My
first introduction to Kotagiri was through someone who had lived there and
claimed that it was the prettiest place in the Nilgiris. Having visited Ooty
and Coonoor earlier, I was surprised I hadn't heard of it. My interest was
fuelled years later when I read an article about Longwood Shola, one of the few
remaining shola forests in the Nilgiris, and saw that name again — Kotagiri. In
the summer of 2011, I visited Longwood and explored this little-known town.
Kotagiri, home of the Kota tribes and picturesque trekking
trails, lies below the busy town of Ooty and above the growing town of Coonoor.
We checked in at Heavenly Stay, a quiet homestay run by a charming lady who
plied us with scrumptious food at regular intervals. We had obtained permission
from the District Forest Officer to visit Longwood Shola but to our dismay, we
were informed on our arrival that the forest was temporarily closed for
visitors due to a leopard attack the previous day. We drove down to the forest
only to find all the gates closed. Eager to abate our disappointment, one of
the workers at the cottage, a Badaga man, offered to show us around the area.
We set off to the St Catherine Falls, Aravenu. It involved a
walk up to one of those quaint viewing huts that are found throughout the Ghats
and offered a splendid view of the rugged hills and the 250-ft jet of water
gushing down the mountain. In the evening, we drove to Kannerimukku, home of
the first European resident of the Nilgiris, John Sullivan, the then Collector
of Coimbatore. He built this bungalow in 1819, and then went on to build Ooty.
The bungalow itself has a rich history -- it changed hands many times and was
used as a summer home, godown, village school, cattle shed and was finally
renovated and opened to the public in 2002. It showcases some ancient
photographs, tribal art, implements used by the Kotas, Badagas, Todas and other
tribes of the Niligiris. It even stocks the Nilgiris' very own and rather
impressive magazine -- Bluest Heaven. We were then taken around the village and
were shown the Panchayat-style meeting place of the villagers -- a giant tree.
Badaga women gathered at their doorsteps, made conversation and even invited us
for a cup of tea.
For old times' sake, we decided to visit Coonoor the next
day. We stopped on the way to see the Ralliah Dam, which was closed. A narrow
trail led into a thick, silent forest which was completely deserted, offering
an exhilarating hike. After lunching at Coonoor, we drove past Wellington and
its famous Gymkhana Club and made our way upwards to the Ketti Valley View
Point near Ooty. From there, one can see all the Badaga villages nestled in the
valley, and the trail of the Nilgiri Mountain Railway -- "where Chaiyya
Chaiyya was shot" -- our guide supplied helpfully.
The Kodanad View Point was the high point of our trip,
literally. Tea estates sprung up from the clouds on either side of the route in
an unending expanse of green. We saw a lot of uniformed men on the road and
learnt that Kodanad was Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa's summer
retreat. We reached the view point after having heard for a few minutes the
driver and guide debate about the number of rooms in her bungalow. A few plain
clothesmen (who informed us they were Jayalalithaa's guards on their day off)
suggested we wait for a while -- and in about half an hour, the mist lifted,
unveiling to us a view that exhausts superlatives.
The Mysore Plateau spread out before us, the green of the
Thengumarahada forest extended up to the soft velvety mountains (the
"folding hills"), the Rangasamy Peak stood out like a guardian, the
mighty muddy-green Moyar river flowed through the plain and the white lines of
the Catherine Falls cut through the brown rock. We took in this scene in a
meditative silence. Suddenly, I saw two brown moving blobs in a clearing.
"Elephants!" I yelled, waving at them impulsively.
"Haha," said the men politely, "you're seeing cows."
Grabbing the camera frantically, I zoomed in, and one could see that they were
quite unmistakably a bunch of elephants strolling in the sunshine. We took a
couple of photos, and before we knew it, a thick fog descended on the mountain
and the view was gone.
