Bejahahai, The Mauler to Man Eater, Man Machine trip part 11

Bejahahai, The Mauler to Man Eater, Man Machine trip  part 12

As a journey on a bike continued, I  stayed in Hogenakkal for a day. For the past few days I was travelling through the towns of Karnataka and Tamilnadu, and my progress is depicted below.

My journey Started from Kozhikkode and covered all these points till that day. Planning the plan on the go.

 The night in Hogenakkal was terrible.  I have selected a relatively new hotel in a multi-story building for my stay. The boy at the counter insisted me to take an air-conditioned room.  In his opinion, the temperature will rise in the room soon after nightfall. I could not believe this. I felt a cool evening and in normal situations, it won't be a problem and so I ignored his market tactics. But soon after I hit the bed, and began to sleep,  I realised his words were true. Hot. I discovered this is because of the flaw in the construction of the room without any air vents or any tiny hole to make the air breathable. Opening of both windows made no difference. Tiredness was the only reason to sleep in such a hot room.  My evening in this small town ends after I opted fruits instead of outside dining. 

Hogenakal town. A morning scene from my hotel. Hogenakal hill and parking area can be seen

Woke up in the early morning, I walked to the end street and came back to enjoy the cool breeze from Kavery. Roadside hotels were opening and saw the families were engaged in making breakfast. I have a soft corner of Tamil Nadu iddlies and trying it there seems a good option. I was the first Customer of one such hotel. But the owner -lady first gave a piece of Idli to the crows which she threw to the roof of the shop.  This may make the business more prosperous.

Kavery just before the falls. The old site of Dam.

Other side . the hills situated at Karnataka state across the river.

Breakfast. Fresh and steaming iddlies.

My original route as planned is given below.  It covers almost all places of KA. Stories in this region. On this long vacation, my flight to back to work was booked two more weeks ahead. I got at least a week of free days in front of me. So no worries about work or family related tensions. I planned to halt at Kollegal today and in next two-three days I will go to all around Chamarajnagar, Talaivadi, Masinagudi, Segur, Ooty and then return to my home through Gudalur to Wayanad.

My next days plans to visit all these places, which can cover almost all places of importance of KA stories in the region. I have a short cut through Gedesal-marked in green lines- and can try if possible

 I had an idea to visit crossing Kavery to Gopinatham. If you look at Google maps the route from Hogenakkal to Palar is given by a crossing of Kavery somewhere around downstream of Marukottai. But in reality, it never exists. Here is no road or bridge to cross the river. By now I have heard that the Kavery can be crossed by coracles at a place 3 kilometres above Hogenakkal. It is a piece of new information that it possible to ferry my bike in the boat and I can reach the other end.

 Now I have 3 options to proceed.

Number 1 is to stick to the original route and visit the Mettur dam and Sathyamangalam then to Dimbum to Kollegal.  This way, I can cover more points of KA stories like Rajanagara, Sathyamangalam Dimbum,  Thalaivadi, Gedessal, Mudiannur, Bailur, Ramapura, Pagepalayam, Masinagudi, Segur, Valaithottam, and Ooty. The road is in very good condition and I can speed up in the high ways and visit the picture cue Dimbum ghat road. At Dimbum I can trace the Abdulkunji's hotel and the rest house.  Even I planned a short trip deep in the forest up to Moyar River If Possible and if permitted, I could stay one day in the jungle. In short, I had a free and flexible schedule. 

My original route as planned  through Sathyamangalam

Second Route

The 2nd option was cross Kavery and turn left through Marukottai and Gopinatham,   reach Palar and the two MM hills and then to Kollegal.

In this route, I can see the heartland an of Veerappan and his native village. The roads are good and most of the ways are through  the forest.  After reaching MM hills and I can go up to Cowdahlly and turn to Ramapuram to trace Ramapuram tiger. Bailur can be reached after taking a left turn at Hanur in Kollegal route.  I liked the route because of good roads and connectivity.

