a generation almost one and half century back. This church was built by John Sallivan in the year 1829. John Sullivan was the engineer behind the dream project of hill station in Ooty. He was appointed as officer by East India Company and was the district collector of Coimbatore. Mementos of John Sullivan, his wife and elder daughter are kept inside the church along with those people who lost their lives in the construction of Nilgiri hill station.
Once, this beautiful place was resided by Todas only. Todas were tribes who live in toda huts. Now also, a few families are living in the hills above Botanical garden in their toda hills, though most of them have either left the place or built concrete homes to live. John Sullivan was the first person who built a stone house in these mountain ranges, ‘Uttakamad’ meaning, ‘house at mountain top’. It was this engineer who built those 14 hair pins from Mettupalayam to Conoor and the transport road from Conoor to Ooty. He spent his own money to build a dairy firm and farming here. Thus Nilgiri became the summer head quarters of Madras Presidency and later became a beautiful hill station of India.
You can see a lot of tombs centuries old in the near cemetery along with the tombs of this great engineer and his family. Ooty town is clearly visible from this cemetery.
New tourists every day – Ooty never bores you
One may wonder how people stay here in the penetrating cold of winter seasons. Yet, they have another story to say. “We will never feel bored with Ooty. Each day, new faces and new sights! Ooty changes its look everyday”, says a local. Ladies on either side of roads to sell flowers, vegetables and fruits, men with sweaters and chocolates, the charming beauty of heritage homes, hill train from Ooty station to Mettupalayam that still runs on coal – beauty of Ooty calls you. In how many movies, these hill ranges are yet to become background! Ooty is still beautiful to add more shades to those colours. After three hours you will reach hot Coimbatore and it’s very hard to imagine that beyond three hours, there are pine trees and tea plantations filled with mist and snow adding more colours to flowers blossoming everyday!
My personal experience
Just 3 back I returned after a trip to Ooty. Though I imagined Ooty to be a silent and calm place with huts and small shops only, I found that this small town is well-developed. I was attracted by small heritage homes in the hill slopes in between plantations, particularly the night view. Lake view was my favourite and I liked different types of Ooty flowers bloomed. I was very much attracted by the flowers that I bought a few plants for gardening. Though I reached lake in the afternoon and sailed through its waters under sun, I feel the lake was so beautiful after 5 pm, when I was to return back. Instead of staying in a hotel in the main town, we preferred outskirts with distant view of match box like houses in the distance. There was a small garden and a few equipments for the kids to play with. Though it’s penetrating cold at night and had to use 2 blankets, we love the chillness that Ooty gave us. In the evening and early morning also, it’s difficult to travel without sweater. I loved rose flowers of rose garden and the lovely sunset in the evening, from the rose garden. I took a lot of photos and I am adding a few nice ones along with this article. As we didn’t have more time to spend, we missed the Ooty train and Wax museum, one of the oldest museums of India. If you have a lot of time in hand, you can enjoy Ooty’s beauty fully.
Yercaud – poor man’s Ooty
We have just returned from the ‘Queen of Hillstations’ – Ooty. I know well, you are still sad for the return from that land mist. So, let me take you to another trip of 153 kms from there to same sights in low budget. This place is also in Tamil Nadu, popularly known as Poor man’s Ooty –Yercaud. Though Yercaud can’t claim the piercing chillness of Ooty, its climate is similar to Ooty with chillness to enjoy. Also food and accommodation facilities are cheaper comparing Ooty. That’s the reason why it’s popular among common man and got the name, ‘Poor man’s Ooty’. Ok. Let us start now from Salem and if you are willing to spend 2 days there, Yercaud gives a lot of pleasant surprises in return, beyond your expectations.
Superstar Vikram of South studied in Mount Fort School in Yercaud. As people admire him a lot, Yercaud is familiar to common people through him also. Salem is too hot except monsoon season that no one can even imagine about a hill station in cold blanket just 36 kms away. Though Salem is known to be an industrial hub, it’s famous among foreigners as the ‘city of mangoes’. When you start an amazing journey to Yercaud, you can taste a few varieties of mangoes from the starting point. Here mango slices are decorated using salt and chillies and you can take a few while climbing up the hill and passing the hairpins.
It’s better to start from the hairpins in the afternoon so that you can enjoy the chillness of the season. Also, it will be evening when you climb up 20 hairpin curves to complete the journey of 20 kms from bottom. It’s the most pleasant time to land there. Stay there at night to enjoy the season’s chillness and early morning, you can travel through pine trees and have lake view. In the evenings, the mist and chillness hidden in the mountain ranges begin to show their sweet smile as if they are welcoming you in their own way. One side of hairpins, it’s the deep valley and when you reach eighth hairpin, you get the distant view of Salem city. You can find many such viewpoints on the way to Yercaud and 10 feet high watch towers are also available. Yercaud is the hot favourite for many families who want to enjoy Ooty’s beauty in low budget. According to them, you can’t find any other hill station in India to relax for two days as cheap as Yercaud. You can’t find big shops and restaurants like Ooty. On the way, tea shops supplying hot teas are there. You can enjoy corn with lemon juice and salt, mango slices, papaya and pineapple pieces in the company of a few monkeys, only forest creatures easily visible there. After 5.30 pm, it’s ‘No Entry’ to Yercaud Lake. In the nearby shops you can find corn, fig, pear and sapota (chikku). If it’s season, the whole valley will be in festival mood filled with people from all regions of South India.
