Church of Our Lady of Good Health, Aruvankadu

During my travel to Nilgirs, I come across this simple yet beautiful church at a small town called Aruvankadu, located between Ooty and Coonoor. The pyramid like architecture of the church was the first to attract me to take photos and thanks to the bit traffic that helped getting some decent photos from the slowly moved car.  

I had no idea about the church when clicked but a Google link tells that Aruvankadu is a part of Holy Spirit Parish since 1967. As the residents of this area found it very difficult to go there due to the distance, a new location with a house was found close by known as Boys’ Company where liturgical celebrations were conducted. On April 14, 1977, it was erected into a new parish and dedicated to Our Lady of Good Health. The construction of the new church was completed in 1994 and the consecration and blessing took place on 29th May, 1994.

Aruvankadu is an importance place in defence which houses the cordite factory, one of the 40 Indian Ordnance Factories. The cordite factory established in 1903 by the then British govt. on a huge campus, still caters to the defence services by manufacturing cordite (gunpowder, as it is generally known) which used in manufacturing arms and ammunition and also as a propellant in various armed tanks. Aruvnkaduu is also connected by the Nilgiri Mountain Railways. 

Jacaranda at full bloom in Nilgiris

During my travel to Nilgiris, popularly known as Ooty, in April we were treated by the blue flowing trees at many places which was like giving an addition coat of blue to the Blue Mountains. The tree is widespread across the mountains, but we saw them in large numbers around the Coonoor and Wellington Cantonment.

Jacaranda tree bloomed at Wellington Cantonment

Jacaranda tree or Blue Jacaranda is an ornamental tree grows up to 18 meters and is popular for its clusters of fragrant purple trumpet shaped blossom that blooms from March to May. The blue jacaranda has been planted in almost every part of the world where there is no risk of frost; its bark is thin and grey-brown in color, twigs are slender and slightly zigzag in light reddish brown color.

This one was shot at Kundha on way to Manjoor town

The flowers are up to 5 cm long and are grouped in 30 cm panicles, appear in spring and early summer and last for up to two months. Each flower blooms with a five-lobed blue to purple-blue corolla and few species have white flowers. The fruit is an oblong to oval flattened capsule containing numerous slender seeds.

A   collage on Jacaranda around Coonoor and Wellington

There’s a city in South Africa called Pretoria and is popularly known as The Jacaranda City due to the enormous number of jacaranda trees planted as street trees and in flowering time the city appears blue/purple in color when seen from the nearby hills because of all the Jacaranda trees. 

Ps. Off  to mountains for a week... will post and check blogs once back from vacation.

Linking this post for Floral  Friday Foto 

Athikadavu, popular for linking with Avinashi

Following our night stay at Sathyamangalam, we headed to Athikadavu on the way to Pilloor dam and then to Ooty. Athikadavu is a familiar name in Tamil Nadu which stands for the long pending Athikadvu-Avinashi project, which is a dream of the dry regions of Coimbatore. Before going future let see how to reach the place. Athikaduavu is 29km from Karamadai, which lies between Coimbatore and Mettupalayam, but as we coming from Sathyamangalam we directly reached Karamadai without going to either places.

A old broken bridge is seen across the bhavani river at Athikadavu

Athikadavu is a place where the Bhavani River re-enters Tamil Nadu after flowing into the neighbourhood state Kerala. The Bhavani River is sourced at Upper Bhavani in the western catchment of Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu. The water flows through Athikadavu is stored at two reservoirs (Pilloor and Bhavani Sagar Dams) on its way before merge with Cauvery at Bhavani Kuduthurai. The Athikadavu-Avinashi project is dated back to Kamaraj regime, while he was chief minister of Tamil Nadu during 1954-1963; it was initiated at 108 crore. But the project ever took place.

Athikadavu Bridge across the Bhavani River

The Athikadavu-Avinashi project is always in talk of politicians propaganda and the activists continue to  fight in supporting the project which is estimated to be more than 1100+ crore, now. It was during the Kamaraj regime where most of the dams in Tamil Nadu were built. And many of them were engineering marvel. The intention of this project is to bring the surplus water from the Pilloor Dam, to the high and dry area of Coimbatore, Tirupur and Erode districts through artificial channels and existing streams to fill up the ponds and lakes to recharge the groundwater table.

