Kumittipathi : A peep into the past

For those who are game for some adventure, writes Anima Balakrishnan

WHERE LEGENDS UNFOLD The entrance to the Neolithic cave - Photo:K.Ananthan

It was not a great day to embark on your first RLT. The monsoon had unleashed itself on neighbouring Kerala and my RLT destination, Kumittipathi, is a mere four kilometres from the Kerala border.

Our guide, ARK Arun is a fossil expert. Kumittipathi, the fossil man vouches, is home to Neolithic paintings that are more than 5,000 years old. If you thought RLTs are about obscure places tucked aeons away from civilisation, this one is different. A mere 30 km from Coimbatore, the place haunts you with its deathly stillness but has an inherent capacity to surprise you.

As you drive down NH 47 towards Palakkad, clouds darken and the air gets heavier past the Western Ghats. As we steer off the main road, temperatures drop and the scenery dotted with over-grown palm trees takes over. A town appears before you from nowhere. It's Thirumalayanpalayam. Kumittipathi is just couple of kilometres away. A serpentine road takes you past tiny settlements and stone quarries, and legends unfold. Table-like stone structures, Sumai Thangikal, erected in memory of women who died during childbirth rest on the roadside. The road gets progressively slender and the ride bumpier.

Squeezing past bowing shrubs, the car climbs over a languorously spread rock and the outcrop housing the caves presents itself majestically. As the rain beats down hard, we leave our phones and watches behind and I take my first close look at the mammoth rock, which sits like a grey-brown slouching monster with a quaint sense of adventure.

Uphill task

We begin our climb and Nature decides to be a little unkind. The skies open up with all fury and with no coats or caps, the slippery climb gets a little tricky. We lumber behind the fossil man, treading over dicey, bald rock with great care. After a climb of nearly 30-foot, a huge oval mouth, around 20-foot wide opens in front of you. There it is, the granite formation in rock, pregnant with more than 3,000 million years of history and waiting to unfold its story. At the entrance are the Neolithic works, called the petrographs, of a peacock, a tree, an elephant and other geometric figures, assumed to be more than 5,000 years old. They fight for space with new-age artistic creations in chalk and paint. Walk into the ten-foot deep dark cave and pieces of broken glass and match-sticks carpet the slushy floor.

A petrograph.

Those game for a little adventure will find the climb to the temple at the top of the 300-foot outcrop interesting. Erratically arranged stone steps wind up and suddenly disappear from view. Arun assures us that the climb is not too tough and being in a mood for some adventure, I agree. But as you go half way up, the steps vanish and you are at the mercy of thinly carved footrests on the sloping, slimy rock.

You move ahead, one step at a time and tend to miss more than a breath. The rain lashing down your back doesn't make it any easier. After an eternity, you are at the very top, before the Baladandayudhapaani temple. Neatly margined paddy fields stretch across as far as you can see and the Ghats covered in mist unravel like a dark giant.

How to get there

Drive down the Palakkad highway, past Madukkarai till you reach the signboard for Nehru College on the left. Turn there and drive down the main road to reach Thirumalayanpalayam. Kumittipathi is two kilometres from there.

Courtesy: http://www.hindu.com/mp/2005/08/13/stories/2005081301390300.htm