Magic trick that silences everything
Many people plan for a morning walk when dawn breaks. But in most cases it never happens. In the chillness, everyone prefers to wrap themselves under thick blankets rather than loitering outside. Yercaud is not as cold as Ooty. It doesn’t offer surprising sights as Ooty. But it holds something like a magic that binds its visitors here giving them a relaxed mood. During season, temperature reaches 13 degrees and during summer, maximum 29 degrees.
The lake is at 4970 feet height from the sea level and it is related to Yercaud’s name. In Tamil, ‘Yeri’ means lake and ‘Kaud/Kad’ means forest. As forest surrounds the lake, this place got the name Yercaud. Though the lake, popularly known as ‘Jewel of South India’ among tourists is surrounded by forests, you can’t find dense woods as it was years ago. But you can find a few trees giving you the last symbols of dense forests, also a few silver oak trees and pine trees to make us remember British rule.
Surrounding the lake is the deer park. You can do amazing boating in the lake. Row boats, pedal boats and motor boats are available. If you want to enjoy the greenery and the journey like a slowly melting ice cream, avoid motor boats. The green water is a treat prepared by nature in between the mountain ranges and while sailing through water, you can see newly wedded couples and children enjoying the water journey along with you. Shevaroy hill (another name of Yercaud hills) is standing high as if protecting the lake and forest as a guard. Morning or afternoon is best for boating and small showers of rain is a common sight of Yercaud. It never lasts more than 5 minutes and will go back as if we have not noticed its arrival.
Viewpoints are within 10 km distant from lake
All the important viewpoints lie around the lake and come within 10 km radius. Most important places can be viewed within 1 day itself. From the lake banks, it’s just 4kms to Killiyoor waterfalls. You need to walk 2kms from there to reach the waterfalls. But this waterfall comes alive only during rainy season.
Now let me tell about deer park. You can find deer, peacocks, rabbits, white rats and swans here. It is children’s favourite place. You need to travel through a small bridge to reach the park and you will be pleased to see the welcoming peacocks. A small children’s park is near where kids can play with swings, long chairs and other equipments.
Flower festival is the best time to visit Yercaud
If you are visiting Yercaud during May, never miss Anna Park. Yercaud’s flower festival is as popular as that of Ooty’s. It’s the festival season of roses and orchids. Its entrance will be decorated with a lot of fruits, found in that region. From the entrance itself, it’s possible to know the geo-diversity of the place. Rose garden that spreads in 1.5 acres make us remember beautiful songs picturised in rose gardens. In between you can find huge figures finely decorated using rose flowers. Plastic is restricted in the tourist zone. If it’s not festival season, a rose garden is there to entertain your eyes. Roses are spread in a full valley of the mountain ranges. From button rose to gigantic ones, you can find amazing colours and sizes of roses. You can walk in between century old huge trees enjoying the flower carpets.
Pagoda point and Gentleman's seat
Pagoda Point is in the eastern mountain ranges of Yercaud. It’s also known as Pyramid Point. It’s believed that this pagoda is formed by four pillars placed by the tribal people. Just near it you can see Sri Rama temple. If you climb the steps to reach a view point, you can see two villages – Aattoor and Ayodhyapattanam from distance. Ladies seat and Gentleman seat – these two rocks are found in south-west mountain ranges of Yercaud. Ladies seat is a bit high comparing Gents seat. During British rule, their ladies used to come and spend their evenings here. The rock used by them is called ‘ladies seat’ while the other one got the name, Gentleman seat. From here, the hairpin points from Salem to Yercaud are easily visible. But if you look beneath holding the metallic fence, your head will spin seeing its deep valleys. Visitors come here with binoculars to get distant vision.
In front of Lord Servarayan
Servarayan temple lies at the tip of Yercaud mountain ranges. Servarayan is none other than Lord Siva and he is considered to be the saviour of Yercaud. This temple is at the highest peak of the mountain, 5326 feet high from the sea level. You need to reach there before dusk if you want to get inside the temple. This cave temple stands beneath a huge banyan tree. You have to bend a little to go inside and you can walk a few steps forward, 7 or 8 feet to see the shrine. Both Servarayan and Kaveri Devi are placed here. When bells break the silence of the caves, the whole place will be filled by the sweet fragrance of sandal wood, turmeric powder, camphor and agarbathis. The cave is extended from the shrines. You can see a small stream too, behind the idols. It’s believed that this stream and cave ends in main Kaveri river, the holy river of Tamil Nadu.
When you return via the hairpins after the evening prayers at Servarayan temple, it’s sure your mind will be light free of all thoughts as if everything got buried in the chillness and mist of Yercaud hills. Hogenakkal waterfalls is just 113 kms from there. Are you going there?
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