Best Places to Visit in Kallakurichi – Scenic Spots & Temple Trails

1.Sri Veeratteswarar Koil

This temple is one of the famous eight holy temple namely ashtaveeratta sthalas. This is the 11th of the Shiva temple located in the Nadunadu region which are mentioned in the Thevaram hymns. Saying the Tevaram in praise on the Lord of the temple, saints Sambandar, Appar and sundarar. Asking the ignorant to struggle for enlightment, Saint Gnanasambandar said to them,”If you want to avoid letting your legs into mud and struggle to pick it up, think of the one with Ganga on His turf gracing at Veerattanam.

Temple History:

It so occur that the world became dark due to Mother Parvathi closing the eyes of Lord Shiva which are Sun and Moon in a drama. The darkness concretized into the figure of a demon. Here, Andhaka means darkness and also refers to ignorance. This is because life is synonymous with ignorance thus making it devoid of light. The Andhaka-darkness giant was struck on the head with a club in Lord Shiva’s Hand. Blood started gushing out from the head of the demon. And every single blood that was spilt on the ground, transformed into a demon and there was war. Mother Parvathi caught the blood in a bowl to prevent it from reaching the ground. The blood that dropped formed 8 columns and 8 rows in the cross manner and thus made 64 boxes. With the same force, Lord shiva created 64 Bhairavas for each square and stopped the creation of demons any further and showered his blessings on the Devas present in swifgrial world. This later came to be known as Vasthu Shanti Puja for Bhairavas. This also symbolically depicts the devastation resulting from ignorance and gaining of knowledge.

2.Aadhi Thiruvarangam

Prominence of the Shrine : The 108 Divya Desams are popular. More popular and ancient than it are Utharangam which is also called Aadhirangam or Aadhi Thiruvarangam still stands. This is so because Aadi Thiruvarangam is based on the first avatar of Vishnu. Srirangam is next to the Aadi Thiruvarangam is the gatha that can be heard told quite frequently in this region.

Temple History :

Somugan, an asura demon attained immortality and countless blessings by doing austerity for a long time. He had the pride he had the terror like Asuras and Asare shaped Asuras are. He had the desire of dominating the earth as well as the Heaven and to have the sages and the devas bow to him. He conquered the earth and heaven and then subjugated the sages and the devas and they had to bow down to him. He put Brahma in jail and then took the Veda Mandras away from him. Brahma, Devars and the other sages then humbly bowed before Sri Narayanan (Vishnu) and pleaded with him to rid of them of the menace of somugan. Narayan went to fight somugan. Further a great war between them occurred. Despite the fact that Somugan use all of his magical tricks, he became tired. He thought that Narayanan, with whom he was staying with would kill him as he feared for his life. He dived into sea and buried themself. He subdued somugan and to get hold of the Vedas, Sri Narayanan took the avathar as Kamadhenu ‘Mathsya’. Devas and the Sagas were very happy and bowed down before Sri Narayanan at Utharangam.

• Location :

• Thiruvarangam is located in between two places namely Thiruvannamalai and Manalurpet. They are also between Thirukoilur and Manalurpet towns of South Arcot district and Kanchipuram district respectively. From Manalurpet there are local transport facilities like mini bus, auto van etc can be hired. Government buses are also available.

3.Kalvarayan Hills

The Kalrayan Hills are one of the important group of hills located in Eastern Ghats in the southernmost part of Tamil Nadu state in India. Apart from the Pachaimalai, Javadi, and Shevaroy hills, they demarcate the Kavery riverine system on the southern side from the Palar riverine system on the north. It reaches the height of 2000 to 3000 feet and covers the area of 1095 sq.km.

These hills run across several districts of Tamil Nadu state, running in the northeast from the Salem District. Salem district lies to the north of the range while Villupuram to the south of the range. The Kalrayans are further divided into subgroups; the northern subgroups are the Chinna Kalrayans, meaning ‘small’ Kalrayans, while the subgroups in the southern area are called the Periya Kalrayans, meaning ‘big’ Kalrayans. The Chinna Kalrayan hills are about 2700 ft high, while the Periya Kalrayan hills are about 4000 ft high.

It is also rather flat within the range and the ground is of comparatively good quality for plant life. The scrub extend up to 400 meters in area while deciduous forests start from 800 meter altitude and above. Sholas, a type of high altitude dwarfing evergreen, vegetation, can be found on isolated plateaus. However, it is also important for conservation due to ‘forest stand characteristics and dynamics, uniqueness of the habitat, pressure of human activity and tradition.’

The Gomukhi dam, Megam Falls and Periyar falls at the foothills are such sites which give the kind of feeling that you get while washing your face with cold water having the fragrance of flowers during hot summer’s season. This place would be quite liked by the adventure lovers and the trekkers. These hills therefore provide a moderate climate and serene environment. There is an exquisite botanic garden located at the top of the hills.

The study of the tribal communities brings interesting findings. Major chunk of the hilly area is still virgin and uninhabited save some nomadic villagers of the nearby tribes. The nearest city is Kallakurichi and it is about 56 KMs away from Kalrayan Hills and the other nearest city is Salem; it is 70 KMs away from Kalrayan Hills.

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