Yercaud

Yercaud is a hill station near Salem, Tamil Nadu, India in the Servarayan range (anglicized as Shevaroys) of hills in the Eastern Ghats. It is at an altitude of 1,500 metres (4,920 feet) from mean sea level. The town gets its name from the lake located at its center - in Tamil "Yeri" means "lake" and "Kaadu" means "forest". Yercaud is known for coffee plantations and orange groves. It also has an orchidarium run by the Botanical Survey of India.

Last weekend we made a trip to Yercaud. Some of us have been there already, still the calmness and virgin beauty of the place compelled us to revisit it. From our last experience, we were sure that there can be many better ways to reach Salem (a unavoidable stop if you are relying on public transport) than to take TN State bus from Bangalore. And clearly we found one this time. There are plenty of trains that run between Bangalore and Salem. To our surpirse we could reserve tickets for the same just a day before the journey date. First phsae of journey was surely going to be comfortable. It indeed was. We boarded Ernakulam Express from Bangalore at 6am and reached Salem by 10am. Considering that we had planned a 3 day trip, we could easily afford to travel during day time. If you plan to make a two day trip, you can take nightly trains for salem and also way back.

New Bus Stand in Salem is around 3km from the railway station and you can take auto or tempos to reach here. There are regular buses for Yercaud from here. Frequency for such buses is about half an hour. Point to be noted is that these buses are really overcrowded sometimes. So you may as well let one go and wait for the next. We did exactly the same. We left one and then found comfortable seats in the next one.

Bus journey is Tamilnadu is an experience in itself. Each bus is equipped with 2 TV screening DVD quality movies. Some even boast of "5.1 surround sound system". Whatever it is, you really can not miss the movie or music they play. The driver makes sure that you can not miss even a single word of what a character speaks in movie. So we watched Chandramukhi. Last time I saw a Tamil movie was a similar bus almost 18 months back [on the same route].

Yercaud is 30 km from Salem and around 20km of this is a hilly section. The road is good and the greenery on both sides makes it a pleasent drive. 20 Hair Pin Bends [or HPBs, as they are called] make this journey a memorable experience. There are times when you can see atleast 3-4 levels of road below and above you. Amazing indeed.

It takes just above an hour to reach Yercaud [amazingly it takes more time in bangalore to travel 30km] The first thing is you as you enter Yercaud town is the lake which is situated in the heart of town. [There is a temple on the way from Salem to Yercaud and also some small waterfalls along the road; they are in the list of tourist spots in Yercaud]

Now that we have reached Yercaud, first thing first. Find a nice and peaceful abode for the stay here. There are plenty of budget and good hotels near lake. May-June is season time for Yercaud [we totally ignored this from the wikipedia page about yercaud] and thus had hard time finding a good accomodation. All the hotels were full as they have advanced booking. A little far from lake there are some resorts and bunglows where you can check in case of need. Excpet the transport part, they provide you a very good option of stay. We got a nice cottage in Thundreal Resort and as it turned out later, it was really good decision.

Travelling in Yercaud can be done on foot [all the common places and tourist spots except the Shevroy Temple are in a radius of 4km]. It is still not yet commercialized to have cycles on rent. For lazy souls there are autos and taxies availables. I would recommend to use your foot as much as possible as it gives you a lot of time to explore the place and get indulged in the beauty.

There are some so-called tourist spots in Yercaud and let me touch them one by one.
1. Lady's seat: This is a cluster of rocks on the south west of the Yercaud hills overlooking the ghat road and the city of Salem to the south. There is a sheer drop of about 200 feet at this point into a private estate in the valley below. It has a telescope house with a panoramic view of distant Salem and the winding road up. The spectacular view from Lady's Seat offers a complete panorama over the city of Salem with its twinkling lights. You can see atleast 7 level of road between Salem and Yercaud. In morning this place is totally covered with mist and clouds and is an amazing experience.
On the right of Lady's Seat are Sterling Resorts.

2. Gents Seat: It is located to the right of Lady's seat. It overlooks other side of the Shevroy range and thus has another beautiful view. You can enjoy windy evenings here.

3. Rose park and Children's Seat: Beautiful garden filled with roses of all varities. There are other plants and trees here and one can buy saplings for the same. Children seat provides another view of Shevroy range.

4. Pagoda Point: This lies on the Eastern side of the Yercaud hills and is also known as Pyramid Point. The name comes from the hill tribes having made four piles of random stones in a Pagoda or Pyramid formation reportedly to mark some event. Today there is a Rama Temple which lies between these Pagodas. One can get a grand view of Attur and Ayothiapattinam from this picnic spot. 5 km from town.
A morning walk to this point is a must. You can enjoy good breakfast in MM Resorts on the way back.

5. Monfort School:Monfort School was established in 1917 in Yercaud by the untiring effort of Bro.Denis. The school was named after the founder of the Order of St.Gabriel. St.Louis Marie Grignoin de Monfort. Its vast campus with attractive buildings, spacious play grounds, well planned and beautiful gardens, and a swimming pool which is the envy of all the schools in the South.
School is open for visitors on sunday between 10am to noon and then from 2pm to 4pm. Dont miss the chance to see one of the most beautiful school in south.