The right side view from the bridge on the river and thick foliage leading to pilloor dam

Like I said above, the Bhavani River which originates in the Nilgiris of Western Ghats receives extensive rainfalls during the monsoon seasons and Pilloor Dam was the first to open its shutters due to heavy downpours, which floods the regions around the river seriously. Athikadavu being a backwater region of the dam and geologically located upward comparing its surroundings, achieving the water could be done just by means of concrete traps. This project is believed to bring a revolutionary change in the fields of agriculture, human livelihood and industries of the western part of Tamil Nadu.

A small Bhvani Amman (goddess) temple at Athikadavu

Actually my intention was the check the Pilloor Dam but only after reaching the first forest check post, at the foothill where informed that public is restricted (temporarily) to enter the dam and forest adjoining the river. The road via Athikadavu leads to Ooty, but it was an unusual route that I want to explore for some time and I ever thought it could happen very soon. As I was unsure about the road condition, we had initially planned to go to Mettupalayam and take the Ooty main road after visiting the Pilloor dam but the guards at the check post promised the road was good after certain distance.

A narrow mulli forest road, the elephants could hideaway anywhere

There are three forest check posts on this route and the Mulli check post come bordering with Kerala state, from where one road leads to Pilloor Dam and another to Kerala. We stopped at the Athikadavu Bridge before passing the second check post to capture some photos on the river and forest aside. The road is quite a single lane till Manjoor and passes through thick forest, where elephants frequent. But the road wasn’t good for about 20 kms and seems to be not relayed for decades.  

Hideout

After checking Lovedale railway station, near Ooty, on the 3^rd day of our travel to Nilgiris we encountered a Bison while looking for a place to have lunch. Driving further on the isolated Lovedale road adjoining the backyard of the Lawrence School we come to halt on the roadside to have lunch, but we unnoticed there was a Bison (Indian Gaur) standing at a height of about 15 foot vertically from where we stood.

We almost decided to get down but heard the rustle sound in the bushes above and it was a bison grazing and hiding among the bushes. Though it isn’t a huge one and standing on the edge of the vertically down, it’s impossible for it to climb down or leap off but parents were not willing to stop there so we move on to another spot. Before doing so, tried to capture the Indian gaur hiding in the bushes and what you see here were visible then.

The Indian Bison or Indian Gaur is a strong and massively built species, the largest extant bovine, native to South Asia. Gaurs are black in color while females are brown, but both the hide of male and female Gaurs is white below the knee of each leg. I have seen Indian gaurs in the mountains of Kodaikanal and Valparai, but it continues to excite seeing in wild.  

Linking this post with SATURDAY CRITTERS

Shy Moon (and The final shot with camera)

வெட்கத்தில் நிலா!

நீல திரை பின்னால்

மறைக்கிறாள் தன் முழு அழகை

Moon in shy!

behind the blue screen

hides her full charm

P.s. The moon was captured during my visit to nilgiris (ooty) on the third day of my travel and this was the last picture I shot with my digital camera (P&S) before it slip down and lens hit the floor. Actually it was my dad who dropped the camera accidentally when tried to capture the sky on my insistence. He was standing on the balcony of our room and focusing on the sky when the camera slipped off, but glad he didn’t put hands outside the baloney  nor the camera could have smashed falling off from 25-30 feet height. Only the next day I have planned to visit a place I wanted to do for some long time and I was quite upset because of that, but I was also worried my camera and I was in doubt could I get back the camera with its original setting.

I have lost my early camera with the same problem, but it wasn’t because of fallen down alike but my uncle’s kid pressed the lens when it popped out. I didn’t lose my photos as it was safe in memory card and the camera opens to say only “lens error, reset the camera”. I didn’t want to give up so just tried with the in charge of the homestay and they called someone and he said to come next morning and repair the camera. But he didn’t turn up until 10.am and when enquire he told that he don’t know to fix Canon cameras and as a last chance I decided to look for a camera service in Ooty. We searched for an hour and dad climbed two shops and one was Sony, but they aren’t read to open a Canon camera. I don’t want to waste time and went ahead taking photos with mobile the remaining days. Glad my brother came up with his 13mp Xiaomi mobile and other than attending calls, it was in my hand most of the time.

