My road trip cum travelogue cum walk back of KA stories continues and covered the place called Panapatti.
After reaching the main road I
looked back the pathway fro Panapati for a while. For me, it was another fantastic feeling related
to those stories. There was no more curves and steep climbs on
the road to Hogenakkal which is now within a few kilometres reach. I
remembered the ghat like sections of the same road where Sathyanarayan kidnapped the
village girl Mardee. While doing this act a villager with his buffalo cart pulled
down by his car, in a traffic-less day. Today also the traffic wasn't much
in that silky smooth road as the season in Hogenakkal still not in peak.
In a reaction, my Unicorn roared in that jungle road in the first
time since today morning. He was so bored till now because his paths
were filled with boulders and rocks in those dusty tracks
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| I reached Hogenakkal after negotiating a bridge on Chinnar River. The forest rest house where KA spent some nights is situated within 200 meters away from the main road. A small road leading to the rest house starting at the left side just before the Chinnar Bridge. |
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| Forest bungalow at Hogenakkal. The photo was taken by Kenneth Anderson in 1942 (courtesy Mr. Joshua Mathew and FB group of Kenneth Anderson). |
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| Modern Image of the same place. |
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| View of Hogenakkal Hill from the water fall |
My first choice is to procure a hotel room
for today's rest and proceed for sightseeing in the waterfall plus visit some
places nearby. I have read Tamil Nadu guest house was the best in the
town for that. But for mu unluck, the authorities told that a single bachelor cannot
book a room even if you are correct in all the ways. This is a
new and compulsory rule from the government as there is an increased
number of suicides and alleged accidents and/or killings. So I drove back
to the private hotels. Much bargain took place over there because they
want some extra money to accommodate a single person which is against
the rule. After getting entry and a freshen up, I decided to have a
lunch from a good restaurant searching in the town. I couldn't
find a nice one except for the Tamil Nadu hotel. But there, the time of lunch service is
closed.
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| Walking the route to the falls. Hogenkkal hill on background |
Food Outlets
There
is no lacking food outlets, but most of them are temporary sheds, set up
along roadsides. Fresh fish caught in the river will be available fried in the
presence of the customer using the forest firewood. Dosai is made in a large
sheet of unclean iron. The hygiene of the food available is highly
questionable.
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| A roadside "Hottle" , besides the way to falls |
Parking my bike in front of the main route to waterfalls I saw ways side hoteliers canvassing
tourists offering local meals with fish. I have a clear clue
about the fish is not from Kavery but from other markets. It's already late
and I was really hungry after a long trip without food under the open
sun.
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| Marinated fish displayed before cooking. As nobody cared about hygiene, I too disregarded, |
The site and smell of frying the fish in the pan in front of my eyes really
made salivation. I accepted the offer from a lady who runs a hotel
under a big tree's shadow and ordered the meals and fish fry. We have to
wait for the cooking time for the fish. The temptation and my hungry stomach
made my plate empty within a short time. Then only I noticed the quality. It
was ok, but when the lady gave me a glass of water to drink with her
index finger still inside the filled glass, I began to worry about relative
hygiene of the surroundings. She gave me water from a big old
canister which stores water for all-purpose in the hotel including washing
hands. I ordered a big bottle of mineral water and drank from it.
And I courteously told the shopkeeper that some people like me are over concerned about cleanliness. For such people, a finger in drinks is not tolerable and don't repeat. You may think it's outraging, but it's essential for me to act like that as a responsible tourist. It will reflect in service to the next visitor. Now I have a big
bottle of 5 liter mineral water which is heavy and doesn't want to take to
the river and waterfalls. I kept it there in an arrangement that I will collect
it on my return.