2nd  route towards Kollegal via Palar and MM hills. 

3rd route

The wildest and craziest route is the third one. This one, after crossing Kavery, turns right to Alambadi and visit the secret village, Bejahahai which was mentioned in the last story of KA, From Mauler to Man Eater. The actual name of Bejahahai is Bejjalane.  Don killed the beast at that remote village with an unusual name of Bejahahai. Anderson described the entire 9 miles of this route as a pathway and non-motorable.   I assumed that throughout these years the forest path may become a motorable road at least for a bike. I thought it will be more adventurous than any other routes.   From Bejjalane I can cross the forest by a mud road to   Gopinatham and MM hills or directly to Kollegal. There are no proper roads as Google failed to give a map, I marked the route in the red line in the given map.   It will be risky and a daring attempt to ride through the forest alone.  There is a possible way to bypass MM hills too which marked in yellow.

The 3rd option is given as red and seems extremely difficult from Alambadi to Gopinatham.Bejjalane is marked as a green circle. Entire length through dense forest paths. There is a  possible path to bye pass MM hills as depicted in the yellow line.

I was thinking all the time in the last night and basically opted for the first one. But, by morning when more inquiries about the routes made my excited thoughts in favour of the second or 3rd options. I was in confusion but any way I got clear that crossings Kavery is an easy way to get Palar and then to Kollegal.  The 3rd route as it mentioned as a pathway still in the more or less same condition but occasionally some vehicles goes through the route.  I could not gather more info from there so I decided to check in the at Alambadi after crossing the river.

Crocodile farm. visiting time 9 am to 12 : noon and 2pm to 5 pm.

On the morning mist, I pushed the starter switch of my Unicorn and it came to life in a moment.  I love this because I already have a loaded backpack and was feeling difficulties in balancing between my accessories and the helmet.  I biked straight to the crocodile park. Then again on the same road to Biligundlu, negotiating Ootamalai.  I have been told that the crossing of Kavery is about 3 miles from Hogenakkal both by KA and by the locals.  At a wooded roadside, I found the destination. 

The road leads to BIliguntlu , about 3 miles from Hogenakkkal

A coracle resting on the rocks. Ideal construction for this kind of water and rocks.

Cool morning but windy climate along the shore.

My bike waiting to jump over Kavery , on a queue

 I rode to the riverbed which formed by hard and flat rocks. There were a few more people and a bike in the shades of trees. They were also waiting for the boat form other bank.  There are some notices for tourists in multiple languages.   The road,   togetherness of Kavery and shades of trees may attract travellers in high spirit to have a bath in the river.  And yearly, Kavery has taken her toll in this area. 

Big trees on Kavery banks. I had a bit of free time while waiting for the boat.

Between two rocks on the riverbed saw this thing.I could not understand what is the strange looking thing. It was smaller than a coconut. Probably used for some rituals. Could it a locally made dynamite for fish poaching? Not sure. Don't touch.

My unicorn waits for the ferry with bags and water bottle.

Caution notice in multi languages. the coracle is approaching from another side.

I thought it may take next trip for my crossing because I came second in spot and definitely one bike per boat is allowed.  But, later, to my surprise, the boatmen took me too with the same trip. The weather was windy from the morning and it was the reason for a delay in getting the work of the boatmen. I found it is a risky business because the appearance of the boat and its movements are really awkward.  I carefully watched the approach of coracle with a load of half a dozen people and a bike.

Local people from Alambady side came ashore. This is our boat .

Surprisingly balancing the boat. low-cost .light weight reliable and suitable for such a terrain of rocks and strong currents.

A Click from the boat. Our boatmen struggling to cross

 I had questions about how they can load a bike easily in such a kind of boat in unbalanced water like this. After watching the unloading, I got confidence. It's not as difficult as I thought.  It's a 3 or 4 men business.  A man should hold the boat to the rock firmly during the entire process.  You have to put your bike in neutral gear and holding the handle, roll to the edge of the boat. The man inside the coracle will lift the front tyre and put it inside the boat.  Then you have to move into the boat. Now half of the bike is inside and a third man will lift the rear portion of bike and you have to roll your bike forward.  That's it.

