Arapaleeswarar Temple in Kolli Hills, Tamil Nadu, India

The entire range of the Kolli Hills gets a religious importance because of the Arapaleeswarar Temple. Such is the importance of this temple that the ancient Tamil literature speaks of this temple in glorious terms.


This temple is said to have been built by Valvil Ori in the 1st or 2nd century when he ruled the area. Lord Shiva is the main deity here. It is also believed that a secret path connects this temple to the Shiva temple in Rasipuram, situated about 50 kilometres by road.

 
Well, I visited this temple for the second time about a couple of weeks back. Me and my friends made our way into the temple after finishing our shower under the Agaya Gangai Waterfalls.


The temple as such is pretty small. When I had visited the temple last, it had a dark and gloomy look about it, but now, it looked like it had gotten a facelift with fresh paint and some renovation work.

 
But, the facelift only seemed to be inside the temple campus. The area outside seems to be getting pretty bad with lots of garbage strewn everywhere. Tourists and locals alike seemed to be responsible.


Coming back to the temple…Inside the temple, one can see shrines of various gods and goddesses. It also has dedicated shrines for all the planet rulers (the navagraha). Just behind the main shrine, one can spot some ancient inscriptions. These inscriptions didn’t resemble any of this generation’s scripts. If I remember right, these inscriptions were created during the construction of the temple and hence can be seen on the foundation stones.


Around the temple, one can also see the place where animal sacrifices are made. It is sad that such practices are followed even in the 21st century.


Upon striking a conversation with the locals I found out that a lot of devotees throng to this temple during the ‘Aadi Perukku’ day when they get to witness the symbolic adorning of the ‘nose ring’ for the fish at the Panchanathi, the jungle stream that cascades down as the Agaya Gangai Falls.


The Valvil Ori festival and the spring festivals are also known to draw huge crowds to the temple. All around the temple, one can see a lot of sadhus and hermits who are keen followers of the tantric art. No wonder, Kolli Hills was the headquarters of ancient black magic.

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Agaya Gangai Waterfalls – Milk that falls from the sky!!

The Agaya Gangai or the Akash Ganga waterfalls is one of the most stunning waterfalls I have seen in recent times. Up close, it resembles a 300 foot torrential milky shower.


The Agaya Gangai falls is located in Kolli Hills of the Eastern Ghats of India. It is in fact a multi-tiered waterfall and one can see different shades of this waterfall through its various tiers from different view points.

 
I got to visit the Agaya Gangai Falls during my recent trip to Kolli Hills. It is situated close to the Arapaleeswarar Temple and a steep set of thousand plus steps from the temple takes one to the foot of the waterfall.


The descent from the temple to the waterfall should take about 10 minutes while the ascent should take about 15-20 minutes. Both the ascent and the descent can get quite taxing due to the steep steps and hence a slow and easy approach is recommended.


This short hike to the waterfall and back in itself is a great experience as one gets to see the splendid views of the green Eastern Ghats, the thickly forested valleys below and the long shots of the multiple tiers of this waterfall gushing down into the dense vegetation.

 
A couple of view points have been provided for the tourists. These view points, apart from the stunning views, provide shade and a spot to relax for the tourists. Though, the thing to remember here is that no food or water is sold on the way to the waterfall and hence it is advised that the tourists carry the necessary water and food supply.


The river Aiyaru and the jungle stream Panchanathi cascade down as the Agaya Gangai Falls. The entire terrain is green and hence the temperatures are slightly lower than outside. Though, the humidity can get slightly high.


As me and my friends approached the foot of the falls, all we could see was heavy water spray and a loud thundering sound. The last mile had no steps and we had to climb over slippery rocks and slush.


But, then, we were treated with the most amazing view of the Agaya Gangai, which literally means ‘Ganges of the Sky’. With hands it front of our eyes to block out the heavy water spray, we saw that the huge milky white waterfall that fell from the sky.

 
The view in itself was a surreal experience. I somehow managed to take some photographs while getting my camera drenched in the heavy water spray.


Close to the waterfall is a small room where one can keep their baggage. This is the place where we changed and off we went to take a shower under the waterfall. The rocks close to the waterfall were slippery and hence we had to watch our feet.


We could not go entirely close to the waterfall as the force was too much, but with all six of us holding hands together, we made it real close to the waterfall. The needle like drops, the cold water and the force made for a great experience. In spite of us getting tired very fast, most of us stood on as we didn’t want to leave it so soon.


But, finally we had to and off we went back to the room, got dressed and sweated our way back to the top under the afternoon soon. We wanted to visit the Siddhar’s Cave situated near the waterfall, but couldn’t locate it. So, all cleansed after a refreshing bath under the Agaya Gangai falls, we went into the Arapaleeswarar Temple to offer our prayers.

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