2025 Vacation Diaries - 5

Read Diaries Of Day 4 Here! 

Day 5 – Pazhani

Before I start writing about our tryst with Pazhani, I have to mention the elusive peacock. The hotel in Kodaikanal resonated with the sounds of a peacock early in the morning. From the sounds, we could make out that the peacock was very near. Not once did we ever get to see the bird. But on the morning that we were to leave Kodaikanal, as I stood at the window of my room and gazed out on the garden below, I saw the flash of a blue tail. For just a few seconds, a peacock stood beside a plant and before I could comprehend fully, it stealthily vanished. The peacock that had been teasing me with its sounds every morning finally gave a brief glimpse on the day I was about to meet Lord Muruga, whose vaahan is the peacock. I took this as a good omen.

The bus ride from Kodaikanal to Pazhani was downhill and led to a mass puking event initiated first by one of my nieces, then my son and finally yours truly. Nausea didn’t allow me to enjoy the scenic view of the hills one last time.

By the time we reached Pazhani, cold weather was a thing of the past. A harsh sun shone down upon us, making us beat a hasty retreat to the cool shadow of a room. Here, my youngest niece got her first hair-tonsure done. She cried, we tried to divert her attention, people clapped, whistled, shouted, did just about everything to stop her from crying. I have a feeling that our combined efforts only made her cry more.

Once that was done, we left in batches to the temple. Pazhani, like most of the temples of Lord Muruga is situated atop a hill. There are two options to enter the temple. One is to walk about a 600 steps. The other is the winch, sort of a buggy-ride that takes in about ten passengers at a time to the top. The seniors in the group opted for the winch. I and a few selected members chose the adventurous option of walking uphill.

A minus point – there is too much of money-haggling here. You need to find a guide who will take you uphill and place you ahead of the line. The guides charge a hefty sum for this. After a lot of negotiation, we finally found a guide.

The road uphill is made of slopes and steps. Initially I was full of over-confidence. Slopes? Steps? Pfft! Easy-peasy! Fifteen minutes of walking made me want to quit mid-way. There are fewer steps and more of slopes which are quite difficult to climb. Gravity was at its mightiest, testing us at every step. After what seemed like eternity, we finally reached the top of the temple where we waited to join those arriving by the winch.

The temple closes briefly for a while in the afternoon and opens at 1.20 after which it stays open till night. We had to wait for a few minutes for the temple to open. Then the guide showed us the way in. We joined a line of devotees and gradually made way into the inner sanctum where Lord Muruga graced us with His vision.

He is princely – there is no other word to describe him. You have to see Him to understand what I cannot express in words. Every bit of tiredness disappeared on seeing Him. Ironically no wish came in the mind. Just emptiness and a sense of bliss at having got a brief glimpse of the Divine in the form of the Prince of Pazhani.

The walk downhill was equally taxing. It rained a bit which provided an outlet for the heat in the ground to rise. Hot vapors assailed us as we dragged our feet down the slopes and the stairs. Pazhani will always be memorable!

From Pazhani, a few members of the group headed over to Trichy while the rest proceeded to Palakkad. My family and my cousin’s family set off to Trichy by road. It was a drive of around 4 hours. We drove along the highway that connected Pazhani – Dindigul – Trichy.
The route was scenic with mountains adorning both sides of the highway and a smooth road ahead. Dark clouds had started gathering promising heavy rains. 

And it did rain! When we were nearing Trichy, it started raining heavily. We had plans to visit the Rockfort temple dedicated to Lord Ganesha, referred to here as Ucchipulayar. Since it was already 8 by the time we reached our hotel in Trichy, we decided to visit the temple the next morning. We were also scheduled to visit the temple of our Kuladevi Ulaganaayaki Amman the next morning. We needed to buy some items for the worship.

Once we checked into the hotel, I and my husband immediately left for Chathram bus-stand which is a big market in Trichy. We booked an auto through Uber but the driver cancelled it in the last minute. We asked an auto-driver who was waiting outside the hotel for a drop. He said it would cost Rs.150. The fare in Uber was showing just Rs. 60. A bus passed by the road at that time and the auto-driver stopped it with a whistle. He gestured us to board the bus quickly. And thus we enjoyed a bus ride in Trichy at night at just a fare of Rs.15, thanks to an auto-driver who had quoted four times the fare and would have got it too but opted for the honest approach.

Chathram bus-stand has many shops for clothes, food, medicines – you name it. I was relieved to see that many were open. We could get all our requirements at a single shop. Once our shopping was completed, we took an auto to the hotel where we joined my cousin for dinner. You have to taste Ghee Roast Dosa in Trichy. It is simply yummy! 

At night, as I dropped into my bed and my legs let out a silent scream of relief, I sent out a note of gratitude to the Universe for postponing our visit to Uchchipulayar for the next day. The slopes of Pazhani and the steps of Uchchipulayar, both on the same day, would have been a destructive feat for my feet.

Read Diaries Of Day 6 Here!