Trek to the Hanuman Mountain

Beating the Monday morning blues, I woke up unusually early to go on a mountain trek in the (probably) southernmost mountain of India – Marundhuvaazh malai (meaning, the abode of medicinal herbs) which is about 10 km from my home town, Nagercoil. It had been in my wish list for a really long time to climb this sacred mountain someday and finally it was satisfied last week. Located near a place called Potraiyadi on the way to Kanyakumari, this mountain is about 800 feet high and stretches for over a kilometre.

A touch of mythology:

There is a mythology associated with this mountain. When Hanuman carried the Sanjeevi Mountain to Lanka to cure Lakshman, a fragment of it fell down which is the present day Maruthuva malai (another variation of the mountain’s name). Even today, this mountain houses a variety of medicinal herbs and it is also believed that there are many siddhas and saints living there.

Now let’s get back to my trekking story. 🙂 Along with my dad and 2 of my cousins, we started our trek from the foothills at 6.45 a.m. Our intention behind starting early in the morning was that we could get down before it becomes too sunny. The initial climb till the Hanuman temple, say 200 feet, was quite easy since there are properly constructed steps. The real trek begins thereafter.

The arduous ascent:

Breathing the fresh morning air, admiring the foliage around and climbing by occasionally holding on to the rocks, I was thoroughly enjoying myself. What started as a trek just for fun, eventually ended with a spiritual touch. In order to stay rejuvenated throughout the climb, my cousin suggested us to chant “Shiv Shambo” which was in perfect rhythm to our steps. Following the directions marked on the boulders, we reached the mountain top exactly at 7.45 a.m. Upon reaching the pinnacle, I looked at the sky with immense happiness and spotted a Garuda (white necked eagle) circling above our heads. I got reminded of my grandma who used to say that spotting a Garuda is a good sign. 🙂  The view from the top was just mind-blowing. The convergence of the three seas, the streak of glittering sun rays on the ocean’s surface, the Vivekananda Rock, the statue of Thiruvalluvar, the vast expanse of seemingly never ending green farms, the wind mills of Aralvai mozhi, the small patches of water bodies, everything made me forget the pain developed in my legs.

The demanding descent:

There’s a small statue of Hanuman under a thatched roof on the peak. We prayed for a minute and then began to descend. My cousin, who had been to this mountain a lot of times, took us to a cave on our climb down. We manoeuvred through the crevices between huge rocks and reached the spot called “Pilla thadam”, the place where Narayana Guru, one of the greatest sages of the world, meditated for several years and is believed that Lord Shiva appeared before him at this very place. We meditated for a while, grabbed a sip of water (try to avoid too much consumption of water while trekking) and a chocolate and enjoyed the scenic beauty around. A skinny puppy was outside the cave which appeared very weak even to make a small move. We fed him with a packet of biscuits and then resumed our descent. Though the climb down looked easy, I felt that climbing up was much easier than getting down. My legs started to tremble which made the descent quite challenging. We then went to the Hanuman temple which was initially closed during our way up. There was yet another picturesque view from the temple. The temple priest pointed to the huge rocks (part of Marundhuvaazh malai) opposite to us and asked if we could see any shape or pattern. It was then we saw that those rocks resembled the structure of Hanuman and I was left dumbstruck! 🙂

Well, I forgot to mention about the puppy that we fed. He accompanied us all the way from the peak till the Kaala Bairavar temple near the foothills, where he joined the rest of the dogs. 🙂  With peace in my heart and happiness in my mind to have finally fulfilled my long time wish, I write this blog post recalling the experiences of my trek to the Hanuman Mountain!