I  joined for helping the other bike to get in the boat and all others helped my bike too.

The Boat ride
For safety reasons and balance, all people have to sit down on the wet floor of the boat.   But bikers have to be seated on the bike and you balance the bike in your outstretched legs.   The wind was strong and the joy and thrilling of the boat ride were no comparable.  I thought it was nothing like this happened before my life.  The two boatmen were struggling with the climate and a very heavy load of about 10 people and 2 bikes. At the middle.  Of the river.   Our boat went a considerable distance to downstream but our expert boatmen recovered the direction after someone gap.  We almost hit some rocks but they tried to push them away by hitting them with their sways and swirl the boat violently.  Now we almost reached the other end but the proper point of disembarking was further above which was a sandy shore.   

It took about 15 minutes to cross the river.  We repeated the same procedure for dislodging and we were out. A mere 50 rupees is worth for this trip.  I was in thoughts of last day where I paid 180 rupees for a similar boat ride but with half of the excitement.  So if you have a bike traveller, I recommend avoiding boating at Hogenakkal, come to this place across the river, visit Marukottai and drove back to Hogenakkal, indeed it will be a new experience.

I forgot an important task to enquire the next route to the. Till we touched the other shore without any problem, everybody was serious, boatmen were busy and nobody seems to talk. The people and a bike embarked the empty coracle and within minutes I became alone.  Then only I realised how I missed the chance to inquire about my routes.  In short, I actually forgot to ask about the condition of the forest path from Alambadi to reach Bejjalane.

swaying, upstream 

Some times it seems we lose the balance.

Note the small waves, made by wind

The road to Alambadi, shows signs of traffic in the jungle.

Deep view of the wayside.Forest everywhere.

I took a right turn when I reached the road which is named as Marukottai- Senapathi road in Google maps.  Within 1 km I could reach Alambadi. The road is not tarred, sandy and dry.  There is nobody on the toad.   Trees and vegetation gave an eerie feeling to my mind. All because this part of the jungle belongs to Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary and restrictions for normal human activities. My destination is situated completely and deeply inside the sanctuary. But   I decided to just go.  
My aims of the mission:

1. Discover the old hamlet of Bejjalane and confirm it is the same Bejahahai.  Maybe I could get some clues about the name change.
2. Track Gulayatha halla throughout the given path, Find the relation of  Ponnachimalai to the cave and village with respect to the stream.
3.  Document pictures and life of the inhabitants, of the remote village.
4.  Find whereabouts of Lotta, the man from the hamlet. He was severely injured during the operation and hospitalised by Don.
5.  Enquire about the incident of a man-eater and its shooting by a Dorai.
6.  With the help of some guides from the hamlet, rediscover the tiger cave in the hill. if possible, I could locate the hiding place of Don, as it is made up of  3 rocks of  12 feet height.

Nice views on either side, but nobody to ask the condition of the roads ahead

I understood from some wayfarer that the road to  Bejjalane is in almost the same condition about 50 years ago as KA mentioned.  It's almost like a pathway crossing the stream Gulyatha halla several times,  even though biking is still possible if you have that much guts.   There is no road to Bejjalane straight as KA mentioned but goes further along the stream and then somewhere in the heights, it will join with a pathway which is arising from Gopinatham. From there, take a right turn almost like a hairpin bend, follow that route to Bejjalane. I wish if I have a companion bike or at least a pillion rider. Actually, permission from the forest department is necessary to reach there.  There are other risks of poachers and so-called Maoists asides the wilderness.  A mechanical failure of bike will lead to endless problems in the lone forest path where any kind of help will be miles away. I wished if I had a companion bike or at least a pillion rider.  Moreover, I definitely need a local guide to reach that village. Due to these reasons, I decided to turn back to the alternative route through Gopinatham.  I rode back to Marukottai where Karnataka tourism has some facilities.  It's just opposite of Hogenakkal waterfall of TN area and there is long concrete bridge like the way through the river bed to reach the waterfalls. I didn't spend a long time on this spot as I have to continue a long journey. When I reached the area it seems deserted and the loneliness compelled me to turn my bike to the main road again. I went to Marukottai village and saw the beach like sandbank with huts and people enjoying a bath in Kavery on the golden sands. It's a perfect place of sand and sunbath in such a riverside. But it is on the other side of the river.  I missed that chance yesterday.  

