Recently-that is on Sunday the 13th April2014 to be precise-I had been to SriVilliputhur and in the early morning climbed the hillock which is called Thiruvannamalai.This is different from the Thiruvannamalai of SriArunachala and Sri Ramana.This small hillock has a beautiful temple dedicated to Sri Srinivasa Perumal.It is also called then Thiruppathy-that is south Thiruppathy.It is said that Sri Venkatachalapathy came down to this place just to hear the Thiruppavai of Sri Andal whose birth place is SriVilliputhur.As one climbs up the about 250 odd steps of irregular shapes and sizes the view is very breathtaking.Especially morning climb just a little aftersunrise.One can see a statue like shape in the distant mountain ranges.It just resembles the Heavenly Father on the Rio De Janiro mountains which was in the news recently.It was struck by lightning and some damages have been inflicted on the spread out arms of the statue.The difference is you donot find the stretched out arms here as you find them in Rio.Really it is a feast to the eye with morning dew lending enchantment to the eye!The climb is not strenuous.
This place was once famous for big sized squirrels with black tails and no three stripes which one is conversant with ordinary squirrels of city.Now they are missing to be seen.So it was a disappointment for me.Ihad gone here years back say some 35 years when I had seen them jumping across the tree branches.Man has driven them to some where deeper into the forests by encroaching their habitats it seems.