Trekking To Parvatha Malai

Trekking To Parvatha Malai.

Some days before I came to know about Parvatha Malai through one of my friend. I planned to visit there and collected information about the hill. It is nearby Tiruvannamalai and Polur. From Tiruvannamalai 37km and From Polur 20 kms distance. I went to Tiruvannamalai by bus and reached by 8.00pm and had a quick darshan at Tiruvannamalai Arunachaleshwarar temple. We then boarded a Bus to Parvatha malai and get down at Thenmathi mangalam village by 10.00pm. It is said that, to climb this hill by night is best, because the climate is chill so we can’t get tired and some siddhars will cross that time. So we decided to climb by night. There are three routes are there to climb the hill. One is Thenmathi mangalam, second is mambakkam and another one is Kadaladi. Me and my friend met one friend in the bus and he guided us very well. Without him it was a tough task to us, because we are visiting first time to that place. As guided by him we taken bath in the base and started to climb by 11.30pm night and we reached the top by 3.40 am. In night torch is must for everyone. We got powerful torch so it was useful for us. In between the climbing,  rain was started and we heard a dog voice reminding us some shelter is nearby. We then climbed in that rain also and found a small shelter on the way. There we saw some dogs, somebody said if we miss the route these dogs will guide us. We saw some arrow mark showing the route also in rocks and trees to guide us in the night also. We reached by 3.40am and then performed pooja by our own (it is usual thing here) and we taken some rest. By 6.00 am we started to get down and we excited to see the paths we climbed. In night we never got feared by the way, but in the morning we saw the way was somewhat dangerous, the first few kilometres, path was  plain surface, second few kilometres steps path, third few kilometres rock path and fourth one is iron bar path- 500 feet(It is very tough). The hill is totally 4200 Hight. We then finally got down by 10.00 am. On the way to Hill some shops are there, they sell water, cool drinks, tea etc in night also. In Day time you can get light refreshments. Previously this hill was climbed only on Full moon night. Now a days every weekends, lot of peoples are climbing, even in weekdays also few peoples are climbing.

PARVATHA HILL :

Parvatham means hill and 'Parvatha Malai' as it is called is the Hill of Hills or Queen of Hills at the top of which resides the presiding deity Parvatha Rani or Parvathammal. She is the Sakthi aspect and the 'Siva' aspect is Lord Malligarjun. 'Parvathammal is also called Lordess Brahmarambika' (also called Maragathambika). It is not known when exactly the temple was constructed at the top of the hill ( about 4,000 ft. high and a difficult terrain with 'almost' vertical rocky cliff called 'Kadapparai Malai'. But pre-historic record (Malai Padu Kadaam) shows that a king called 'Maa Mannan' who was ruling that area, during the year 300 A.D used to visit this temple frequently and worship the lord and lordess. It is said that even 2000 years ago the great yogis (Siddhas) constructed this temple at the top of the hill for doing meditation.

Unlike other hills, Parvatha Malai 'Cliff' presents a wonderful sight when viewed from different angles. It portrays eight different shapes from eight directions around the hill. The view from the top of the hill is splendid and one can have a panaromic view of the landscape below (when there are no clouds) for upto even 50 kms. The sight of the rising and setting sun from the hill top is a rare one to enjoy more than that at Kanyakumari (South India). At nights visitors can witness the 'Jyothi Dharshan' at the hill top.

This virgin hill grows plenty of rare herbal plants which are not found in other hills except Himalayas. The visitors / devotees can easily smell the 'Herbal breeze' while going up or coming down the hill. It cures many diseases automatically. It is said that two 'sadhus' one guru Namasivayam and the other Guhai Namasivayam when they stayed on the hill accidentally cooked and ate an unknown herbal leaf (now known as 'Karunochi - Siddha Medicine') and regained their youth for ever.

TEMPLE in HILL:

The temple has no doors or compound wall and also no 'priests' to perform 'pujas'. The visiting devotees themselves can perform 'pujas', do 'abisheham' and 'arathanas' like in most of the North Indian temples. 'Nishta' is reached in no time when one performs 'meditation' at the top of the hill (that is the power of the 'vibration' of the hill and the presiding deities). Few devotees have experienced 'Miracles' in the hill and the temple. One has to personally experience to believe them. In many cases such 'miracles' have been encountered by few fortunate devotees when they stay overnight in the hill/ temple.

DEITIES:

The names of the presiding deities of the temple at the top of Parvatha Malai, similar to the one at 'Srisailam' temple in Andhra Pradesh (India) also has equal or more 'powers' in bestowing grace to the devotees and redressing their grievances. Milk is preferred for the pujas and there are no sacrifices offered. Oil for the temple lamp, flowers and 'Vilvam leaf' have to be taken to the top from bottom by the devotees who wish to perform pujas. Food packs, drinking water, torch light and woollen shawl also have to be taken with them.