Loneliness and condition of the road compelled me to take a U-turn.

Marukottai. Karnataka side of  Hogenakkal  fall, seems deserted today.

The lower end of Hogenakkal area. view from other bank.

Marukottai.  There is a  tourist facility for sunbath in the sands. 

Karnataka side of Hogenakkal.

Marukkotai is a small village, basic facilities still  at far

Views of emerald green hills besides Kavery

Kavery flowing calmly here, making an occasional island of sand. View from Marukotai-Gopinatham road.

Ponnachimalai on background, this is Gopinatham valley

Still, miles to count. But I am not in any hurry

As a rider, in a dry climate,  I used to drink lots of water during the trips. I found  It difficult to take the 1-litre water bottle each time which have to securely tied on somewhere in the bike especially on running. I had an indigenous idea. A five-litre water bottle was firmly tied on the saree guard and it serves as a mini-tank of reserve water. I had a long plastic tube which I could put inside to draw whenever necessary. I can replenish the tank occasionally. Some times I put one end of the pipe in mouth and suck to draw water. This method. Proved easy and time-saving. Most importantly I am not distracted from riding by frequent movement of the small bottle on bumpy rides.  

A large Water bottle is being used as a reservoir of most precious liquid in my long journeys.

Reaching Gopinatham, Famous for Veerappan's native place and his territory.

Village view of Gopinatham

Main assembling place and Temple in the middle of the street of Gopinatham. This spot has witnessed many historical incidents related to Veerappan.

Nature. must be obeyed... the forest lone road leading to Palar.

Crossing the limits of Kavery Wildlife Sanctuary. 

The bridge near to Palar,(important in  terms of Veerappan Legends)

Palar. Had confusion to visit Kolathur or directly to MM hills from this junction.

The road to Mettur Dam And Kolathur from the T junction of Palar

Entering the ghat road to MM Hills

Road works are started in this route, so the old road has a lot of poth holes, but easy to a biker.

I do not think pictures; can do justice to the beauty of nature, especially when you are the top of mighty hills like Ponnachimalai. But   I would probably run out of all the adjective describing what I witnessed and I felt the fall, the pain, and the grit everything was worth.  I was all dusty and guess to them sure looked like a lunatic-on-the-run. I spent good close-to-couple of hours at the peak, climbing nearby peaks on the roaring  machine and soaking in nature.

View from the ghat road to MM Hills

Ghat  road,  Some buses  as company

MM hills valley.

The famous temple of MM Hills

A large pond in MM hills township

View of  MM hills  streets 

The road is newly constructed to tarmac from marukottai, with a lot of bridges on the way.  It extends to Palar through Gopinatham on a parallel course of Kavery. Even though it was sunny, the cool breeze made up for it. All alone, I continued to ride imagining how beautiful it could be while climbing up the MM hills peak. At this point, I stopped and frequently stopping now to click pictures. I must admit that what kept me popped up throughout the climb were the curious, surprised, appreciative stares and looks-on-faces of people on the way.

