Athiri hills and Thoranai hills

Athiri hills near Coutrallam

After Sathuragiri, Vellingiri, Paravatamalai, we were searching for “Whats next?” then my spiritual partner / good friend named Mr. Raguraman did come with a place called Athiri hills which is situated near Alwarkurichi, Tirunelveli district. So after so many discussions, chats and conference calls with our spiritual group we decided to visit there in the month of December. Then we started @ 26^th evening around 6pm from Tambaram with having 2 cars for 6 people.

We have reached Coutrallam @ 4am on 27^th. We had a bath in Aintharuvi at that time which is unforgettable. It was too cold to take bath at 4am in December and it is too violent. Few people were sleeping there near the parking places and nobody was taking bath in the falls at that time. But after few hours we felt it was a wonderful experience which we never have.

After completed our bath we proceeded to “Thoranai malai” a Murugan temple in the hill which is 15 kms

steps leading to temple

from Coutrallam. We had a priest there who welcomed us in the foot hill and asked to climb and reach the temple and also asked us to take a bath in one of the sunai’s. We started climbing the hill @ around 6am. There are steps available to climb till the temple. Most of the steps are too steep and made us tired on just beginning itself. It was almost 1500 steps that we have to climb. I am not remembering the exact numbers it took 1hr for us to reach the temple though we were very slow.

Temple front view

The temple is situated just in midst of a rocky plain fully covered by iron grills. (Iron grills might have built to protect the temple from the monkeys). It is a very good treat to eyes to see the surroundings and the sceneries. Once we reached the temple the priest asked us to take a bath in the nearby sunai. But we told that we already taken a bath at Coutrallam. He insisted again to take a bath there since it would be really nice. We don’t find any issues to take a bath again in that sunai. We thought it would be again a good feel to take a bath in that place. We reached the nearby sunai and found a rope tied bucket near the sunai which is looked like a well. We have to use the bucket to take the water out and bath. Again it was a pleasant experience taking bath there.

On the way to temple with our spiritual group

Scenic views around

Waiting for chutney :)

After the second bath of the day we completed the pooja in the temple and started climbing down. We reached the foot hill by 9am and hot idlies were waiting for us. There is a lady who is serving the disciples directed by that priest and she made the idlies ready before we get down. We had 4 idlies with coconut chutney, which we felt like amirtham at that time.

After heavenly breakfast we started to Athiri hills which is near ambasamudram and 15 kms from there. We are almost running late and reached there by 10.30 or so. There was a old man again like a priest who took us to the temple which is 1.30 hrs walk from there. It is a reserved forest where the forest officers are very strict that we should not take plastics, cameras, liquor bottles etc. But it is required to protect our own mother nature from the nuisance people.

Way to reach Athiri Maharishi's temple

We started follow the old man in a single trail path. This forest has all the animals except lion. This is the tiger reserve forest “Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger reserve”. With all the “darr” fear inside us we started follow that old man. The way starts with the long view of “Kadana dam” and we walked along with the river way. It was really a beautiful sight with the backdrop of western ghats. On the way we reached a small river and decided to take a third bath for the day. Again it was a wonderful experience, the water is crystal clear and the fishes, stones are able to see just like we see through a glass. After the bath we again started walking through the forest and reached the temple. On the way we have seen a palli vaasal also. Afterall it is a heaven and no matter what god is there

The river where we took bath

and who are not. We are ready to worship whoever crosses us. That mindset will come automatically in such a place.

The temple is just in middle of the forest. To say exactly it was not mostly like a temple but a living place of

Temple front view

Athiri Maharishi with his wife Anusaya. It was exactly like a “Kudil” of some sages which has been converted as a temple afterwards. There is an idol for Korakkar sidhar also placed and believed that he had his tapas there. Even we could see the Vinayagar, Murugar idols available in the open space. Just to imagine how the life would have been there for just a couple in midst of a forest and doing the tapas and poojas. I believed that it is a heaven to lead a life there.

A nap under the tree in temple side

We had a small nap there since we all are tired due the last day’s long travel without much sleep. Afterwards we had curd rice which has been prepared by the priest there. Again it was really nice to have that in the forest where we were already in dead hungry.

We were started walking back to foot hill where we started @ around 3pm and reached by 4.30pm. The way is not so steep to climb. We can easily walk to the temple through the forest but with few steep climbings.

distant view of the kadana dam

We have started and visited the “Sivasailam temple” on the way to Ten Kasi, where the main diety is “Saila

Kasi Viswanathar temple gopuram

nathar”. It was a good temple and few hundred years old. Then we visited Ten Kasi, Kasi Viswanathar temple. It is the temple of beauty with its one of the huge gopurams in tamil nadu. We had a dinner there and stayed in Coutrallam where one of our friends booked a home kind of stay.

Morning we have planned to take an oil massage with a bath in Coutrallam main falls. We took an ayurvedic massage which costs for Rs.300 per person just near the falls. But in my opinion it was not so good but OK kind of. We had a bath in Coutrallam after the massage. It was really nice experience again. Only my spiritual partner was with me to visit nearby Kutrala nathar, the others were started in one car to pack up. It was a

Puliya marathadi lalakadai

nice and big temple and so beautiful. So many deities are there inside the temple where we visited one by one slowly. We were also supposed to go back to room and pack up things for starting back to Chennai since we are already running late. We started at around 11am from Coutrallam and we reached at 9pm at Tambaram.

