I recently went for a spiritual trekking with my friend to Athiri Hills near Alwarkurichi.
Athiri Malai (or Athiri Hills) is in Pothigai mountain range in the Western Ghats. These hills are named after Athiri Maharishi as he and his wife Anusuya Devi lived here. The trek starts from the Kadana Dam and ends at a temple for Athiri Maharishi and Anusuya Devi.
We went to Kadana Dam at around 11:30 AM on a weekday. Usually people visit this temple on weekends, full moon and new moon day. During weekdays very few people visit the temple and they generally start the trek at around 9:30 AM. We had to wait for some time for a group to join us. After half an hour of waiting a family arrived at Kadana Dam. We joined them and started the trek at around 12 noon.
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| Kadana Dam |
Since the trek is in a forest, forest officials maintain a record of all the persons visiting the temple. Forest Officials allow people to enter the forest only between 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM. If you plan to visit Athiri hills and if it is the first time, officials may advise you to join other groups or persons who have been to the temple before as one might lose their way in the forest. Hence if you are visiting the hills for the first time, it is advisable to be there at around 9:00 AM as you can join other groups.
We reached the temple within two hours. Few stretches in the path were steep. We crossed a river along the way. A rope is tied between two trees on either side of the river. We can hold the rope to cross the river.
We offered our prayers and requested temple Gurukal to tell us more about the temple and the hills. This place had once been a desert. Athiri Maharishi was performing his tapas here. Once he asked Anusuya Devi to get him some water. Anusuya Devi prayed to Ganga Devi and requested her to be in these hills always. Even today there is a water source near the temple which always has the same water level even during summer seasons.
The present day temple is built by a retired bank officer supported by villagers in and around Athiri hills. We then started to climb down to the Kadana dam. There is a Siva temple in Sivasailam village which is in the foothill of these mountains. The Nandi statue needs to get a special mention as it looks very real. Temple in Sivasailam is a west faced temple and it is in straight line to the Athiri Maharishi temple.
How to reach?
Kadana Dam is 10 KM away from Alwarkurichi. We started our journey from Tirunelveli and went to Ambasamudram by bus and from Ambasamudram to Alwarkurichi. There is a bus from Alwarkurichi to Semankulam, which is 6 KM away from Alwarkurichi. From Semankulam one can get an auto to Kadana dam. You can also get an auto from Alwarkurichi to Kadana dam.
