Thursday, December 13, 2012

Pollachi, Tamil Nadu, India



A picture of me in the forest of Pollachi .  I had went here with some friends from Coimbatore, to a friends house, who’s house is right smack in the forest.  It was absolutely beautiful, and what an awesome experience for me just walking through the jungle, outside the house with no boundaries, and quite scary.  At night we all jumped in the friends SUV and took a ride through the jungle with a flood light and seen some animals roaming around.  What a great time I had to get out of the congested city and spend the night in jungle with the wild animals.

Pollachi is a town that is located in the Coimbatore District of the State of Tamil Nadu . Pollachi is up and coming and has a predominant agricultural economy.  The town is located around 40 km from the city of Coimbatore .  Pollachi gets substantial rainfall during the monsoon season, and this is the reason for the predominance of agriculture in the area.

Even today, Pollachi has a big market for agricultural products.  Most of the fruits, vegetables, and even flowers that are sold in Kerala come from the agricultural lands of Pollachi.  Since Pollachi is located near the Western Ghats, it has a pleasant climate throughout the year and is quite picturesque.

There are many ancient temples that are located in Pollachi, and the town itself is very old. The Subramanyar Temple is considered to be among the oldest in the area.  The roadways are extensive and connect to most of the important cities.  Some of the main temples around Pollachi are the; Ayyappan Temple, Alagunachi Amman Temple, and Arulmigu Prasanda Vinayagar Temple .

Indra Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary, is located about 37 km from Pollachi, in the Anamalai Hills, and is one of the most picturesque reserves in the south.  It has various kinds of animals like; elephant, gaur, tiger, panther, sloth-bear, deer, wild bear, wild dog, porcupine, flying squirrel, jackal, pangolin, civet cat, and birds like rocket-tailed drongo, red-whiskered bulbul, black headed oriole, tree pie, spotted dove, green pigeon and many more.

Top Slip, is a small place in Indira Gandhi National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary.  It is famous for its elephant camp and got its name from the fact that a lot of timber trees used to slip down from here to the plains below.  The Amaravathy reservoir in the Anamalai Hills has a large number of crocodiles. There are quite a few dams around the reservoir.

Valparai is another hill station about 65 km from Pollachi, and is located in Anamalai also. Monkey falls at the foot hills of Valparai are also a beautiful waterfall.  There are a lot of waterfalls around Pollachi.  Chinnakallar town near Pollachi, is supposed to be the wettest town in South India .  The Chinnakallar falls is named so because the water fall sounds like the roar of a lion.  Pollachi is a great stop for a night or two, just to break away from the city life and enjoy some wildlife and peaceful waterfalls.  If time prevails, check out the other spots I just mentioned.