A walk back: “From Mauler to man-Eater”

I would call this is a  partial walk back because I didn't visit some important places personally.  
“From Mauler to man-Eater” is a story by Kenneth Anderson from the book  The call of the Man eater. Being the last book and last story of KA ,it has detailed too much. Due to some reasons Donald,his son has taken over the operation instead of Anderson. But our story teller, Mr. Anderson,  describes the things neatly as readers won't realise the change of the hunter. KA mentions in the beginning of the story that this story is the sequel to two stories in the earlier book, Man-Eaters and Jungle Killers.

This actually comprises of three different stories, with the same tiger in different localities. so that I am happy to cover the three stories together. But I think it will be more good if I visited each place in separate. For readers information, I didn’t go after the point from Alambadi. Several reasons are behind it, some of which I already said above.  So the description of the geography is imaginative and depend completely on Google earth images. The spots of village, the path, stream, hillock and tiger cave are important and I marked in the map using my imagination. I am   Sorry for presenting such a walk back which I couldn’t proceed the last few kilometres,  because of being alone in the forest. May be someone will do in future such a walk back.  I am sure, for the young generations to come, will definitely get permission from the forest department to visit the place and rediscover the magic place of Bejjalane.  The tiger cave will definitely remain there and photography with descriptions will be expected. I dedicate my efforts and assumptions to the brave hearts who follow my way of thinking.  I have some doubts about the specific spots detailed by Anderson and what he given in the hand map. The cave's position is little deviated. I think a slight offset of positions occurred, but still, it's accurate for any sense.

The essence of the story “From Mauler to man-Eater”

The first story in the line is ‘Mauler of Rajnagara’ and is about the tiger that began mauling the herdsmen and cattle at Rajan Nagar. This tiger never bit any of his human victims but mauled him with the claws of forefeet.  The second is the man eater of Pagepalayam. (Actual name is P.G Palaya is a shortened version of Porso Gowder palayam) in both cases, Anderson failed to nab the animal.

The first page of the story. The area of operation widens from  Rajnagara to Alambadi is marked in green in the google map. Dinbum and  Bejahahai  are also marked.

Anderson gives some examples of the human remains indicated that there was nothing wrong with the animal’s teeth or jaws.  so he concluded that this animal was none other than ‘Mauler of Rajnagara’ that had strayed northwards into an area about sixty to one hundred miles northeast of Rajnagara. Hence,

Anderson records incidents of two more attacks and at Alambadi. In particular and analyzes the problem of the man-eater,

A comparison of Google map and Anderson's hand-drawn map. Bejahahai is known as Bejjalane.

Then the news came from the hamlet Bejahahai (Bejjalane) those two more deaths...   Anderson and his son Donald were waiting for any news from Kollegal region. Donald also agreed to work upon this menace.

The movement of the Man eater. it is evident that he was active at the outskirts of Rajngara,Dimbum,Bailur,Pagepalayam,Kollegal and Alambadi. It also states that all 3 stories are interconnected in a confined place, even the spots are in different states and districts.

Anderson at this stage of the narrative mentions that What follows is Donald’s story, as he told it to Anderson.  he gives details of the location of the hamlet of

Bejahahai, situated in the valley of the highest mountain peak, PonachiMalai. Anderson has provided a map of the area where all the events of the story occurred.

The Territory of the mauler in his last days.KA  stated that Kollegal taluk is in North Coimbatore District, and I am not sure whether it was in Madras or Mysore state. However now these places under Karnataka state.

Donald had long determined to shoot that tiger to solve the riddle of its strange habit of mauling. He began his journey from Ootamalai. On the way, he picked up old shikari a fellow Ranga and another old shikari friend Byra for assistance. The trio reached on foot to the hamlet Bejahahai, where the tiger had killed two persons successively. Here, he provides information about the jungle hamlet Bejahahai and its people and passes comment on their lifestyle and nature. They are all tribal people called Sholagas.

The relative position of KAvery River to Alambadi,  and Bejahahai. Salem District in the north, with Hogenakkal  which is well connected with roads,  made  Bejahahai  more attached to  Hogenakkal

A 3 D depiction of Ponnachimalai.Alambadi and Bejahahai can  be seen  with Kavery  

Pennagaram to Hogenakal 9 miles, and Ootaimaliai at  1 mile from there.