The good news was the camera is back with me in its original settings. Back home I gave the camera at the Canon service centre and I was holding it back in less than two days’ time and they charged minimum (INR. 550) only. I was really tensed what the result going to be but they only put a smile. 

Kodiveri Dam and Waterfalls

I always prefer for leisure travel but we can’t anticipate it to be same when covering a long distance within a timeline. Either Ooty or Kodaikanal, it takes almost a day to reach with the destinations more than 500 kms we can’t spare much time on places en route, so I always look for a chance to stay close to the destination or less than half-a-way away experiencing the places I want.

My last month’s travel to Nilgiris happened to be one and we didn’t drove to Ooty directly but rather decided to stay at Sathyamangalam which got me chance to check couple of places that’s close to the destination. We had our lunch somewhere between Salem and Bhavani while going from Chennai and the weather was too hot and before we head to Kodiveri, halted on way for about an hour to have a cup of tea at my dad’s friend house in Kavindapadi.

Kodiveri is about 16 km from Gobichettipalayam on the way to Sathyamangalam, which is about 14 km away from Kodiveri... a popular tourist part of this region, in Erode district. An arch on SH 15 (state highway) welcomes us to Kodiveri dam and in about 2km we reached the parking lot and the weather was continued to be hot. Though it was about 5.pm the sun doesn’t show mercy but it wasn’t matter when got close to water…

I was unsure about the water flow at the dam come falls, as our entire state is facing drought, I was so glad to see enough water at the dam leading great flow in the waterfalls. A minimum amount is collected as fee to enter the dam area but I couldn’t get really close to the water because of the unfinished pathway that make its way through small park area. I was content with the views on the waterfalls from either above or the pathway.

Kodiveri is a kind of check dam built across the Bhavani River and the downstream of the dam forms the waterfalls. The name “Kodiveri” is originated from the Tamil word meaning Tiger, which represents the large number of tigers lived in the forest area around the Dam. Not to forget the Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve isn’t far away. The falls being not heavy, people are allowed to bath and swim in the pool of water as well as the falls, and reaching is also not difficult.

Picture shot from few meters above the dam... and you could see the upcoming bridge to connect both banks of river

Entering of Kodiveri dam can be done from both sides of the Bhavani River, but the main entrance lies on the south through which we entered and to reach the other side there’s a separate route from Sathyamangalam. Right now an over bridge is under construction to connect the north and south side of the dam… but people also walk above the check dam on their own risk.  Similar to Hogenakkal, coracle ride is also available at the dam for fun and transport.

Coming to the important aspect of them dam was it was built 865 years ago! Constructed by the Kongalvan in the year 1125 AD, the dam was consisted of carving a 20-ft wall of rock. The stones were then interlocked with iron bars and lead in place of mortar.  There’s also two channels arise from the dam (Arakkan Kottai and Thadapalli channels) respectively, turning the land of Gobichettipalayam fertile due to the flow of channels.

The southern  side Arakkan Kottai Channel

Bhavani River seems to have different ups and downs and to meet the need of the farmers surrounding and to manage the water crises the dam was decided to build. Since then, the irrigation level increased in the surrounding area and the dam provides water for over 25000 hectares of land.

We spent about an hour at the dam site watching the waterfalls and the setting sun truly created an impact across the falls and I was delight to shoot utilizing the shimmering light effect. Glad they have laid some pathway at least to take photos from certain point of views… being Monday, the crowd was less at the dam site and mostly men were showing and swimming at falls and dam.

Kodivere is at a distance of 75-80km from Coimbatore and and it is well connected by road from any nearby towns and cities

Fence across Golf Course

The photos were actually focused on the scene behind the fence, the Ooty golf course and fog making way through mountains and trees, but the fence was taller than our car to prevent interruption. The images were captured on the Old Pykara Rd that lead one side of the golf course and I have been on this road earlier and I like the serenity and with tall trees of eucalyptus and pine it always remains cool.

The road is entirely scenic and I find many yellow flowers in this area which has some education institutions and the popular Ooty Gymkhana Golf Club also reside on this road. I heard bison’s (Indian guar) are often spotted here, though I find some people taking walk on the road without any fear as it was evening by then. At the end of the road we explored a beautiful temple little further from the main road, which I will post on later. 

