HOGENAKKAL PART 2
Contnued from part 1
6a Parisal continued
Once in boat, we hadto pay tax (earlier Rs 10/- ). per person to cross the
river. A government tolltax office at the roots of a tree!!
I thought ofincluding a formal definition from theGlossary of Coracle here.
Terms: Parisal. [Traditional] A bowl coracle formerlywidespread along the
rivers Cauverey, Bhavani and Coleroon of South India andthe Tungabhadra and
Kistna
I also reproduce thewriting about the Parisal by a tourist I read while
surfing. The vividnarration I simply reproduce for its excellence in
presentation
“Happily defying thesomber wisdom of school-textbook Physics and cocking a
snook at fluid dynamicsand all those stuffs about streamline design, these
boats are circular (orrather hemispherical, to be geometrically correct!!) in
shape and are calledcoracle ('Parisal' in local language). Its basic structure
is made (woventogether) of thin bamboo sticks and the structure is covered with
goat-skin (inearlier times) or plastic coated with tar. It is a totally
indigenous stuff,whose shape and features have not changed over thousands of
years!!! The boatsare so light that one wonders if it is capable of taking the
load of even oneadult Homo Sapiens.....but in reality each one can comfortably
accommodate fiveof the species!!!
7. Gorge like Beda ghat of MP
As we move down theriver, the views will be getting moreand more spectacular.
There appears a gorge with famed Karnataka-granite rising high on boththe
sides.
It is something like Bedaghat in Madhya Pradesh. The onlydifference is that
atBedaghat, its marble stones and not granite. And also, in Bedaghat,moonlight
boating is pretty famous, but at Hogenakkal, we have to takepermission from
Forest Department to go boating/camping in the night.
The granite rocks onboth sides is about 15-20 meters high,and the depth of
water maybe 50-60 deep, and we in between the water and rock,admiring them. The
different granite rocks have different looks to them. Some are white,others
rather blackish
8.Accommodation andTrekking
There are twopopular places where one can stay overnight:
1The Tourist Bungalow run by the Karnataka State Tourism DevelopmentCorporation
(Unfortunately It had noaccommodation while I visited)
2.Hotel Tamil Nadu ( I am not surewhether it was there when I visited)
If one plans tostay longer than a day, he/she can take long treks in the
surrounding MelagiriHills and explore the lush, rugged, landscape.
8.1 Phone numbers
Tourist Bungalow run by theKarnataka State Tourism Development Corporation
(080-2275869, 2275883) andHotel Tamil Nadu (043425-54447 and 54448) I hope this
would be helpful for those planning to visit foraccommodation .
9. Hogenakkal water project
Hogenakal Fallsis the location for the Hogenakkal Integrated Drinking Water
Projectproposed by the Tamil Nadu Government.
The objective of this project is to providesafe drinking water to the urban
and rural areas in Krishnagiri and Dharmapuridistricts. In February 2008, The
Japan Bank for International Cooperation has agreed to fund the Rs
1,340-croreproject. It might have completed by thistime .
10. Diving boys
Another attraction is local kids whocan show you their diving skills, for a
fee. They can dive for you from aheight of around 30 feet into the water and
climb straight up back on the rocksin no time, all for mere Rs.10-20 from the
spectator. There is competitionwithin them
These guys are sons of soil, probably grown-up (?) doingjust that activity.
When the touristsgive the kid a signal expressing their wish to pay and see him
jump, the kidjumps right away! Kindly note that he doesn't know for sure that
he'd get paid.The whole system is built on trust. In this case, boatman ensures
that the kid getsabove Rs 10-00
10 Pennagaram terracotta statues
Afew kilometers just before the Hogenekkal falls, the hilly route
stretchingsome 5 kms or so is quite scenic with mountains all around.
En route toHogenakkal, stop by at Pennagram, a village where you will come
across brightlycoloured giant terracotta statues. Referred to as Aiyanars,
these are regarded as guardiandeities by the villagers. They depict everything
from moustachedwarriors to even a modern day policemen!
11. Water dispute Hogenakkal
I just touchthis also before completing my posting.
Water from Kaveri river has been a bone of contention between the states of
Karnataka and TamilNadu and its erstwhile Kingdom of Mysore and Madras
Presidency and thus a century old dispute. According to the project, at a
particularspot in the waterfall water from the Cauvery is to be drawn and
distributed topeople of Tamil Nadu.
Hogenakkal ispart of Koothapadi panchayat village withinthe Pennagaram
sub-district of Dharmapuri district. but the ownership of a piece of
anuninhabited island near the waterfalls is contested by Karnataka and
thisfurther strains the relationship between the states
12. How to reach Hogenakkal
Decided to reachHogenakkal. The nearest airport is Bangalore/Salem. Bangalore -
Hogenakkal: 170kms from Tamilnadu route. Air service is occasional as I
watched a Television news yesterday.
Route: Bangalore -(Hosur) - Dharmapuri – Hogenakkal
The national high waybetween Bangalore and Dharma puri NH 7 is excellent. While
Sipcot wasdeveloping at Hosur I was at Krishnagiri. It was a Herculean task to
lay undergroundcables with oral permission from National high way permission.
Occasionallythey would object and permit pettytelecom works after a break.
However I managed to lay 6 km the first PCM cable between Hosur and Sipcot-
nostalgia.
Now PCM itself isobsolete. Hosur gives a different look from what I saw before
30 years. Itravelled to Bangalore by car sometimes in the recent years from
Chennai, I found Hosur giving a different look
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