The Agastyar trip makes us forget about ourselves when we get intoxicated by and melt away into the nature bathed in the morning sunlight. In the previous section, I mentioned till our arrival at Pongalappara which is considered as a halting place for the travellers. There is a small lake here. We sat beside the lake and had biscuits and water that I had carried in my bag. When the other tourists saw us having biscuits, they gave us some Chapathi and slices of onion.
We accepted it and after having had food, we continued to walk. Though climbing the hill was a really difficult task, it was made thrilling by the cool morning, the not-so-hot rays of the sun, and the mist that swallowed the body occasionally. We saw thickets on one side and steep precipice on the other side. We enjoyed this beautiful scenery and the gushing wind while slowly ascending the hill. We reached in front of a precipice. We had a close look and saw the rope tied to assist in going up on it. First of all, it was a steep rock and coupled with that, it was slippery; one can mount it only with the strength of one’s hands.
We cannot stand firm as it is slimy. If we lose our hold, then there will be nothing left of us, we will just become pieces of meat for the animals to feed on. A few of the people who had come to visit the place were seen thinking of going back. Some of them were even saying that they want to go home right now. Though they were joking, I could see the fear in their faces. I prayed to whichever gods I knew, held the rope, and started to climb up. I knew that if I stopped in the middle, I would fall. I reached the top and took a deep breath.
I remember the way I lay down as soon as I reached the top. I couldn’t believe that I reached safely. Slowly, I sat up and drank some water. I felt everything is now okay. I forgot all the hardship when I saw the scenic beauty all around. Sitting there, I took out the camera and took some snaps. Natural beauty could be seen brimming from everything I saw there. We continued our journey upwards. Past the dense forest, we reached underneath another sharp precipice.
There too, we saw ropes tied to it. Isn’t there an end to it? I didn’t feel as much fear as before, but I clambered it in one stretch. Again, I took a deep breath. I couldn’t believe my eyes. It took some time for the fact to sink in that I was standing at the peak of the Agasthyarkoodam Hill. At a short distance, I saw the Sage Agastya smiling in the midst of agarbatti and the sound of Mantra (sacred utterance). Here, the tribal priests do rituals for the devotees. I took a slow pace towards the spot, paid obeisance to the sage, and watched for some time the rituals being done. Most of the devotees were from Tamil Nadu. Once again, I bowed before the sage and slowly backed away from there to enjoy the beauty of the place.
The sights were fascinating. On the one side, there was the distant, captivating view of the Neyyar and Peppara Dams of Kerala, and on the other side were sights of the districts of Kanyakumari and Tirunelveli. I looked down and saw the aesthetic beauty of the lush greenery of the thick forests. Far away, hills and clouds formed the boundaries of the forest. The view of 5 hills that stood touching each other, clouds coming and kissing them at intervals, getting covered by mist, the view was a treat to the eyes. I forgot the tiring and dreadful journey when I saw all these.
Though I did not want to leave this sacred place and the wonderful scenery spread out by nature, I started climbing down the hill. Going down the hill was not as tedious as ascending, but at some places, we had to sit and crawl. Past the beds of rocks, we reached Pongalappara. After having a nice bath in the small stream of the rock running through the rocks, we felt energetic and went back to the base camp. The sight of the canteen in the base camp reminded me that I had not eaten anything. I filled up my stomach with porridge, strapped my bag tightly, and started my journey back home. We will be allowed to leave the base camp only if we reach before 2 o’ clock.
If we reach after 2.00, they won’t allow us to leave and we have to stay there that night too. I felt that this is the right thing to do. Because of the busy schedules, we may want to leave, but we won’t be able to. We reached Bonacaud enjoying on the way, the swings created by creepers in the forest and dense huge trees; jumping from boulder to boulder; listening to the music of streams; experiencing the pat of forest flowers; singing along with the birds. We didn’t even know that we reached Bonacaud. This is a trip that I can never forget – the time I spent relishing the natural beauty, 2 days in the lap of nature, patting the wild flowers, chatting with small birds, making love with forest streams, cleansing the body and mind. I said aloud that I will come again. From life in the forest, we started our journey back to the life which is the forest .
