Thursday, 15 October 2015

A SHORT HOLIDAY AT YELAGIRI



IN THE LAP OF NATURE -- A Photo Feature
(By Subbaram Danda)


We -- our family and our son-in-law's family -- were on a short holiday recently at Yelagiri, a quaint hill station (altitude: 3,460 feet) of Tamil Nadu located at about 250 kilometres from Chennai.  We stayed at Marigold Ridge, a Sterling resort, which offered all modern facilities, including a swimming pool with three streams of artificial waterfalls.  The resort stood tall with four storeys amidst a veritable jungle.  With only a few sightseeing attractions, the hill station is best-suited for relaxation.  Velavan temple, a couple of other shrines, Nature Park and Punganur Lake are the main places to visit. 

To reach Yelagiri from Chennai, we first travelled by the Bangalore-bound Double Decker train and got down at Jolarpettai.  Outside the station we engaged a large taxi for Rs.900 and reached the Sterling resort in about 45 minutes. Yelagiri hillock is located at about 20 kilometres from Jolarpettai. The ghat road was excellent and the weather too was fine. The scenery around was pleasing.  We could see 14 hair-pin bends on the way, each named after a Tamil savant. 
   
Here are some photos of our Yelagiri stay.


A statue of Buddha in the front yard of the resort

With the statue of Buddha

The front view of the resort

An interior view of the resort

In front of our room.  Down below is a swimming pool
with three streams of artificial waterfalls

Another view of the resort

The swimming pool and the garden

In the garden of the resort

In the garden of the resort


Grand-daughter and grandma playing badminton 

In the garden of the resort

The resort is surrounded by a veritable jungle.
A view from the balcony of our room

Sun-rise as seen from our room

Playing in the Activities Room -- six-cornered carrom board

There is a normal carrom board too

Table tennis for children

An elephant in the bedroom -- the creative work of
the resort's house-keeper with towels

Here is a rabbit made of towels

The reception of the resort

Velavan temple
A statue of Surapadman in the vicinity of the Velavan temple

At the entrance of the Nature Park

In the Nature Park

In the park

In the park

Playing in the park

An exotic tree in the park

In the park

In the park

In the park

In the Punganur lake boating area

The Punganur lake

In front of our Double Decker coach

In the Double Decker coach

A hair-pin bend on the ghat road to Yelagiri.  There are 14
hair-pin bends, each named after a Tamil savant


October 15, 2015