6. Kiliyur Falls: This delightfully breathtaking water falls is 3 km from the Yercaud Lake and should be visited after the South West or North East Monsoon. The surplus water from the Yercaud Lake and the other reaches of the Shevaroys Hills fall deep into the Kiliyur Valley in a breath taking 300 feet fall. The views from the bottom and top of the falls are breathtaking. The view from the top of the falls into the Valley is heart stopping. The trek to the bottom of the falls is only for hardcore trekkers as it takes about one hour from the lake to reach the bottom of lthe falls which is heavily wooded, but a good 2½ hours to get ones breath and trek back again. 7 km from town.
Sadly there is no water in it right now, and we could not go there. But soon it will be back in form and at no cost can you afford to miss it.

7. The Big Lake Or Emerald Lake: The first thing one sees as you enter the Yercaud town is this placid lake in a wonderful surrounding of hills and natural shoals. Also a beautifully landscaped garden on one bank. It has boating facility. This lake is the only natural lake among all the hill station lakes in the South. A floating fountain is constructed by MALCO , at the center of the lake. The lake is surrounded by a “Deer Park” and “ leisure park” and “Tamil Nadu Hotel”. Boat services are available at reasonable rate. Self Pedaling and Rowing boats are available. You have to pay the same amount as caution deposit. The safety measures are not at all followed.
Here you can spend as much time as you want. There is a small garden "Anna Park" just across the road. Nothing much to do there though.

8. Shevarayan Temple: The highest point in Yercaud is the Servarayan temple, which is situated at a height of 5326 feet. Hence the Yercaud hill area is called Shevaroy Hills.
The Shevarayan is a flat-topped hill with a plateau. The view from the summit on all sides is magnificent, one looks down on a mass of mountains and hills far and near, with the plains spread out like a map between the Shevaroys and the nearest hills. The Yercaud town and Nagalur is well seen from this hill. The Shervarayan Temple is situated at the top of this hill. It is dedicated to Lord Shervaroyan. The temple itself is a narrow and dark cave and seated inside are God Shervarayan and Goddess Kaveri representing the Shervaroyan Hills and the river Kaveri. The annual festival in the month of May is a colour event in which thousands of tribal people of the hill take part.

Other than these there are few more spots which you can visit if you time.
1. The Grange :This is one of the oldest buildings in Yercaud, built some time in the 1820's MD Cockburn the then Collector established the first commercial plantation in this area and planted Coffee, Oranges, Apples and other fruit trees brought from South Africa. The other coffee plantations in Tamil nadu are said to have originated from this humble beginning.During the Sepoy Mutiny, great efforts were made to strengthen the roof and ramparts were built with Gun emplacements and 3 Canons were mounted at vantage points. A large cellar was made to hold provisions for about 6 months in case there was a long siege and the Europeans of the Area had to hold off insurgents. Well this never happened and all was peaceful during those years. There is a well planned and executed Resort alongside the Grange, set amidst coffee & Orange plantations and Silver Oak Trees, a delightful get away for the well heeled traveller.
Currently it is part of The Grange Resort and you will need help and permission from the resort people to visit this place.

2. Orchidarium-Botanical Survey of India.:This is one of two orchidariums run by the Botanical survey of India. It has a large collection of native orchids. One can see the rare Ladies Slipper, an insect eating Orchid. A rare tree Shevaroys Bombax which was reported on one of the private estates has also been identified and multiplied in this farm. A treat for plant lovers. 5 km from town.

3. Sri Raja Rajeswari Temple : This is said to be the Goddess of all Gods in the Hindu Pantheon and by praying to her one can attain wealth and prosperit and be elevated to higher levels of spirituality.
This temple was founded by Tirukovilur Thapovanam Srila Sri Gnanananda Giri Swamigals Parampara Disciple HH Swami Poornananda Giri in the year 1983 and now succeeded by his son V Sri. In this temple the Godess Sri Raja Rajeswari is seen surrounded by a plethora of Gods.

Yercaud is a place where you can go to do nothing. Just spent some time with nature and yourself. And come back all recharged.
We did the same.

Information:
How to reach here: There are plenty of trains available from Bangalore to Salem. There are regular buses [from New Bus Stand] to yercaud from Salem.

Where to stay: Resorts and hotels of all kind of available here.
Sterling's Resort [near Lady's seat]
Grand Resort [close to Lake]
The Grange Resort[ on the way to Pagoda point]
Shevroy Hotel [ close to lake]
MM Resorts [on the way to Pagoda point]
Tamilnadu Hotel [next to lake]
Thundreal Resorts [5 roads, Close to Montfort school]
Clifton Inn Resorts [5 roads, Close to Montfort school]
And many more small budget hotels.

Where to eat: Most of the resorts have kitchen and restaurnet of their own. Food should not be a big issue if you are ready to compromise a bit of taste and service. There are lots of bhajji shops around lake and I would recommend everyone to try them atleast once.

Where to shop: There is nothing as such here for shopping. There are some shops selling perfumes and pain killer natural oils. You find them on hill stations. So my recommendation is refrain from the thought of shopping. :)

Final note: This place is aptly termed as Poorman's ooty. Dont expect interesting crowd here and sometime it is better to be away from popular tourist spots and spend time with nature.

Sources: Wikipedia