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| A late food always is very tasty especially a non-vegetarian dish. |
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| I understood, later as a well-known tourist corporation, TTDC is lacking in its duty and mints money from others and places their lives at risk. There are so many well-known facts about this dangerous place. The local people who live there say that drowning death is very common in Hogenakkal and every ten or fifteen days someone is killed there. Both the TTDC and the Government authorities are well aware of this fact but conveniently keep quiet about it. |
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| Hogenakkal Falls is sometimes referred to as the "Niagara of India" |
With its fame for medicinal baths and hide boat
rides, it is a major site of tourist attraction. Carbonate rocks in this site
are considered to be the oldest of its kind in South Asia and one of the oldest
in the world. I have read recently that South Africa, Madagascar, Sreelanka and
India especially Kerala was once bonded together in Gondwana. It was an ancient
supercontinent that broke up about 180 million years ago. The continent
eventually split into landmasses we recognize today: Africa, South America,
Australia, Antarctica, the Indian subcontinent and the Arabian Peninsula. Even
before that before About 300 million years ago, Earth didn't have seven
continents, but instead one massive supercontinent called Pangaea. So I want to
check the rocks in the exposed part of the waterfall are looking visually similar
to that of Madagascar's razor-sharp ridges.
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| One of the oldest form of rocks which has a long history. I imagined when they were lying closely with African continent billions of years ago at Pangaea age. Is there is any Kavery at that point? Nope, foolish. |
The
word Hogenakkal is formed of two Kannada words hoge and kal.
When the waterfalls on the rocks it appears as if hoge (smoke) is
emanating from the top of the kal (rock) because of the force of the
water, hence Hogenakkal (smoking rocks). It is also called
as Marikottayam or marukottai by the people of Tamil Nadu.
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| I could not see any smoking rock under the blazing sun but saw this burning rocks. |
If
you coming from Karnataka side you won't have many facilities. Without
boating, you can't reach to the waterfalls from marukottai
(Karnataka). But for boating, we have to pay 1500 RS for two hours (Maximum 5 members per boat). At the same time from the Tamilnadu side, you can cross the lake
by 500-600 rupees per boat (5 members). TamilNadu side is well
equipped. Walking in the shades of the river with pools of water
everywhere made all my temperature down. But it was busy touristic
spot well-maintained infrastructures but numerous small
vendors of different kinds of sellers all around. Crowded with street
vendors, plastic, food items and pretty much all that destroys the beauty of
this great place. The narrow lane that leads to the falls gives you the feel of
the dirtiest market you have ever been to with eateries serving fish fry and
vendors trying to sell cheap kinds of stuff.
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| Frying fish in River basin |
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| Google map and Anderson's photo of Hogenakkal and Kavery basin |
Boat
Rides
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| Boats are another attraction for the tourists, though highly dangerous |
The
"boats" being used very thin sheets of bark originally, (but now using plastic sheets) tied together in the
shape of a cooking pan with its bottom coated with tar to prevent water seeping
through. It is so flimsy that a single person can lift it easily and carry it
on his back for a long distance without any difficulty what so ever. The local
people who are good swimmers use these boats for fishing - it is NOT meant at
all for tourists nor is it any safe. These boats can hardly accommodate three
average weight (50 kg) passengers including the boat owner who has to paddle the
boat. The visitors ride in these unsafe boats without care. There are many
rumours about these boatmen. I am not sure the authenticity but there are unbelievable stories such as some boatmen take the passengers to a
remote place and capsize the boat to killing the passengers, for their
valuables. After snatching the jewellery the boatman will swim to a safe place
and pretend it happened naturally. In some cases, the boatmen blame the
passengers for not sitting properly to keep the boat’s balance. Actually, there is another option of a very adventurous coracle ride, which I had experience later with a nominal fee. Young Turks can take a try if you are such a brave heart. I will tell about the ride in the coming posts.
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| Water is less now in the offseason. but the weather and beauty of the place are outstanding. |
Hogenakkal is considered as one of the most beautiful places in the state of TamilNadu.
The broad stream of the River Cauvery gets forked at this point, forming an island from where one stream continues on while the other plunges into a deep
chasm to create one of the loveliest waterfalls gives these rocks the name "smoking
rock.", since the waters of the Kavery flow through a forest of herbs on
their journey to Hogenakkal, bathing in these falls is considered to be good
for health.
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| Smoking rocks and roaring water. The sound of the Kavery River, roaring between rocky banks, is a constant presence in most places in Hogenakkal. |
Hogenakkal Of
coracles, masseurs and roaring waters. So
too, is slap-slap thump! Though the roar of the river drowns it is you are not
too close to the source of the strange sound. It has a riverine spa
where, according to its devotees, good health can be had for the asking… and for a small fee!
