Hogenakkal Waterfalls

SUNDAY CHRONICLE
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Roaring cascades
• March 20, 2011
• By Chitra Ramaswamy
•
The day is dressed in fog. We are on a short holiday at Sterling Resorts, Yelagiri. On sudden impulse, we decide on a day trip to Hogenakkal Falls, located about 750 feet above sea level. Also called Marikottayam by the natives of Tamil Nadu, Hogenakkal is about 250 km from Chennai and 180 km from Bengaluru on the confluence of the Cauvery and the Chinnar rivers on the Tamil Nadu-Karnataka border.

The route to Hogenakkal, set in the midst of the lush Melagiri Hills, is a visual treat with verdant fields and the mammoth, colourful terracotta statues of village guardians or Aiyanars as they are called in local parlance. Bush-ridden slopes give way to scrubs of thorny vegetation. All at once towering trees appear from nowhere and dot the landscape. Soon we are in the midst of bustling activity, the drone of tumbling waterfalls providing the background score. We park in the huge parking lot and proceed towards the falls area, our path flanked by several small kiosks, vending an array of goods from movie DVDs and music albums, to fancy stuff and eats.

We bypass the boating area and head straight for Hogenakkal’s Hanging Bridge, passing through several fingers of stream emerging from the Cauvery. Here we see several men and women taking a bath. Because the Cauvery flows through forests filled with herbs, it is believed that bathing in these waters has therapeutic effects. Self-claimed masseurs, oil bottles in hand, tail us, coaxing us to unwind and relax with their massage. We manage to get them off our backs and proceed towards the bridge from where we take in our surrounding, breathing in “green” air.

The squealing and shrieking of youngsters riding on the parisal is drowned by the roaring, cascading falls. We realise that Hogenakkal has several smaller falls besides the giant one. To access the big falls we walk on stacks of sandbags placed midstream, to accomplish the cross-over. We buy ourselves a ride on the circular basket boat, the coracle, parisal in Tamil and harigolu in Kannada, crafted from bamboo and buffalo skin hide. We hear screams from neighbouring boats. There are nervous giggles and boisterous laughter and for a change, this wild human cacophony overpowers the thundering crash of the waterfalls.

Our boats bounce, toss, whirl, do their own unique jig and look like they might even capsize under the ferocity of the surging avalanche. The experience is awesome and intimidating at once. The sight before us is a captivating canvas of “smoke billowing from the rocks” — yeah, that is exactly what “Hogenakkal” means — Smoking Rock — Hoge “smoke” and kal “rock” in Kannada.

A mellow Cauvery assumes a menacing façade as it falls into a narrow gorge in several bursts of water. We snake our way on the coracle in the direction of the river as it weaves its way through a labyrinth of narrow and broad channels, flanked by rocks that seem sculpted into a medley of strange shapes. We learn that the carbonatite rocks here are the oldest of its kind in South Asia and one of the oldest in the world.

As we navigate along the waterway, we notice some of the coracle-wallahs doing brisk business, selling snacks and fizzy drinks from their boats — floating markets of sorts. As we continue our adventurous cruise, we see the natives busy trying to net fish. The catch here is quite good with a variety of fish including the aranjan, keluthi, valai, robu and jilaby. The prized creatures get taken to stalls nearby to be prepared and served as delicacies.

Hogenakkal is a scintillating spectacle nestled in the folds of dense forests. River, rocks and abounding trees — a sort of wooded island caused by the splitting and merging of the Cauvery — Hogenakkal is a haven, especially for fatigued city souls.

Getting there
Hogenakkal can be reached either by rail or road. It is 350 km from Chennai and 150 km from Bengaluru, 45 km from Dharmapuri in Tamil Nadu.

Rail: Hogenakkal does not have a railway station. The closest is Morappur, 75 km away. All trains from Chennai, Coimbatore, Kerala that pass via Salem, halt at Morappur.

Road: Several tourist taxis and buses ply from Bengaluru and Chennai to Hogenakkal.
- The writer is a travel enthusiast