After 3 milestone there is a  ferry in the river at this point to reach Alambadi

The ferry referred in the story is the same one I used to cross the river.

The circular, bracket made affair, About eight feet in Diameter, covered with a plastic sheet instead of buffalo hide as described by KA.

The six and a half miles path to Bejahahai is marked in red, Stream Gulayatha Halla is in blue, Both follows in a common direction for first 5 miles. The trio started  from the point of Ferry just south of Alambadi

The first part of the road.  which leads to Bejahahai  looks good, but after Alambadi the condition worsens.

Anderson has done an amazing thing in distance calculation. The total distance of 6 and a half miles is  accurate with google maps 

Comparison of two map and positions of the  Baits. However, when looking closer, I believe the position of Cave and the hill has little deviated from the original place. As I am not going the original spot I could not confirm the difference.

He conducted a meeting of villagers, to acquaint with them and to collect information of the tiger. Tithe villagers told him that it is impossible to shoot the tiger because it is protected by the jungle goddess. But one middle-aged Sholaga named Lotta came forward with contempt and blamed the villagers as liars. Donald had decided to make him a member of his team as he knew the jungle of that area intimately. Anderson has given a portrayed character of Lotta who plays an important role in the shooting of the man-eater. Lotta commented on the nature and mystery of the tiger as Lotta revealed the hiding place of the tiger. It was a small cave near the top of the hillock in which he believed the man-eater layup during the day.

Imagine that Dona, Ranga and Byra, the most important other characters in the  whole KA stories, and  probably only one which has a  union of the three, trekked this route to Bejjalane

Bejjalane Village in closer look from satellite, which engulfed by forest. Andrson misspelt the name as Bejahahai and its not a surprise, as he always does with other places in his stories.

Closer look of the spots. The sands of  GullayathaHalla stream is marked in red, the pathway in blue arrows, As per KA map the position of  Cave is marked.

They used baits for the next days to bag the tiger. But the tiger seems not interested in the baits.  Donald and Lotta were sitting up on bare rocks in the night to shoot the tiger in separate places. In the silence of that night, Don heard the sound of a gunshot and a distinct cry. the tiger attacked Lotta from his back and terribly injured. the sound of the firing made withdraw of the attack. don rushed to the spot and lifted Lotta to the Village, and given first aid. Before leaving to Pennagram next morning, Byra told don to act immediately in the morning as the last try. Byra agreed he will attract the tiger from below the hillock and don has to shot from behind. the started in daybreak. So they started their expedition to reach the mouth of the cave Anderson narrates this thrilling journey with accurate details.

But I think the cave is on the other side of the hill which is adjacent to the river, as seen in the centre of the picture.

Bejjalane and Ponnachi malai in  a 3D image

As per the descriptions,  this must be the hill.

It accurately follows the story and its narration.

Events followed quickly as they reached on the top of the cave. The tiger growled within the cave below Donald, then he roared loudly, and the next second had dashed out of the cave. Donald fired the first bullet behind the neck and the second shot in the chest of the tiger, then the tiger was dead. 

The tram bed is visible on the centre of  image  adjacent  to the path and hillock

Top of the hill in the rainy season. the path and river still clear.

The story ends in an unusual manner of a man-eater’s story. the mystery is solved by examining the dead animal. If you are eager to know it, read the story in full. The tiger had never forgotten to associate that terrible wound with the human race and had taken great care to keep its face out of the way and safe from possible harm every time he attacked the man. This story has a typical end that reveals the mysteries of  the Rajanagara tiger and man eater of Pagepalayam
PS.: I dedicate this post to the unknown person who somebody,  dares to go the specific points and post the photo of the cave and  Bejjalane village.As I stated earlier this is not an authentic work and entirely based on imagination.