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| I felt older people may find a bit of challenge to walk from one point to other between the falls |
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| People near to the Bathing falls. Separate falls for men and ladies are available. Ladies bathing area is actually a concrete building constructed over the slow running waterfalls. |
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| Ladies bathing area at the left side as a building. |
Oil massaging
Seeing and looking at a small waterfall which is used as a bathing spot, a man approached me and told he is a professional massager and offered his service of a full body massage for two hundred rupees. He convinced that if you have any back pain or neck pain it will disappear after a hot massage with oil following a bath in the waterfall. First I was reluctant to take the offer but then the low price and need for a bath urged me to accept it. Truly I had back pain because of prolonged riding for the last few days. But I was not ready to experiment with my neck which has spondylitis for long years and told him to avoid harsh massage in the neck part. He agreed for a mere hundred rupees and I would say it is one of the best massages I had in my life. He took a tremendous amount of energy on me and I felt muscle became hot and relaxed. He got good experience and literally cracked my backbones and I could hear the sound like what we hear cracking our fingers. It took over 15 minutes of massage in different positions but I was not wrong to have this decision. The only problem was it's an open area and others will see the entire process. He spoke to me freely as we knew each other before. I used the chance to know about the situation about the fall and local life.
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| View from the top of the Bathing falls for gents. |
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| A good canopy over the bathing falls make it cool and wonderful experience |
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| There is a numerous number of small fish biting to our legs when bathing making tickling. I got a free fish massaging too. Wonder how they exist there at the top of a small pool. |
My masseur had advised me, that I must be very
careful about the purse and mobile phone as there pickpockets and thieves are abundant. I have a waist bag in which I kept all
the valuables. Seeing this, he told me don't keep it anywhere near the
steps or on the rocks while going for bathing under the fall. Boys
will simply take it and run in front of us. Even if you see the act, you
cannot follow them and catch in the rocky terrain. So I tied and
locked the bag into the iron rods besides the bathing fall and
kept a close eye always on my phone. The waterfall is relaxing a bit the quality of water was not good. Which I came to know that very next day. My mother's ancestral home is near the
bank of Kabani which is the main tributary of Kavery in Wayanad and I
used to bath in the crystal clear water. The same river I
expected after running those lots of kilometres to this point. Kavery added all of the wastewater with her from the Mysore
terrain and I could smelt something bad on her body. Then how could
you think about the so-called medicinal values of the water?
I
felt sorry for the tourist's attitude of throwing garbage
right into the riverbed. Lots of illegal sellers of every kind
including fried fish sellers throw waste also added to the surroundings
little messy.
I remembered about my family trip to Kuruwadweep in Wayanad just before my expedition. There, plastic is totally banned and every empty bottle which taken into the forest must be returned to get the deposit money back. Indeed it is a welcome step and so
the area was so clean and undisturbed. I wished such a system should
impose here too.
Taken several clicks and while doing selfies a group of 4 young tourists from Bombay approached me and I
helped their group photos. Some of the boatmen following them for long and were
canvassing them for a coracle ride. The coracle which generally cost rest 180
for each person, a boat can contain 5 people. Obviously, the youths do not follow
the local language and trying to bargain in English, which boatmen does not seem to pick any word. they are demanding as they are only four they will pay for
numbers but the boatmen wanted a full amount. I heard this about 10 minutes and
arguments going on about the prices. I intervened and translated what exactly
they needed. Later I joined myself in a coracle ride with these youths
including a lady.
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| My friends of the day at the falls |
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| The starting point of coracle rides. |
The coracle ride was a new experience and I enjoyed too much. My company in the boat were so cheerful and I wonder how can interact with different peoples with different lifestyle within a single journey. Then only I noticed the girl was mingling freely to all three equally, and I did not ask nor I could sort out who are the husband/ boyfriend long the three.
