Yelagiri Hills - Seventy Years Ago

Yelagiri Hills — Seventy Years Ago

Ehsan Ahmed K (Vaniyambadi, Tamil Nadu)

For many years, Yelagiri Hills has been a well-known tourist destination for the people of Vaniyambadi, Ambur, Tirupattur, and the surrounding regions. It has also been referred to as “Poor Man’s Ooty.” However, over the past ten to twenty years, numerous hotels, theme parks, shops, and other facilities have been established in Yelagiri. As a result, it now attracts not only people from the nearby areas, but also visitors from major cities such as Chennai and Bangalore. Today, the situation is such that during weekends and other holidays, one can see large crowds of tourists there.

When I tried to find out about the history of Yelagiri and how long human habitation has existed there, I learned through Wikipedia that the earliest known mention of Yelagiri dates back to the 12th century CE, when the Tamil poet Ottakoothar referred to it in one of his works. According to Wikipedia, this region once under the rule of the Vijayanagara Empire and later the Kingdom of Mysore came under the control of the East India Company in the early nineteenth century. During the nineteenth century, the Malai Vellalar tribes settled here. After 1857, the area remained under British rule, and following India’s independence, it became part of the state of Tamil Nadu.

The purpose of this article, however, is not to present a general history of Yelagiri. Rather, it is to offer a summary of two remarkably interesting travel accounts written about visits to Yelagiri around seventy to seventy-five years ago, preserved in old issues of the annual magazine Mash‘al of Islamiah College.

A few months ago, I had the opportunity to look through some old editions of Mash‘al, the annual magazine of Islamiah College, Vaniyambadi. In these issues, one finds mention of a college club called “Ramblers,” which organized recreational and educational excursions for students under the supervision of lecturers. Under this club, students and a few lecturers travelled to Alangayam in 1949 and visited Yelagiri in 1950.

According to Mash‘al, between 1950 and 1961, students of Islamiah College visited Yelagiri five times. Here, I would like to recount two of those episodes.

The First Episode: The 1950 Excursion

In 1950, eight students and two lecturers from Islamiah College travelled to Yelagiri. At that time, there was no proper road leading to the top of the hill. To reach the summit, one had to make a difficult climb up the rugged hillside. The road was built much later, in 1962. Even so, there was already a small settlement in Yelagiri at the time, consisting of a post office, a school, a few huts, and two farmhouses owned by two Englishmen, Mr. Brown and Mr. Dalton.

The group set out from the hostel at 4:00 a.m. They travelled by train to Jolarpet, where they had breakfast at a hotel outside the station. After that, passing through small villages, they walked to the foot of the hill, and then the real ascent began.

The climb was by no means easy. Some of the students completed this difficult stretch without even wearing shoes. After great exertion, when they finally reached the top, they saw a small village, with patches of cultivated land, dense trees, and refreshing air. After resting for a while, they noticed local residents emerging from their huts to welcome the visitors.

The group reached a small village and camped under the shade of a large tree. There they also saw a small primary school, above which the Indian tricolour was fluttering. Guavas, bananas, and other fruits were plucked from the trees and eaten. For entertainment, they played cards, sang songs, and began preparing lunch from the provisions they had brought with them.

But suddenly the weather changed, and it began to rain. The original plan had been to return by evening, but the heavy downpour made that impossible. As a result, they had to spend the night in a small hut. Dense forest surrounded them on all sides, and there was even some fear of wild animals. According to local tradition, lions and leopards were said to roam about at night.

In such circumstances, the night passed in playing cards, singing, and talking late into the night. Only very late did they finally go to sleep. Early the next morning, they woke up, made tea, and at around 7:00 a.m. set off on the return journey. The morning scene was so enchanting that, in the words of the writer, it felt as though heaven itself had descended upon the earth. Slowly they made their way down the hill, reached Jolarpet, and from there returned by train to Vaniyambadi around noon, where they finally rested.

The Second Episode: Principal S. Abdul Qadir's Travel Account

The second account was written by the then principal of Islamiah College, Mr. S. Abdul Qadir, and it too is vivid, engaging, and rich in detail.

He writes that on this journey he was accompanied by three other gentlemen: Mr. Shukoor, Mr. Zakriya, and Mr. Khuddus. The four of them travelled by car from Vaniyambadi to Jolarpet. There, at 6:15 a.m., they had breakfast at a hotel called Spencer’s. A little distance from Jolarpet, two more gentlemen joined them: Mr. John and Mr. Abdullah.

After that, they got out of the car and began the journey on foot. They were carrying some food, drinks, and fruits. One of them had a camera, and another carried a French gun for hunting.

When they reached the foot of the hill, three of the six men sat separately in palanquins (dholis). Each dholi was carried on the shoulders of eight men, who were locally known as “Bhogis.” The remaining three preferred to climb on foot.

During the journey from the base to the top, the dholis were stopped only twice. When they reached the top, they halted near a school. Once everyone had gathered, the party proceeded to the farmhouse of an Englishman named Brown.

There they met Mr. Brown, who had been living in Yelagiri with his family for many years. He gave the guests a warm welcome, entertained them generously, and even served them lunch. After that, they were shown around the farmhouse, which had a beautiful garden adorned with a variety of flowers. Adjacent to it was cultivated land where different vegetables and fruits were grown.

At the end, the guests were served tea, after which they began the return journey the very same day. This time, everyone decided to descend on foot. Each person held a long stick in hand for support while climbing down. But by the time the Principal had reached halfway, he became exhausted. He therefore asked his companions to send back for the Bhogis with a dholi. After waiting quite some time, the Bhogis returned carrying the dholi, and he was then able to complete the rest of the journey in it.

Later Excursions 

In the later issues of Mash‘al as well, one finds details of excursions and recreational trips to various places. For example:

• 1951: Mahabalipuram and Yelagiri
• 1952: Mysore and the West Coast
• 1953: Mettur Dam, Mysore, Tungabhadra Dam, and Hampi
• 1954: Yelagiri, Tiruvannamalai, Gingee Fort, Chidambaram, and Pondicherry

Although the Ramblers Club was eventually discontinued, accounts of trips and recreational activities continued to be published regularly in Mash‘al.

Today, when we see Yelagiri as a relatively developed and busy tourist destination, it is not easy to imagine that merely seventy or seventy-five years ago, reaching it was itself no less than an adventure. There was no paved road, no line of hotels, no amusement parks, and none of the facilities of today, only mountain paths, a few huts, a school, a post office, and the quiet grandeur of nature.

These travel accounts of the students and lecturers of Islamiah College not only preserve the tourist culture of that era, but also bring before us a valuable chapter in the educational, social, and cultural history of our region. They remind us that in those days, recreation was not merely sightseeing, it was a living experience of curiosity, hardship, companionship, and observation.

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