DEVELOPING GUNDLUPET AS A MAJOR RAILWAY HUB

 GUNDLUPET is a township at the crossroads of Bandipur forests some one and a half hours journey from Mysore.For good or for bad the broad-guage railway link on this sector is upto Nanjangud thereafter the railway link extends towards Chamrajnagar.

Gundlupet has a key strategic role  as buses towards Ooty and towards Calicut have to pass through this township. A broad guage railway link to the township of Gundlupet will have many advantages more than anything else it will ease the population load on Mysore Bus stand and also the Mysore railway station.Instead of travelling to Mysore interim populace could directly travel to Gundlupet  by train and proceed to Ooty or Calicut by bus. A major Government bus stand can be planned at this place with pathways and link to the Gundlupet Railway Station.

Railway links to places like  Sultan battery (Ganapativattom) and Vythiri in Wayanad through the forests can also reduce travel time to Calicut and other towns in Kerala. The Government is planning a tunnel from Meppadi in Wayanad to Anakampoyil in Calicut through the Western Ghat mountains the tunnel being some ten kilometers long..the tunnel could also accomodate the Railway line.

For reasons unknown such a project has not been undertaken as the time and expenses to lay such a railway line  would not be much considering it is level land and  could help propel  the economy of this sector.

YERCAUD IN SALEM -TAMIL NADU

Not many know of a hill-station relatively close to Bangalore which has the trappings of Ooty and Kodaikanal.The hill-station called Yercaud thirty five kilometers from Salem.Salem is five hours journey from Bangalore through the towns of Hosur,Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri.

Ooty and Kodaikanal  are on the Western Ghat mountains while Yercaud is on the Eastern Ghat mountain ranges and Salem as a city is in the midst of the Eastern Ghat mountain ranges.Yercaud is thirty five kilometers from the city of Salem ;five kilometers to the foot of the Yercaud hill and thirty kilometers of climb through twenty hair-pin bends.

Yercaud is some three hundred square kilometers and with certain villages around it added could be around nine hundred square kilometers they say. This place is some five degrees less cooler than Ooty during Summer and five degrees warmer than Ooty during Winter..

The key aspect of Yercaud is the Yercaud lake which forms the heart of the place with parks around it and the bus stand is slightly in an isolated corner from the main township.

The city of Salem is basically a Colonial town created and developed by the British.East India company officials evinced a keen interest in Yercaud and developed it on the lines of Ooty and Kodaikanal.Yercaud translates into Yeri and Kaad.Yeri means pond and Kaad  means forest.In some aspects Yearcaud is a temple town of yore which must have been a piligrimage site as some temples are seen at some junctures which transformed into a Hill-station with time.

Any one wishing to visit this place must take care because this isolated hamlet shuts down all economic activity by  8pm if not earlier.It is preferable not to be here in the night if you are a first time traveller as the place is desolate and forlorn.Preferably stay in Salem itself.Make detailed enquiries of warm wear needed before proceeding to this place.

OOTY AND KODAIKANAL

Ooty and Kodaikanal are two hill stations on the Western Ghat mountains almost at similar altitudes of some 6000 ft displaced from each other by some three hundred kilometers ;Ooty closer to the city of Mysore though 160km from it and Kodaikanal close to the temple town of Palani in Tamil Nadu-both these towns developed by the English establishment and is similar in many ways with lakes and parks and boating.

Ooty is called Ootacamund and also Udhagamandalam and has a diverse population base of Kannada ,Tamil and Malayalam population ,though formally set up as a hill station by the English there were settlements here of many kinds since time immemorial largely composing of indigenous people who climbed up and down the hills to this 30 square mile plateu engulfed by hills.Coonor is a sister town of Ooty

From Mysore ,on criss-crossing the Bandipur forests two prominent towns emerge, Gudalur and  Naduvattom. Gudalur is some sixty kilometers from Sultanbattery. Naduvattom basically is a malayalam phrase which means "central circle" and considering that Sultanbattery was earlier called Ganapathyvattom it is likely the rulers of Wayanad had some sway over this place much before; including this place called Ooty, which was earlier called Udhagamandalam the word Mandalam translating to Village from Sanskrit.

In present day Ooty temperatures vary from 18 degree celcius to  0 degree celsius with the days being warm and nights become extremely cold due to the altitude and large trees that surround this place giving an air-conditioning effect.

One of the peaks that arise from the Ooty plains upwards is Doddabetta an isolated hill some twenty kilometers or so within Ooty and rising 1500 ft above it making it an even foggy and colder place.

The weather and largely the rain fall makes Ooty an ideal place for growing tea.Pulverised tea leaves creates tea powder which needs to be cleaned and packed to get tea a drink largely sponsored by the chinese and later adopted by the English.

One of the key attractions of Ooty is the botonical garden. It is a misnomer to call this a botonical garden as it is very much a park developed on one of the hill slopes that adorn this town.It must be some ten acres in space with a glass house and could be seen as a combination of Lalbagh and chikkalalbagh seen in  Bangalore.

The town of Coonor is some twenty kilometers on one of the edges of Ooty and houses the staff training college of the Indian defence and also has a park similar to the ones found in Ooty called the Sims park.Down the hill from Coonor on the Deccan plains is the town of Metturpalayam.

From Metturpalayam to reach Kodaikanal is some 300 kilometers driving through the plains of Tamil Nadu covering fringes of cities like Tirupur,Coimbatore ,Dindudal and Palladam .From Palladam cross the road leads again towards the western ghats to the town of Palani which is a temple town on the foot of the Western Ghats. From Palani it is  sixty kilometre climb uphill to Kodaikanal and  this  stretch is  steep and the hills have many other arteries facing places like  Karur and the like and also has exit into  Keralite  territories.