Linking this post for  Good Fences by Gosia 

A brief on my travel to Nilgiris

Kodiveri dam-falls, created by carving 20 foot wall of rock in 1125 AD

One week has passed since I came back from my travel to Nilgiris aka Ooty and its surroundings and it was about 2am when we reached home on Sunday (April 9). Begin on 3^rd April morning; we reached Kodiveri waterfalls by evening traveling about 450 km from Chennai via Salem ‘n’ Bhavani. It was very hot day and as we move close to Salem it turned terrific hot. Even the AC car couldn’t keep heat away completely and only thinking that we delayed the drive back home by wandering on hills until 2pm and leisurely dropped via Mettur ‘n’ Krishnagiri. I know the state has been going through historic drought but I still had hope there should be some water flow at Kodiveri falls come dam. And yes, there’s water more than what I expected and that surprise continued to flow throughout my travel.

The interior of our room

Though there were few disappointments when we tried to venture certain areas that I want to explore but the journey doesn’t went that way rather unexpected routes and doors opened for me. We had a comfort stay at the Nilgiris and just outside the Ooty town, called as Funcity, the area has handful of homestays and resorts but still quite calm always. Half a km inside from the Ooty-Coonoor main road, the couple of rooms we booked for 4 days (for 6 people) had beautiful views from the balcony overlooking the Elk Hill and fields of carrot and greenhouses. The interior of the rooms are very neat and spacious enough for 3 per room and well lit by led lamps. The travel wasn’t hurriedly and we moved around leisurely checking couple of places in Ooty and Coonoor apart a long drive to Upper Bhavani.

The view  from our balcony overlooking  Elk Hill

It was a long-time dream for me to check Upper Bhavani Dam. I have been to the backwater area of the Upper Bhavani (in 2011) traveling through the Avalanche forest and it was a great experience and sheer pleasure to venture the wilderness. Then, we had permission to drive up to Upper Bhavani dam but we turned back halfway as my parents hesitated to go deep into the wild forest. But that time visiting the dam doesn’t need permission to go via Kundha, which we tried this time and went up to forest check post and turned back as we denied entering the dam area due to the restriction  since some antisocial intruded the forest. When we tried to check the Pilloor Dam, while driving up to Ooty on the unusual road, we faced the same and the 3 check post we crossed had the photos on antisocial to mark the seriousness as well as warning.

A post shared by Jeevan Kumar (@jeevan.grp) on Apr 10, 2017 at 10:14am PDT

Tea plantations  and  pristine mountains  behind

By this travel I have covered the western side of the Nilgiris to the most but I still want to go there again sometime because the wealth of nature is abundant there and words could not describe the pristine I admire there. So far I haven’t written about the western catchment of Nilgiris and I believe people who are truly interested will seek information on available, alike me. And it is a great natural source of Tamil Nadu which needs to be preserved seriously and the forest officials are doing their best. Our stay at Sathiyamangalam, before heading to Ooty, was very convenient and guest house was spacious and disable friendly where I could come around the beautiful house in my wheelchair. Located on the bank of Bhavani River and canopy of trees create cool ambiance with birds frequent around.

@ Sathiyamangalam guest house

Look forward for more on my travel... decided to make many posts out of it

Off to Blue Mountain

 

The couple of beautiful views were shot from Doddabetta Peak - the 2nd tallest peak of south india, in Ooty, during my previous visit to Nilgiris aka Blue Mountain, which gonna be my terrain for next one week. 

Kallar Steel Bridge

During my visit to Ooty in 2014, I come across the steel bridge at Kallar on the foothills of Nilgiri. The Kallar Steel Bridge on the Mettupalayam-Ooty main road was built in 1925 by Jessop and Company, following a wooden bridge that was earlier washed away in 1891 floods. In 1894 a masonry bridge was constructed but in 1925, the steel bridge with a capacity of 10-tonnes was built alongside to accommodate more vehicles. 

The ruined masonry bridge was demolished lately and to give more way to vehicles an addition bridge is come up right beside the steel bridge, but I am not sure will it be attentive like the steel bridge. I loved taking photos on the steel bridge from the moving car and in the morning light the bridge was delight to watch and the Kallar River passes beneath. Having plan for visiting Nilgiri in about a month, i hope to explore  more on Kallar area while staying at Mettupalayam. 