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| Shadows and breeze in a hot summer day make this place a heavenly atmosphere. |
After departing the youths I returned to my own world of exploration. I stood a long time in front of the main fall and looked deep into the large pool just beneath the fall. Anderson advised Mumptyvayan to throw his Gun and other ammunition to this 200 feet pool so that it won't be recovered.
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| The big Bannu |
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| Fishermen were active in their work while some of them tired and having a midday nap. |
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| Fishermen and their nets after a days catch. |
Ootamalai
Hogenakkal,
so given much relax to my mind and body. After completing the walking through a small park for kids, I reached the parking place of my bike.
visited the previous hotel to take my water bottle. I ride through the roads of
the town once again before making next move to Ootaimalai. I wanted to
visit the nearby places and comparing the situations as in the story.
There was a Crocodile hatchery also near the old forest Resthouse. The eggs
were collected from the banks of Cauvery and the hatchlings were let into the
river. It has now been shifted to Ootamalai. I was unlucky to see it because I
found it closed...
I began to precede Ootamalai which is within two or three kilometres away from the falls and an important point where Anderson had a piece of land and a hut. Ootamalai was an important hub of Anderson's activities. Because from here he could travel all three different directions including crossing Kavery to reach his favourite places. Reaching there I could not find or I was so careless to reread the details of Mumptyvayan story.
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| In search of old dam site. |
There
an incident of looting a fisheries inspector for 51 rupees. In a cold
night. There is another place of a proposed dame site between Ootamalai
and Hogenakkal and that their place is connected with a pay roll clerk of
a dam project and Mumptyvayan snatched some money indented for next week's
pay for the workers Now i want to recollect the story of a forest dacoit described by KA.
Mumptyvayan's Story a walk back
Anderson
describes the story of Mumtivayan in his book The Tiger Roars,
which is hailed as the best of all of Anderson’s works published in
1967. The chapter called "Queer side of things"
there he told several stories in the jungle. I recommend reading the story
before you read this walk back.
Essence
of the story
It
is a story of dacoit, thief and murderer named Selvaraj. Anderson gives an account
of the feud between his family and their neighbours. The feud caused mass
murders and both sides had gone into hiding in the forest, afraid of the
police and thirsting for each other’s blood. Selvaraj lived entirely in the
jungle and his domain was from the bank of the Cauvery river up to the
mountains of the Chinar river. Anderson describes activities of Selvaraj
or ‘Mumptyvayan’ who became a dacoit, The large majority of people
loved him and respected him because he robbed the rich to feed the poor.
Anderson narrates his thrilling meeting with him in the dense
forest. The encounter with a dacoit shows many aspects of Anderson’s
character and also of a dacoit. In the story, Mumptyvayan came to Bangalore, met
KA, who asked him to shave off his moustache and hide in Andhra. Anderson’s
story of ‘Mumptyvayan’ ends with his death.
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| Relations of Hogenakkal fall and location of forest rest house in google earth |
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| A corresponding 3D view of Kavery basin in relation to 1942 photo, showing Hogenaikal falls, Ottaimalai , Municipal Bunglow(Tamil Nadu Hotel),forest Bunglow, Chinnar River |
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| 1942 photo of Kavery basin area above hogenakkal falls. (courtesy Mr. Josua Mathew and FB group of Kenneth Anderson). The title reads "hogenaikal from the hill, showing Hogenaikal itself and ottaimalai village(cultivated area). The falls municipal Bunglow,forest Bunglow, Chinnar River and Lover's hook can be seen" of this I could not sort the last one, Lovers' hook. |
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| The photo was taken by Kennath Anderson in 1942 of Kavery River and hogenakkal falls. (courtesy Mr. Josua Mathew and FB group of Kenneth Anderson). The title reads "A view of Cauvery River taken from hogenaikkal hill with Coimbatore District in the left background. Crocodile farm can be seen in the centre of the River after the falls. I could not sort the last one, Crocodile farm. |
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| A relative 3D view of Kavery basin in relation to 1942 photo, showing Hogenaikal falls, Kavery and Chinnar Rivers |
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| A wide view of the same. I am sure in future a good photo from the top of the hill will be posted here, instead of google map. |
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| Photo of Mumptiyan after he was shot dead on, 27-3-1964 by Karuppannan brother of Nallammal (concubine of Mumptiyan) at Chikalrampatti, Salem(courtesy: Gandhi Nargunam . The photo was in Black and white.The Daily Thanthi, a leading Tamil newspaper, published this coloured photo in it) It seems the dead body has been displaying purposefully . Surely he is dead at the time of photography. It may due to an attempt to prove that the body was real Mumptyvayan, with his articles, arms and ammunition. Somebody holding behind him or some kind of support given as stick in the right armpit. Buttons of the shirt are not in the proper place and footwear is missing. The sword he was holding is not in normal position. Eyes are closed and a grin is readable. The belly cartridge belt and the gun by the side, in the photograph, are interesting. |
Veerappan
Mumpivayans story is closely related to Veerappan, who needs no introduction. There is some connection between the two dacoits.