The night temperatures at Kodaikanal could be even colder than that of Ooty and the place has many parks and hill-views and also houses the Kodaikanal club that was built in the late 19th century.When going to Kodaikanal from Bangalore there is no need for touching Palani as the hills can be climbed from the yonder side through Karur ,which can be approached through Salem and Krishnagiri.

MADIKERI(MERCARRA) IN KODAGU(COORG) OF KARNATAKA STATE

MADIKERI is a principal town of Kodagu district and a city of significance.The entire belt of Kodagu earlier called Coorg is a patch of dense vegetation between the Deccan plateau and the Western Ghats and most part of it is scenic and hilly.The entire belt of Kodagu was developed by the English into various kinds of Plantations and the history of Kodagu is interwined with that of Mysore and Malabar.

Madikeri as a city is some six hours drive from Bangalore and can be accessed through Mysore or through Channarayapatna. It can also be accessed from Magadi but no full fledged road exists it appears to me. The climatic conditions in Madikeri is that it is colder and resembles in appearance to Ooty.

The entire town of Madikeri which was called Mercara by the English seems to have evolved around a Fort built atop one of the hills. The unique feature of Madikeri is that it could be called as a Station of Hills as against a hill-station because the entire land scape is a series of hills and valleys with steep slopes and risings. Buses to places like Puttur and Sulya not to mention Mangalore ply via this city. The Historical greatness of this city is that it has provided distinguished soldiers of all ranks to the Indian armed forces since time immemorial.. the statues of some of these eminent men adorn the city.

There are many tourist spots around this place and the people are very well behaved an important aspect of this town.

VISITING OOTY FROM BANGALORE

JOHN SULLIVAN THE FOUNDER OF OOTY (OOTACAMUND)

Ooty or Ootacamund is a very important hill station some 350kms from Bangalore and some eight hours by bus.The bus traversing through Mysore and Gudalur to reach ooty.Ooty is some 6000ft above sea level and night temperatures during summer could be less than 10 degrees celcius though the day temperatures would be more than 20 degrees celsius.The winter temperatures could reach near freezing. Ooty is in the part of the western ghats called the Nilgiris or Blue mountains.The Nilgiri hills are at the point of confluence between the Eastern and Western ghats.When seen from Mysore a distance of some 100 miles these hills look blue largely due to the reflection of the various river bodies along these hills and the atmosphere reflecting the blue component of the visual spectrum and hence the blue tinge of these mountains. Kodaikanal is also on these mountain stretches at a similar elevation at some considerable distance from Ooty at a similar height above sea level and is another hill station frequented by tourists.

In 1819 one of the Commissioners  by name John Sullivan gets a letter from the Madras Presidency to find out what exactly exists at these blue mountains and he was almost ordered into an expedition.He gathers some 100 tribals and sets out one afternoon after attending a Hindu wedding between a Wodeyar Prince and a Malabari lady at the Mysore Palace which was a wooden structure at that time which was razed by an accidental fire some decades later.Mummadi Krishna Rajendra Wodeyar was the King at Mysore who gave consent to the expedition.Reaching villages near Gudalur Sulliavan suddendly found a precipice some 2000ft high largely flooded with very tall trees-most probably Eucalyptus which contributes to the excessive cold of Ooty and also many river ways along the way.Sullivan was convinced about the dangerous nature of the expedition but decided to proceed he himself on a Palaquin. Eventually they make their trip loosing some ten tribals some of them dying due to exhaustion and others due to falls from slippery surfaces and what faced Sullivan was a large platue of green lands with human habitation in peices and petty villages...but Sullivan was convinced he found something valuable.

How this name Ooty was given to this place os a matter of conjecture. The tired tribals on finishing their treacherous journey up the hills wanted Oota....in Kannada meaning Food.....and a Command was created to make food during their stay for few weeks after their discovery..Command being a military word.....the name sticking on to this place as Ootacamund. Much later with the railway line erected from Coimbatore to Ooty..Ootacamund started becoming famous for its tea...Ootacamund  along with tea takes its shorter form Ooty...and the simpler version of the original name to Ooty.

John Sullivan builds a house at one of these villages and informs the Madras Presidency of his new find and thereafter the Madras Presidency takes the renovation and inhabitation of modern day Ooty and the weather being very cold was interesting to many.Many houses ans settlements began to take shape after the railway finds its place and sources of water aplenty..Thus takes shape a metropolis which attracts the charm of one and all and added with its cousin Kodaikanal are jewels of present day India. Tamil population from Coimbatore started moving into Ooty through the railway line giving it a distinct tinge though the invention of the city was made from Mysore.In 1843 John Sullivan loses his wife and daughter in quick succession and he leaves for England.In all he had nine children one of his sons' later becoming Collector at Coimbatore.

Any one visiting Ooty from Bangalore will find many buses from the Sattelite Bus Stand on Mysore Road.Deepanjali Nagar  Metro Station is closest to this bus stand.The journey could take eight hours through Mysore, Gundlupet and Gudalur. Gundlupet could be termed as some mid-point.From Gudalur there is a steep stretch which will hoist the bus 3000ft above to ooty and the roads are cozy and better motorable and the view around enchanting. Ooty as a city must be five hours from Calicut(Kozhikode) in Kerala. Ooty...Mysore...and Kozhikode form a triangle...an equilateral  triangle some four and a half hours in travelling time through the Bandipur forests and Western Ghats. Some of you travelling by car must note that at Gundlupet...the highway straight takes one to Ooty...and turning tight here takes you to Kozhikode  through  Wayanad.

There is a Botanical garden in Ooty whch I have seen during one visit ..the sudden cold weather of Ooty can give health problems to any visitor..sometimes digestive disorders for which a traveller must be well prepared.