Yelagiri Trip

We did this 1 night, 2 days, road trip to Yelagiri on January 2 & 3, 2011.

Distance
Bangalore (Bommanahalli) to Yelagiri is about 160 KM. The drive should take about 2 hours 45 min. to 3 hours.

Route Map

Route
     - Go up to Krishnagiri, turn left towards Chennai. [Adyar Ananda Bhavan (A2B) is a good eating stop about 25 KM after Hosur]
     - About 5 KM before Vaniyambadi, turn right towards Tirupathur road. Note that you have to exit from the Highway on your left, take a u-turn, and then pass under the Highway to go towards Tirupathur.
     - Within a few minutes of drive, you will start seeing the hills on your left.
     - After about 7 KM from exiting the Highway, at a place called Ponneri, look for the sign to turn left to Yelagiri hills.
     - Turn left, and within 2 KM you will be at the foothills.
     - The climb on the hills is about 10 KM that includes 14 hairpin bends, which are very nicely named after various tamil poets and patrons like Avvaiyar, Adhiyaman, Kabilan, Pari, Ori, and so on.


Yelagiri (1410 m above MSL) is not the name of the town or place. It is the name of the hills range. The actual areas on top of the hills are Punganoor, Athanavoor, Mangalam, etc.

We stayed at Cliff-top resorts near the entrance to the Punganoor lake. It used to be called Yelagiri Country Club some years ago, and we had stayed there during our previous trip in April 2005. The new management has built a new block with rooms. But we still liked the rooms in the old block; they have a drawing room with single cot and a main room with a double-cot.

Spots visited
     - Punganoor lake, by walk. Boating is not in good shape. We saw very few boats functional. The walk-way around the lake, the benches, statues and a bit of landscaping are nice.
     - Paran (or the watch tower) located along the walk-way around the lake.
     - Nature park, slightly long walk in the opposite direction from the lake's entrance. This is a new feature in Yelagiri. A well made park with good landscaping, a man-made water-falls, aquarium, bamboo house, etc.
     - Musical fountain inside the Nature park has shows in the evenings. Not too impressive though.
     - Murugan temple / Velavan temple Athanavur, about 4 KM from Punganoor. Nice view from a mound. The Ayyanar or Gadodgajan statue is nice too. Hotel Landmark at a walkable distance from the temple, is actually nearer to the rear entrance of the Punganoor lake, and looks to be the only regular Hotel in Yelagiri, apart from 1 or 2 we see on the main road when you reach the top of Yelagiri hill.
     - Lotus pond on the way from Athanvur towards Mangalam. It is getting ready with kind of a walk-way, benches etc. We stopped for a few pictures.
     - Silk farms near Mangalam village. We could not visit any of the farms.
     - Swami malai trek near Mangalam village. Nice trekking route. A little lonely in the forest. We did not complete the full trek to reach the temple atop.
     - The telescope house is on the way up the climb to the hills. There is nothing there, but a proud stone board about people who inaugurated it.


Food
    - The only good spot we could see was the newly taken-over Tandoori Hut near the entrance of the Lake. Food was good, though expensive. But there does not seem to be any other equally good option in Punganoor or Athanavoor.

Pictures (Click to view larger version)

Towards the foothills

 At the foothills

 Hills spec

 Climbing up

 Telescope house (nothing there...)

...except this proud board

Cliff-top (old block)

Paran at the Punganoor lake

 View benches around the lake

 Another view of the lake with the Murugan temple mound and Swami malai backdrop

Features at the Nature park (Well made park)

 Musical fountain (not really)

Lotus pond getting ready

 Silk farms before Mangalam

Entry to the trek route at Swami Malai

Trek route at Swami malai