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| Mammattiyan was killed in an inter-gang fight and Veerappan's first murder was of Mammattiyan's killer's brother |
Wikipedia info on Veerappan:
Was
born on January 18, 1952, in the Karnataka village of Gopinatham to a
Tamil-speaking Vanniyar family of cattle-grazers. He was known as
"Molakai" as a child, and suffered from asthma. Veerappan was
inspired by Maleyur Mammattiyan, a notorious bandit from Mecheri, Salem
district, who was active during the 1950s and 1960s. Mammattiyan was killed in
an inter-gang fight and Veerappan's first murder was of Mammattiyan's killer's
brother
According to A book based on Veerappan's life-Veerappan's father was the one responsible
for having "Mumpty" killed. And there are rumours
that Veerappan witnessed the killing of - Mumptyvayan - and swore to kill all
policemen. He also grew his moustache like Mummtyvayan. And another story goes
it was Veerappan's father Koose Muniswamy who was involved in the killing
Mumptyvayan. I don't know how correct these stories.
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| Boundaries of Mumty's area is similar to Veerappan |
Maleyur Mammattiyan: the film
There is a film based on Mumptyvayan. Actually, there are two films. A remake of the older
version, actor Prasant in a leading role
when remaking of 1983 film Maleyur Mammattiyan starred by his father Thyagarajan. The story reportedly was of a real-life incident of community
leader Mammattiyan– instead of making them happy the film has troubled them if
paper reports are to be believed. There are reports that the son and sister of
Mammattiyan had moved Court seeking stay on its release. It is stated that the
clan of Mammattiyan now live in Mecheri in Salem. Her sister was reported as
saying that incidents happened in the past – now they live in constant fear of
their lives, fearing that there could reprisal from those killed by Mammattiyan
decades ago. She feels that films and press reports would bring back
reminiscences of the past and the victims would get enraged and might engage in
retaliation – though Mammattiyan was a great hero – the moral is ‘life is not
the same over the years’
The hero might good on the silver screen but in reality, things can be far different – and glorification of events might make the cine
stars ‘rich and famous’ – but for the families of those involved – the woes
would continue forever. In old "Malaiyur Mammattiyan’ starring Thiagarajan and Saritha.
Being not a cinema buff, remember that the storyline revolved around
Mammattiyan in a remote village opposing the powerful zamindar who kills the
hero’s father. Against the oppressive landlord, Mammattiyan raises in revolt,
kills in revenge – takes refuge in the forest where he is supported by some and
together they become do-gooders. The hero is a fighter of social rights who
would selflessly sacrifice himself for the good of the society, he is powerful
and dreaded, feared by anti-socials and others – he does good for the society
putting fear in the minds of bad… too good to read.. Can real life be similar?
The rest house in the story and the photo
Just before the Bridge, which entering Hogenakkal and before crossing the Chinnar River you can find the bungalow on to your left at a distance of about, 200 meters. This is one of the earliest built rest house which was Built British. Till recently nobody was allowed to stay and even the forest officers used it only in day time especially During the Veerappan times. Incidentally the bungalow figures in two stories. It was near here that KA was chased by the rogue of Panapatti, while going after a peacock. The second Incident that happened in the bungalow was Anderson's superior officer who shot a crocodile but could not recover it.
