As we approached the Kerala border, the weather started to get cooler and started drizzling as well.
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Sabarimala was something in my bucket list and wanted to visit. For some reason a visit never materialized. I had been planning a trip for sometime and things materialized in July. Slots are open only during pre-defined dates. While one has to follow rituals to climb the sacred 18 steps, one can visit temple and get darshan of lord Ayyappa without rituals too.
Decided to take the Innova Crysta which belongs to a family member. This is a 2018 BS4 MT, while it’s not a fun car, Crysta especially with bucket seats at the back is quite comfortable and a good highway mile muncher. To me, a BS4 Toyota diesel is a gem, has good power and has no DPF non sense.
Day 1
Route is straight forward- Bangalore- Salem-Dindigul-Theni-Kumily-Pamba. We started early in the morning around 530 AM. While I was contemplating if to take Krishnagiri-Dharmapuri or Rayakottai-Dharmpuri, Google suggested latter as quicker one. Took the same route, there is still work in progress around Hosur/Rayakottai, early morning traffic wasn’t that bad especially crossing smaller towns.
After Rayakottai, 4 lane toll road begins and fantastic throughout. While KA was witnessing heavy rainfall, TN side was super dry. Post Salem as usual, traffic reduced and made quick progress. Crossed Batlagundu and we didn’t find many options for lunch. Found a small hotel and stopped for a quick lunch.
After Dindigul its mostly 2 lane highway. While the road surface is good, there are numerous dividers and intersection. These dividers make overtaking difficult, and you lose quite a bit of time when stuck behind slow moving traffic.
As we approached the Kerala border, the weather started to get cooler and started drizzling as well. While the coastal KA was witnessing heavy rainfall, KL had moderate rains throughout our drive. Kumily ghats (Not sure if it is called so?) is where Kerala officially starts. From here, it’s a beautiful drive through tea estates, rain and butter smooth twisty roads. 3 Series or even the Swift would have been nice in this section.
We stopped a quick coffee break. While the coffee was poor, scenery and weather made up for the bad coffee. We crossed Kuttikannam where the temperature was around 18-19 at around 3PM. Crossed couple of waterfalls enroute but didn’t find them worth stopping.
We weren’t sure where to stay for the night. Pamba doesn’t have any option to stay and Nilakkal too didn’t appear to have many options. We found a room in Mundakaya and decided to stay there for the night.
Beautiful tea estate
Another coffee break
Waterfalls enroute
Day 2
Pamba is around 50KM from Mundakaya and about 1.5 Hrs drive. Next day we started early from Mundakaya at around 530AM. Upon reaching Nilakkal, we were informed that we cannot take car to Pamba as there is not enough parking and can proceed only if we are to drop passengers and return. Another option was to park the car at Nilakkal and take KSRTC. We decided to bus. We got a parking and walked towards bus stop. There are frequent buses from Nilakkal to Pamba and it took about 30 mins or so for us to reach Pamba.
Upon reaching Pamba, we started the walk. It was raining and had to use raincoats. While it was crowded, I was told it was much less than what peak season would witness. Once you cross Pamba river, there is a temple complex. Beyond this it’s a steep climb.
The path is paved either with Granite stones or there are steps. There are some concrete sections too and many shops selling refreshments/light snacks enroute. At regular intervals there are places to sit, restrooms and drinking water facilities. About 1.5hrs of climbing, we reached somewhat level ground and walking got easier. We reached the main temple complex in about 2 Hrs.
As expected, there was crowd, the queue though was moving quickly, and we had to wait about 30-45min for darshan. After darshan, we bought famous Sabarimala prasada and started walking back to Pamba. The route we ascended was closed for an unknown reason and we had walk down using longer route. This section is tarred/concrete but has not many facilities to sit/rest and not much shops either. This was bit steeper as well. Tractors and emergency ambulance commute on these roads.
For one who cannot walk only alternative is the Doli(or called Dolly?) service. I remember seeing they charge around 6500 per person.
Wildlife we encountered
It took us about 1.5Hrs to reach back Pamba. Got a bus and reached Nilakkal by about 3PM. We had to either stay at the same hotel in Mundakaya or drive further. We decided to drive until 6PM .By about 5PM we realized Kumily/Thekkady is where we can stay. Reached Kumily by about 630PM. There are plenty of options for stay being a tourist place. However, since Periyar boating was closed due to rain, the place was deserted, and most hotels were running empty.
We were super tired and hungry. Didn’t want to eat rice sambar and found a decent place which served good Thali.
Delicious Thali to wrap up long tiring day
Day 3
Next day, was the return leg to Bangalore and was about 10Hrs drive. While I was tempted to explore different route, was super exhausted after the previous day’s walk and wanted to reach home quick. Decided to take the same road back. Since we started early there wasn’t much traffic and we made back home by around 330PM.
Some other observations
- There is no dress code to visit temple, what’s more surprising is you can carry phones, backpacks too!
- During peak season, finding a place to stay nearby can get tricky as there are limited options.
- May be the day we visited witnessed more crowd, I was told barring peak season cars are allowed until Pamba. There is a parking area.
- I was a bit disappointed to see plastic/waste thrown around the sanctum.
- Roads are fantastic all the way to Pamba. That said you get good traffic and especially during season this road will be absolute chaos.
Smooth roads and Crysta
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