Linking this post for  Good Fences by Gosia 

Chennai turns Chill

It’s supposed to be a downpour season in Chennai, of course across the state of Tamil Nadu, due to northeast monsoon, but what’s happening was cool enough. For more than a week the weather feels unusually cold (even cooler than Bangalore), and in place of rain, the winter took advance, and when we were thinking that rains have concluded the tidings report of rain in few days since the low pressure in ocean turned cyclone "Nada". Even at this time of mid noon the blowing wind was cool enough to make feel goose bump and reminding the vacation times in Ooty and Kodaikanal.

Though the weather was cool enough, I sense dryness during the nights and my throat get intensely dry by the time of dawn and I was forced to wake up and take some glass of water. Being a type 2 diabetes, dry throat and water loss is a common thing, but these days it has been intense and mildly interrupts the breathing. Though it sounds unlike a serious problem, the unusualness makes me feel difference and I was glad that something disturbing me mental let me go off for last few days… and i hope it disappears soon.

Still I feeling wonder about the weather and the much anticipated northeast monsoon (since the widespread southwest monsoon failed to live up to) seems to be unfair this year, unlike the torrential rains that stroke Chennai and Cuddalore at this time last year and created a historic flood. First it was predicted to be an average rainfall this year and later it was announced to be less than normal and now it becomes obvious there could be minimum rainfall with the arrival of low pressed.

The year has almost come to end and there wasn’t even minimum rainfall to feel happy.  Even though abundant rain may cause problem, apparently we could not live without it and a small kind of suffering couldn’t be avoided sustaining for a year. Right now I am enjoying the weather that seems to be nostalgic i.e. after long time I sense refreshing through the weather of Chennai. Even at the time of torrential rains (the unforgettable Dec.1) it wasn’t cool enough… if you are in Chennai don’t miss to exit whether you in office or home, just chill outside the door. 

Friday Review: Miruthan

After long back I was at theater (drive-in) to watch the sci-fi thriller Miruthan, which was advertised as India’s first zombie film in Tamil. Jayam Ravi as protagonist and Lakshmi Menon as his love interest, the film was directed by Shakti Soundar Rajan of Naaigal Jaakirathai. I was amused to know he was the director of Naanayam, one of my favorite Tamil films, based on bank robbery but shot on an innovative platform. 

I see Miruthan as an experimental movie and the concept of zombie is pretty new for Tamil audience who haven’t exposed too many zombie movies in Hollywood. Even I wasn’t familiar with this genre. The film begins with a mishap where some toxic fumes split into the road and a stray dog that sniffs become violent and bites a man who in return becomes a zombie and the virus spreads from one human to another through a chain of violent bites.

Jayam Ravi is a traffic police with a grade to become a police inspector, but chose to retain to the former to take care of his little sister. And he loves Lakshmi Menon as one side; although she’s engaged to someone their meeting always end at sending bad reputation about him to her. At this moment the virus spreads rapidly and many zombies rise among the residences of Ooty – from where the story starts, and Jayam Ravi supports the doctors’ team, which includes Lakshmi and let them to Coimbatore in search of antidote to prevent the virus and violent spread through.

Though they reach CBE, the situation blocks them into a shopping mall right opposite to the medical hospital, where a team of doctors waiting for the sample to find prevention, how did they cross the lane full of zombies in killing mane and a bite that could transform them into zombie? Was set in a bizarre and yet light emotional and thriller. Though there are spaces for emotion, the film travels on a matured lane and straightforward keeps the length of movie short.

The director has applied light-hearted moments here and there to keep track on entertainment rather going serious and keep discontent. Kaali Venkat, RNR Manohar and Sriman has done their bit pleasing the audience as naive and Jayam Ravi led his role well and shooting most of them is something sounds overwhelmed. While I appreciate the director for coming up with different subjects, I wish his films carry some realism for us to believe on the concept. I don’t find a strong reason for those becoming zombie, but still has done a good job and leave us with an anticipation and fierce version 2! 

Fence and Flowers - Torch Lily

Kniphofia is the scientific name of the Torch Lily (which also known as Tritom and Red Hot Poker due to the shape and color of its inflorescence) I found near Ooty, across a chain link fence. The flowering plants are native to Africa and have narrow, grass-like leaves that reminiscent of a lily, and the flower head can reach up to 1.52 m in height. There are many varieties of touch lily and they bloom at different times during the growing season and comprise flowers color in red, orange and yellow, often bi-colored.

