We went on a short 3 days vacation to the lessor known Kolli Hills in Namakkal district of TN on the last 2 days of May'24. Suggestion to visit this place came from my friends and Trichy NIT batchmates.
Relatively at a short elevation of 1,200 meters, it doesn't qualify as a hill station and the weather is not really cool up there during the summer months from March to August. This probably is a reason why the place hasn't become a tourist attraction. It's a blessing in disguise as the pristine forests with a major portion of it covered by Silver Oak remains intact to this day.
The drive up the hills is truly wonderful and is a source of adventure for the motorcycle enthusiasts. There are 70 hairpin bends and it gets pretty steep on the last 20 bends. The roads are fabulous, thanks to Namakkal district of TN for maintaining them so well.
Silverline Retreat, the hotel where we stayed is great! It had 60 rooms in various formats and built in a circular formation with a large and developed garden in the central courtyard with sit out cubicles. The watering system consists of sprinklers hanging at a height of 20 feet and when it is switched on at 4 PM, it gives the feeling of light rains in the entire courtyard.
There are no restaurants in Kolli Hills, only dhabba's and caters to non-veg food. The restaurant in Silverline is the best option and the master chef does a good job with vegetarian food.
There is an ancient Shivan temple that's a must visit besides a whole lot of viewpoints across the Kolli Hill range from where one can get a panoramic view of the plains and valley's.
We enjoyed our short vacation and look forward to discovering more such places in the Southern states that are relatively not commercialized.
On our return trip we visited Shree Anjaneyar temple in Namakkal district headquarters. The Legend of this temple as taken from Wikipedia states this: It is believed that when Lord Hanuman was having a bath in Kandaki River in Nepal, He stumbled across a stone which was in the shape of Lord Vishnu. When He was passing through the place, He saw Goddess Lakshmi medicating here. Upon asking, She said She had come to the place for penance after Lord Narasimha kills Hiranyakashyap, the king who troubled his son Prahalada. Lord Hanuman wanted to have a bath, but couldn't go ahead as He was carrying the Salagrama (stone), which shouldn't be placed on the Earth.
He asked the goddess to hold it until He returned. Goddess Lakshmi warns that if He doesn't return within the stipulated time, She will put it down Upon returning, Hanuman finds that the stone was placed on the ground, and also, that it is now impossible to be moved. The stone grows into a mountain. It is here that Lord Narasimha Swamy appears before both of them and wishes to make the place His abode.
Hence, today we see Hanuman is seen in a posture which indicates that He is paying his obeisance to Lord Narasimha Swamy, whose temple is located just 150 km away. There is also the hillock that is believed to have been brought by Lord Hanuman from Nepal.
The idol is extremely well sculpted and we were fortunate to see the Panchambruta Abhishekam in its Nijaroopa, and on a Saturday...
The return home was a 5 hours drive with traffic snarls from Hosur to our home in Konankunte.