At night times 'Jyothi' (brightness) can be witnessed on the cheeks of goddess Brahmarambika. This is a rare phenomenon in no other deities in any temple can be seen. When the devotee recede as far back from the deity, (goddess Brahmarambika) sanctum sanatorium, the size of the deity appears to increase in size instead of diminishing and is seen that the deity steps up forward and approaches towards the devotee. One has to see it to believe it ! when 'camphor is lighted up before the Lord Malligarjun and viewed from a distance while worshipping, the images of serpent, trident and drum appears in the camphor light. When a devotee 'Chants' 'OM' mantra sincerely 108 times before the Lord Malligarjun in the 'Sanctum sanatorium', he/she can clearly hear 'Silent whisper' of 'OM' mantra from behind.

IMMORTAL YOGIS (SIDDHARS):

It is believed that several 'siddhars' still live in small natural caves all along Parvatha Mallai hill and they give 'dharshan' to few lucky visitors / devotees. Since they move in 'subtle bodies' it will be difficult to have their 'dharshan' with the naked eye. Only with the power of the 'third eye' (Gnanakkan) any sincere devotee can at times witness the presence of siddhars. These siddhars often take on mortal (gross) bodies to facilitate viewing them e.g., in the form of vegetation, birds animals and very rarely human form also. Sometimes devotees though unable to see them in physical form spot them out on the hill from the smell of fragrance' like camphor, agarpathi, or sambrani which the siddhars carry around them. At times , it is a rare sight to have 'dharshan' of 3 'kazhugus' making rounds over the cliff of Parvatha Malai just like one can witness 2 kazhugus over 'Thirukkazhukundrum' hill top. These kazhugus are believed to be 'siddhars' giving 'dharshan' to the devotees taking on the form of birds; some times siddhars give dharshan to sincere devotees in the form of 'honey bee, bairavar (dog), etc. and guides them the path while trekking up the hill or stepping down.

It is believed that these 'siddhars' visit the temple on the top of 'Parvatha Malai' at 12 0' clock midnight to worship the presiding deities there. Though no one can or have seen them in physical bodies, villagers around the 'Parvatha Malai' down below say that they can clearly hear the sound of ringing bells, blowing conch, drums beating etc., exactly at 12 mid night when the 'pujas' are performed by siddhars.

TREKKING THE HILL:

There are three places from where the 'peak' of Parvatha Malai can be accessed. One is from a place called 'Then madhi mangalam' the second from Mambakkam and the third from Kadaladi. Normally the first and the last routes are chosen as the second one is very steep and difficult to climb. Out of the first and the last, the first route is comparatively easy to climb as half of the trekking distance (12 km) is mostly plains and the rest is also not very steep. Most of the visitors / devotees take the first route to climb and while trekking down, prefer the Kadaladi route more so since the setting up of the 'Ashram' at Kadaladi region. The first route takes about 4 hours to climb while the last one, only 3 hours to climb. On full moon / new moon and important days all along the trekking route, the visitors find small temporary shops where they can take rest for a while and refresh themselves with drinking water (available in packets), tea, coffee, biscuits etc.,

One has to trek through 6 small hills to reach the top of 'Parvatha Malai' which is the seventh. It is said to be synonymous to the 6 'Chakras' in the human subtle body. The Mooladhara chakra or Kundalini climbs up and after crossing six other Chackras, joins with the seventh 'Sadasivam' or Sahasradhara chakra. About 3/4 of the hill route is through thick forest via treaded foot path where on both sides one can enjoy the smell of 'Himalaya's rare herbs' are in plenty. The last 1/4 portion of the trek is a bit difficult to climb as the path is rocky and almost vertical. It is called 'Kadapparai Malai' since there are no regular steps to climb and only with the help of 'Iron rods' which are embedded in the solid rock, one has to climb keeping his steps alternately on the notches carved on the rock.

The trekking of this last portion is almost like in mountaineering and as such one has to come prepared with 'kits' similar to mountaineering. Shorts are preferred to wear and the kit containing drinking water, puja materials, fruits, biscuits and other eatables should be carried on the back as both the hands should be free to grip the Kadapparai one after the other.

There are no wild animals or any poisonous insects on the way and people of any age can climb up the hill with 'will power'. So far in the history of Parvatha Malai, there is no record of any visitors / devotees falling down and meeting with death. Though after trekking the Parvatha malai route on the hill, legs pain for atleast 2 days

LOCATION and ACCESS TO PARVATHA MALAI

This wonder hill is situated in Kadaladi P.O., Thiruvannamalai Dist. Tamilnadu (India). It is about 37 km North West of Thiruvannamalai. Thiruvannamalai is well connected by rail and road from all major towns & cities in Tamilnadu. Kadaladi can be accessed from Thiruvannamalai only by road. Buses are plying regularly to and from Thiruvannamalai main bus stand. Kadaladi can also be reached by private cars, vans and auto etc. from Thiruvannamalai, which takes about 45 minutes. As earlier stated Parvatha Malai can also be climbed from Then-madhi mangalam or Mambakkam, which are near to Kadaladi.  Polur is 20 km from thenmathimangalam.

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