On the way we planned to buy Milk kova in Srivilliputhur since it is famous for. We have found that "Puliya marathadi lalakadai" near the bus stand is the one where you can find the authentic Srivilliputhur milk kova.

Srivilliputhur temple gopuram  while returning

 Overall it was one of the most memorable trips in my travel diary. Yet to explore more heavenly places.

Thanks

MSK

Paradesi

We decided to go movie paradesi as one of our friends told that the movie is extraordinary. Fine, this is enough for us to decide for a movie outing. So we started from porur at 6pm from our friend’s house for a 6.40 pm movie scheduled in AGS, Villivakkam. Since it is a Saturday evening, we struck up in a huge traffic and managed to reach the theatre at almost 7pm. We are not happy that we lost almost the 20 mins of movie. But the “next seat man” told us that the movie started late and you would have lost not even 10 mins. That gave us some relief and started watching the movie with some great expectations. Naturally expectations are there for Bala movies and the round the world reviews added more in to it. Fine, I will get in to my opinion now towards the movie.

Movie sets to be in 1900AC. The movie starts (at the time we entered) happily with a marriage function. The villagers are gathered as a family for the function. In between Atharva’s periappa died which has been hidden by the villagers to get the “Nel soru” in the marriage, by not doing that they will miss the “nel soru” (and it is about their varumai, where I don’t accept since the village people will give preference for the people and too a death instead of a food, but bala managed to justify somehow by his screenplay). Vedhika, the heroin tries to tease Atharva as he seems to be a bit of “mentally retarded person”, she denies giving food to him, but he is very hungry and need it badly. This scene extends for 5 to 10 mins which irritated me much, but I don’t know why. Then I got convinced that even my two friends who accompanied me also got irritated by that scene. Finally she showed her love by giving food to frustrated Atharva. But here Atharva expressed his frustration well than us.

After this scene I wondered that nobody has cared about the “died periappa” rather the movie continued with Atharva/Vedhika love. I did not convince with this major hole in Bala’s direction. (Mentally retarded?) Atharva trying to make love with heroin where she rejects in the beginning and accepts finally in a half built house in middle of the thorn bushes (mullu kaadu). Heroin’s mother not accepting the lead’s combo and yelling at Atharva to forgot her daughter. (Her mother’s performance reminds me the Ambika character in Avan Ivan.) Atharva’s grandma is the only person who supports him. We should appreciate the performance (actually no performance, it was she lived that character easily) of his grandma. At some point even his grandma was shouting at him that he is not going for any job.

This time our hero is looking for a job outside his village and able to find one for cutting woods. A tea master who gives that job was beating our hero like anything as he sits on a bench. He is not supposed to sit on a bench since he came from some low caste. This scene especially pictured well and we able to feel the disaster faced by untouchables in that period. After completing his job of cutting hundreds of wood he was not given the payment, so he cries in front of the tea master to get the “coolie”. This is where the new character gets introduced as “Kangaani” who is searching for people to work in tea estates owned (taken should be the right word) by the britishers.

Kangaani is in Salur Village where he is convincing the villagers with the sweet words that they could work with him and can earn more money to lead a better life. People were convinced and felt happy by his words and decided to go their and work with them to earn more money. Some people were going with their families and some left. From here the movie travels most with songs and distressing moments of the migrating people.

People started travelling to their new work place and they travel for 48 days by just walking. Here, while they start their journey there is a background song “Oh! Sengaade” which showing us how sad they are leaving their living place. Here I would like to compare the song with situation comes in the film “Kannathil Muthamittal – Vidai kodu engal naade” the people are forced to migrate from their native, so the song was matching that situation very well. Coming to this movie, people are volunteered to migrate for better living and I don’t see the need of the core sadness in that song. The song was like making us to feel the sadness which was totally miserable.

While travelling, an old man was fallen down due to probably de-hydration. But I wondered how other people leaving that old man in the middle of the way (almost a pottakkaadu) without making an attempt to give him water or try to save him. The villagers are almost should be the victim’s relations where his wife only seems to be shed tears for him. And later the people harshly taking that lady with them and leaving that old man just like that.

Now the movie set to revolve just in a tea estate where they realize that the Kangaani is the villain and exploiting the people’s soul to their best. Newly married lady (karuthakanni) is getting raped by the britisher, half of the people were dying due to the fatal disease, hero’s leg vein has been cut as he tried to escape, people were not given their payments, Dhanshika also died in a disease and Karuthakanni as well. Hopeless people spending their life time in tea estates without seeing their families and relations. Doctors are arriving to medicate the people but they are trying to convert them as Christians rather doing treatments. Everything is going against the slave people and there is no hope even for us that they will rejuvenate. Finally due to man power shortage another set of people brought in by Kangaani in which hero’s wife and their son gets in to trap. Atharva was crying (kadhari kadhari) by seeing his family there and the film ends as the title appearing “a film by bala”.

The film has been well portrayed how the people were exploited to their core without recognizing them as a human. By seeing that movie we feel how lucky we are since we are leading a comfortable life.

In my opinion the entire movie could be a good documentary rather than a movie, where I disagree that it is a good movie rather could be a good documentary. If it is a life of such people Bala missed to show the other side of their part which could be their happiest moments. The characters in the movie are crying their best from the beginning to the end which fails us to feel for them. Songs are also a major drawback as the singers also crying for them with old sad musics.

I don’t accept this as Bala’s best movie as saying by most, it could be a best documentary directed by Bala.

MSK