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| The forest rest house situated within 200 meters away from the main road. A small road leading to the rest house starting at the left side just before the Chinnar Bridge. |
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| 3D aerial view of hogenakkal hill and relative position of the rest house. |
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| Photo was taken by Kenneth Anderson in 1942 of the forest Bungalow with ho (courtesy Mr. Joshua Mathew and FB group of Kenneth Anderson). |
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| The photo was taken by Kennath Anderson in 1942 of hogenakkal falls. (courtesy Mr. Joshua Mathew and FB group of Kenneth Anderson). |
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| A coracle ride in Hogenakkal |
Film shooting areas
I heard lots of films shot in this area. It is a favourite location for lots of Indian films. Among this Ravan and Roja I like most in Roja the song continues into Hogenakkal Falls. A small light at the bottom of a round boat sailing quietly in the mighty waters in the dark is a scene that is etched in everyone's memory. These large and big Muthee trees stood here for centuries.
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| Mumtivayan's appearance matches with Andersen's descriptions |
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| Descriptions in KA story of Selvaraj's operating area. |
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| But Veerappan had a wider area with a big group. A 3D view of the area |
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| Mecheri and Metur Dam Verappans area too |
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| Panapatti and probable location of meeting with Jailer. |
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| Lone path to Panapatti and Pennagram Hogenakkal road. If a Police van is approaching , it should be somewhere near to the only main road |
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| Bathing falls can be seen on the right side of the image. Photo was taken from the Hanging Bridge |
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| Hogenakkal Bathing falls and a probable location to park the jeep within 100 yards. |
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| From this point, you have to walk to reach the Bathing falls. Probable position of Jeep |
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| Relative positions of Krishnagiri and Dharmapuri with Pennagaram |
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| Proposed dam site. Hogenakal hill can be seen |
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| A bigger view of Hogenakkal, in a reverse 3D aerial view. |
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| Proposed dam site across Kavery. Assumed Location between Hogenakkal (1mile ) and Otaimalai.The small road to Kavery may be made for that purpose. Somewhere there, the camp shed located |
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| The en-catchment area of water in the proposed dam across Kavery. |
Anderson's Properties
My efforts for locating any traces of the little hut which Anderson possessed 20 years as he described in Mumptyvayan story is failed. I knew it will be a big process and my 10 minute time is nothing on this regard and I put this effort to the next explorers. But I got a clue from Joshua Mathew and he confirmed that Anderson had land in Utamalai with a small shack built on it. With the passage of time, it became impossible for him to monitor this with a lot of his other properties and eventually lost it to Qasim, the very person he had entrusted to look after it.
There was a 12-acre land also was there along Chinnar river bank which was cultivated by Ranga, are impossible forms to locate as there is no description to reach there. It will be in thick forest. But Anderson not given any clue of the location. It is in Woodapetti or pennagram range?. I believed more chance is in Pennagram side of the river as the caretaker was Ranga because he can reach there more easily. On the other, sidewise geography is a too steep and denser jungle. And probably caretaker would be Byra as his connection s of Chinnar River. Looking through the Google map I found a piece of agricultural land at the bank of Pennagram side of Chinnar. As I told earlier, that Anderson may be interchanged the miles and kilometres and I have to scan the place with both options. Maybe this is the most accurate place. I wanted to know what happened to the 12 acres of land once owned by Anderson. I searched for information on FB groups and got some clues that Anderson's last year's he was engaged with the court and to regain the land maybe we will get more clues on this issue in future.