Hindustan Photo Film, Ooty

The Hindustan Photo Film is one of the major industrial units of the Nilgiri district and a public sector enterprise. This unit is located about 5 Km away from Ooty railway station over a sprawling area of over 300 acres, near the Ooty Golf-links on the Ooty- Mysore road. The HPF was inaugurated by late Prime Minister Mrs. Indra Gandhi, in January 1967.

This industrial unit is currently producing Indu roll films which are used for taking photographs; Hindu X-ray films, the quality of which is acknowledged to be among the best in the world; Hindu bromide paper on which photographs are printed; and Hindu aerographic for geological and defence mapping, industrial X - ray film, laser recording film, CAT film, special film for space photography, oscilloscope direct print paper, photo typesetting paper and range of chemicals for the film processing.

Linking this post for Run a Round Ranch's Good Fences

Fence and Flowers and a Link in Common

When I browse my folders for photos to share at good fences, conduct by the Run a RoundRanch, I find two photos which have two things in common – a chain link fence and same yellow flowers. The photos were shot at two different places but there’s one unity between them. Could you guess?

Yes, both were shot at hill stations! The first one represents Ooty and the latter was shot at Kodaikanal, both were very popular hill stations here, in the state of Tamil Nadu.

The first one somehow went out of focus, because I was actually focusing on flowers but the fence in background scored well! This fence was shot at a place where we stayed during one of our visits to Ooty and located very close to the Botanical Garden it made my visit to garden much easier in my power wheelchair.

The fence co-exists with lustrous green and yellow flowers was captured at the cottage I stayed in Kodaikanal and the fence was laid as protecting the house from neighbor.

Fence around Fern House

The picturesque house surrounded by colorful flowers

The Fern House in the Ooty Botanical Garden is home to many ferns and orchids. This house (established in 1894) is dedicated to W.C. Mc. Ivor, in whose response the Garden has been developed to this stage from the then a patch of vegetable garden and wilderness of Shola and shrubs and the lower part as a swamp traversed by deep ravines.

Mr. Ivor who had his training at the Royal Botanical Gardens, was able to transform the steep slopes into walks and terraces, lawns and flower beds for growing choice selection of plants. He also improvised ways and means by which he could reclaim the lower part of the garden and converted into undulating and sloping lawns with pockets of ponds left at convenient places to add chart to the landscape.

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Countryside Fences, Ooty

These photos are capture while driving from Ooty to Avalanche, during last year vacation.

The crops cultivated above seems to be Carrot and Cabbage

One of the villages along terrace farmlands - the road to avalanche is almost passes through it and at every corner there's something to behold yet beautiful view.

 Linking this post for Run a Round Ranch's Good Fences

1 2 3

The picture from my archives was shot long back when I was vacationing in Ooty for second time. While nearing Kamaraj Sagar Dam on the outskirts of Ooty, on the Rd to Mysore, the car comes to halt for few seconds following traffic gave the opportunity to click on the monkeys, where each perched to a pole that connects the chain link fence. Actually it was one of the random clicks focused on the monkeys and the three falls into the frame nicely which I checked only at home.

It remind me the philosophy conveyed though the three monkey images/sculpture, where one used to close its eyes, and the other the ears and mouth respectively which reflects the thought not to see, hear and talk unfair. I link this post to Run a Round Ranch's Good Fences

Sunday Photos: Pretty Pansies

Pansies are my favourite fancy flowers, as I find them cute and prettier. My first encounter with pansies was at Kodaikanal, during my 2006 visit to the princess of hills. I saw these flowered bloomed at Bryant Park there and I still remember that they were colored in purple and white.

First time seeing them we don’t know the name of the flowers, even seeing the flowers more than couple of time in Ooty Botanical Garden and cottages we stayed in Kodaikanal, I was null about the flower until doing some research on net. People who referred to these flowers then conveyed it to me as monkey flowers, because of the aspect of the flower that resembles the face of monkey.

The couple of macro shots, here, are capture during two different times of visits to Kodaikanal and the Viola Tricolor (a kind of pansy, in the photo above) was captured from a roadside fence around the Kodaikanal Lake. The flowers usually found in partially shade seems to bloom from April to September and it can be in colors of purple, blue, yellow, white...