Ayyasamy Malai trek in Coimbatore
We were roaming every nook and corner in Coimbatore for bird watching but we didn’t get the opportunity to visit Ayyasamy Malai for a long time. During COVID lockdown time we couldn’t visit any other districts, so we were scrutinizing our birding spots in Coimbatore. The Ayyasamy temple gates were closed whenever we visited and the cyclists who had visited there on Sundays also had no clue about when this mountain temple would be open. One fine day in December after a heavy rain the previous night , we visited Ukkulam Lake near Isha for bird watching. The place was so sludgy, we trudged through the lake and our slippers were completely covered in mud.
I had prepared Pongal/Sambar/Vadai a perfect South Indian breakfast combo for our early morning outing. We tried to visit Poondi temple but that was closed, so we decided to go to Ayyasamy temple road and eat our breakfast. The mountains looked beautiful with clouds moving quickly and we found a perfect spot to have our yummy breakfast. While we were eating, we spotted few people hiking on the hill to the temple. We knew they had slipped through the gates but we didn’t want to visit the temple inside the forest in that way. If there is a board from Forest Department, we have to respect the rules.
There were many Brown Shrikes sitting on top of all shrubs who had migrated for Winter. Few days back, we had seen European Roller in Coimbatore. So we were keeping an eye for migratory birds like the Eurasian Cuckoos. After sometime we decided to return back but while crossing the base of Ayyasamy temple we saw many local people moving around. In Corona time, it is always best to move away from crowd but we made a crazy move to approach the crowd and ask about the special occasion. We came to know that the temple up the hill is open today and public is allowed to enter the hiking path. Finally the Green gate which always looked like the one that was shutting us from the Wonderland on the other side was wide open.
Way to Ayyaswamy temple :
We quickly packed our camera bag and stepped on the stairs. A local boy told us to remove the slippers as there is a deity at the entrance. At the same time, the people who had sidetracked to visit the hills were returning back. The boy had a disappointing look on seeing that people had already gone inside the temple without permission and they were in full hiking boots. We personally don’t believe in these traditional practices but anyway we never disrespect them. The locals are maintaining the temple, so we have to follow their practices when we enter their premises. We removed our footwear and started our long yearned hike.
As the steps were not used regularly by humans, beautiful mosses were grown on the steps. Also the steps were not artificially done like in other temples, they are just the rocks arranged as steps. So few sharp rocks were hurting our foot now and then but it was all part of the experience. It was not a perfect day for butterfly watching, still we saw good butterfly activities. Freshly emerged Pea blue, Common Cerulean, Dark Ceruleans were fluttering everywhere. I spotted a Dart species, so we stopped and couched to examine it closely as all the Dart species look very similar. Vinod identified that as Tamil Dart which can be seen in semi forested areas.
View from top of Ayyasamy malai
The climb was very steep and we didn’t see anyone else walking uphill except for 2 poosaris. Booted Warbler, White-browed bulbul, Red-vented bulbul were making continuous calls. We got an opening for the top view of the surroundings. It was really hurting to see the entire city was fenced for human usage. So we turned our head from that ugly view to the beautiful hill infront of us. Grasses were grown on the hillslopes and they all looked very beautiful when we saw through binoculars. There was no way to reach the grassland and tall trees started blocking the view to grassland. We saw a Black Eagle flying very closely and after that the hill was very steep that we had to keep our steps very carefully.
After crossing the dangerous zones, we reached the temple in few minutes. The poosaris had started decorating Vinaayagar and other deities. It was very cool to watch the water flowing through the deities. I think that was not an everyday sight. The temples inside jungle are usually simple and no strict procedures are followed. We sat on a rock and watched the preparations for poojai. Slowly devotees started coming in and we were keenly listening to the birds sounds in the forest. Like we expected , soon we heard a familiar sound which was from a pair of Grey-headed bulbuls.
After waiting for some more time, we realized the place was going to get crowded. So we started walking down. Local devotees were walking hurriedly and even the teenagers were huffing , puffing while climbing up. We gave them encouraging nods and we treaded our steps carefully. We saw few wildflowers in bloom , tried to photograph few small ones. The weather started changing quickly and it was drizzling. We were worried about the slippery stones in few places, so we quickened our pace.
We were almost at the end of the trail when we stopped to enjoy the rain. The sound of birds increased to show that they were also having fun in the rain. We were very thrilled with this unexpected short hike. We saw elephant dungs here and there on the trial, that was the reason the forest department has many rules to enter this Ayyasamy malai. It is always best for humans and wildlife if the so called “Sixth Sense” human beings follow the rules. Otherwise, we could have done this hiking so long ago. It was really worth this wait and we would love to do this again whenever the opportunity raises.