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| Most probable location of KA"s 12-acre plot. The distance measured by Google through Chinnar river |
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| Uttaimaliai with a swollen Kaveri in the rainy season |
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| Rechecked with kilometres distance The blue rounded area is 12 km distance. It's a dense Forest area, and not matched. The place in red is a match. |
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| Chinnar river in the dry season in suspected 12-year plot |
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| Name of the villages. Dhasmpatti and Vattuvanahalli. Not sure where is the exact place. |
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| His erected tent was at a quarter mile away from Chinnar. |
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| Hogenakkal and Periya Bannu, where Anderson told to Mumty to throw his arms and ammunition. |
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| The Big bannu with 200 m depth as KA described |
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| 1942 photo and writing by KA. Read the title. "Periya Binar" must be" Big Bannu" |
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| I was unlucky in simmer season to see the main falls |
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| Escape route fro Hogenakkal.. Points like Biliguntala (red), Secret river (blue) KA-TN border (pink) and Tagathi forest (Green) can be seen. Kankanhalli is an alternative name of Kanakapura. |
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| The advised route to escape One of the many names that have gone out of currency Karnataka is that of Kankanhalli. The town with that alliterative name is none other than Kanakapura, |
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| Mumpty may used the same route.. who knows? |
Kenneth Anderson's House in Bangalore
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| Queens Road, Kasturba Road, Mahatma Gandhi circle, in relation to Cubbon's park where the statue of" "great white queen" Queen Victoria is located |
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| Andersons advise to Mumty to find his home in Bangalore. Present Karnataka Government museum is the Tamasha Bangla in Kasturba road near to MG circle. Still the statue of queen victoria situates in Cubbon's park. This is the only time in his stories he described where he lives. |
Searching this FB group I came to see Mr
Madhavan has given such a beautiful comment in a post. I am copying it
KA gives a description to Mamptiyan how to reach his house in Bangalore and asks him to come there if he wanted to be redeemed from his brigand's life. In mid 1970s during one of my trips to Bangalore, I followed these instructions of KA to trace his residence and also with the vague possibility of meeting someone from his family. At that time other than reading his books,I had no other biographical knowledge about KA. Following these instructions, I reached upto a red colonial style old bungalow which was behind the Cubbon Park police station, in a fairly secluded area. Could see some labour houses too around it, and a couple of labour women around who spoke only the local language which I have no idea. The bungalow looked uninhabited to me and in a poorly maintained condition. There were plenty of our local dogs lounging around and they showed real aggressive intentions towards me, so I beat a hasty retreat with a brave heart. Thus ended my one and only adventure to trace KA's residence.
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| The spot of old KA home. It is on Kasturba Road near Jewel's de Paragon...Its somewhere between the Cubbon Park entrance from MG Road (opposite Chinnaswamy Stadium) and the Visweswaraya Technological Museum |
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| Now a new commercial skyscraper has been erected at the same spot by Prestige Oblisk group. |
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| Old photo of Kenneth Anderson's bungalow and compound |
Got on my net while searching
I got the following info from a press cutting:
The
authorities then had reverentially protected the boundaries of the Cubbon Park
towards Kasturba Road and the Nrupathunga Road (Cenotaph Road). However in the
Forties and Fifties, permission was granted for the construction of bungalows
on Kasturba Road opposite the Museum (MacIver Town). But recent years have
witnessed the pulling down of all of them to make way for commercial buildings.
The Visvesvaraya Technological Museum, the nondescript Visvesvaraya Trade
Centre and the aquarium are the three buildings allowed to be built alongside
the Government Museum after Independence.
Kenneth
Anderson, renowned hunter and naturalist who have owned the bungalow which had
stood at the spot where the commercial building is built, was being called the
"Jim Corbett of Bangalore". His articles in an English daily on his
encounters with wildlife were read with eagerness. The Anderson bungalow which
existed till recent years had been painted in sienna red, the colour of almost
all the public buildings built in the City during the years of the British
Commissionerate or direct British rule of Mysore (1831-1881) Attara Katcheri,
Central College, Government Museum, and others. No doubt the
"imperialist" burnt sienna even today reddens the Anglophobes.
 |
| A Nearby structure, Cubbon park police staton.The Cubbon Park Police Station is perhaps the only one of few extant heritage buildings among police stations. The others are the Basavangudi, Bharathinagar (Cleveland Town), and Ulsoorgate Police Station buildings. The tile-roofed Highgrounds Police Station was demolished a few decades ago to make way for the present structure. |
I
just concluding this long post, because Mumptyvayan is such figure by virtue
that even Ranga was a close friend of him. Moreover Anderson given such a
detailed description about him. As a declaimer I repeat, my observations in this
post may be wrong by 100%. Readers discrepancy is expected. Please send any relevant
photos to me if you feel appropriate.
