BANGALORE: Shevaroy is a name that is difficult not to encounter at Yercaud, a hill station in Tamil Nadu that is often dubbed as ‘the poor man’s Ooty’. A host of business establishments here, including five-star hotels and tea stalls, have adopted this appellation, as has the picturesque Shevaroy Lake; the section of the Eastern Ghats in which Yercaud is nestled in is known as the Shevaroy Hills. It might be interesting to note that Shevaroy is the anglicised version of ‘Servarayan’, the presiding deity of the Servarayan Temple, which is located at the highest point of the hills, at an altitude of about 1,600m.The journey to the Servarayan Temple from Yercaud — a distance of about 7 km — is best undertaken by foot, holding out excitement for the adventurous and the nature enthusiast. A narrow, winding road lined with trees — mostly silver oaks — on either side with a gradually increasing gradient, as in a treadmill, leads to the temple. Save for the occasional vehicle, one can experience absolute silence, more so exemplified by the audibility of the birds. Thank the inventor of the camera with all your heart, for the visitor is bound to experience picture-perfect moments in abundance. The panoramic view of the entire range at the occasional clearing, interspersed with coffee and hibiscus bushes, makes for a spell-binding experience. Chances are that the visitor would have been drenched in emotion, at the first-hand experience with nature, not to mention sweat, so much so that the end of the journey may be an anti-climax; don’t be surprised if you wished your arduous trek to the top lasted a little more.Our destination has this uncanny knack to throw people off-track; the temple could pass off for any other structure, and does not have any gopuram (tower) with intricate carvings. However, it can be ascertained by two factors one, it is the only temple atop the hill; and two, the structure at one end has two trees one of which is the Ichchi tree, which is also the sthala vruksha (shrine tree). The Servarayan Temple, it turns out, is actually a narrow, short cave, with the idols of Servarayan Perumal and Cauvery Thayar signifying the mountain range and the river at one end.No one, neither the temple priest nor any of the villagers, have any idea of when this temple was constructed. “It has been around since Aadhi kaalam (for ages),” says the priest. The temple, which once resembled a cavern, got a decent entrance a while ago. People from 68 villages converge here in May, when the annual festival of the temple is conducted. Another interesting trivia is the belief that the Cauvery Thayar is the same as the deity at Talacauvery, Karnataka. Also is the long-held belief that this temple cave extends till the river Cauvery. What else is there to see in Yercaud. With its greenery and forest pathways, Yercaud is manna to any trekker or nature-lover. The Shevaroy Lake, which allows boating, the Anna Botanical Garden and the Pagoda Point are other spots that tourists ought not to miss here. For higher budgets, stays in coffee estates, which dot the landscape here, are a worthwhile proposition.
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