Yercaud, Salem and Nearby Places

One of the weekend destination from Bangalore or Salem. A small hill station, good option for a family to stay and relax.  Any time except Summer is ideal time to visit. i.e. Between July till February.  During summer it will be very hot. If you like Temples, you may visit few important temples near Salem. View points were awesome. See below the photos....

Valley view from inside Cauvery Peak

Sun rays falling over the hills and Zoom in to see the hairpin bend roads

Beautiful view of GRT Hotel from Gents seat

Map of Yercaud by GRT

Important Places to see 

• Sunrise from Pagoda point
• Sunset from Gents seat
• Fireflies at Rose garden which is near the Gents seat, after sunset, wait for sometime and watch for fireflies inside the rose garden. 
• Yercaud Lake and boating
• Rajarajeshwari temple is on the way to Shervarayon temple and Shervarayon view point
• Cave temple at Shervarayon view point
• Kiliyur falls is very close from Yercaud lake
• Botanical Garden - is on the Yercaud to Kanavaipudur road. There is a NOEG - National Orchidarium and Experimental Garden
• Cauvery Peak - Coffee Estate and plantation walk (this is charged - Rs.472/= per head)

Cauvery Peak and Coffee Plantation

You need to driver for 12Kms on the loop road to reach Cauvery Peak. You can go inside the coffee plantation and get some view of valley. But you will be charged Rs.472/= per head. The guide takes you through the plantation on your vehicle and show you coffee stages. Take you to the factory as well. They sell fine quality Coffee as well.

Note: For more photos, scroll down.... 

Stay options

There are plenty of options you have, yet you need to book in advance. Sterling Holidays, GRT Hotels, Hotel Aradhana Inn etc. You may want to check review sites before you choose.

If you plan to stay at Salem, you may choose Asai Dosai Saravana Bhavan. There are good rooms and the restaurant is very famous in Salem.  The menu is so awesome and completely country style. You get very rare items and all are so tasty. You must try "Panankalkandu Paal" (Palm sugar Milk) and varieties of Dosa and awesome strong Coffee.  You may need to be bit early to avoid peak hour long queues.

The same restaurant is available on top of Yercaud as well, see below the photo of the place...

Petrol pumps at Yercaud

There are two petrol pumps on top of Yercaud. Hindustan Petroleum (HP) is at the exit road to Salem from Lake. Bharat Petroleum (BP) is at the Nagalur Road. I heard the suggestion from locals to fill only when you are really out of gas or otherwise fill at Salem town. Both can be found easily from Lake.

Two routes from Bangalore

[Heard that this road is not well maintained - Update on July 2019] 1. Bangalore - Krishnagiri - Dharmapuri - Thoppur - Theevattipatti - Danishpet - Kanavaipudur - Karadiyur view point - Nagalur - Yercaud

2. Bangalore - - Krishnagiri - Dharmapuri - Thoppur - Salem Airport - Salem, Yercaud
This is a 20 Hairpin bend road from Salem to Yercaud road, via Sharadha college and Salem Railway station

Sundakkai

You might see this elsewhere. This is very rich in Iron and mostly used in villages. Koottu made of Sundakkai will be awesome. Search Google for Sundakkai Kootu. Greek name for Sundakkai - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solanum_torvum


Few photos of Colorful clouds from Yercaud - During July 2019

We are extremely lucky to view this. Northen lights will only have one color i guess, but here we got to see almost all the colors I guess. It was simply superb watching this transformation for close to 35 to 40 minutes while coming down to Salem. It was around 6PM in evening, we could not take pictures of Sunset as it was so cloudy. But this was so amazing to view..... see below some of the clicks....

This happens due to ice particles in clouds and sun light transforms them into colorful reflections.

Temples in Salem

Sri Kailasanathar Temple at Tharamangalam - 30 Kms from Salem city


West facing tempe. Yes, different from other temples which are all facing east. 13th Century temple with lots of sculptures. Pillars have intricate carvings and sculptures. During the month of March the sun rays fall on the horns of Nandi and that is reflected as a crescent moon on the main Shiva lingam.

Sri Skandashramam temple - 20 Kms from Salem

This is very famous temple in this region for Lord Murugan. Situated on a small hill.

Sri Siddeswar Temple at Kanjamalai
Again very famous temple in this region. The water from wells here seem to have medicinal properties and can cure lots of diseases. Crowds visit this temple during festival time from surrounding villages.

Sri Kottai Mariamman Temple (Salem)

Very famous in the region. The festival during Aadi month attracts huge crowds.

Oothumalai Balasubramanyar (Murugan) Temple

Situated on a small hill and you cannot miss this while you take turn to Namakkal on the flyover. You can drive up. Take the service road immediately after getting down to Namakkal road from the flyover. You will find the arch leading to this small hill and the temple.

Nainamalai Varadaraja Perumal Temple

This is on a hill which is close to 2600 feet high and have 4500 steps to reach top. Very ancient and beautiful spot. On the Namakkal road, 50 Kms from Salem. Read my blogpost for all details. http://myjourneysinindia.blogspot.com/2017/11/nainamalai-varadaraja-perumal-temple.html

Moving onto photos of Yercaud

Yes, This is called Sundakkai - Local name 

Bronze status at Gents Seat

Typical rural village style hut

Tharamangalam Kailasanathar Temple Tower

Skandashramam Temple Tower 

Peacock Vahana at Kanjamalai Siddar Temple

Kottai Mariamman Temple Tower

View of Salem town from Yercaud Hills

Wondering what are those hanging on tree? see below or Zoom in.... I got to see this in Yercaud in a nearby village

Yes, they are Tubelights... during the village temple festival time they hang tubelights and switch them on

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