EXUBERANT MURUGAMALLA !!!

Eight kilometers from Chintamani Town is a place called  Muruga malai, now called as Murugamalla or Murag-malla. It is a wonderful destination for both the religious and nature lovers alike. The Muktheeshwara Temple at the midst of the hill has been attracting the devotees with it's impeccable 'Puja' rituals. Late Shri B.V.Aswathiah (founder, B.V.Aswatiah & Bros,manufacturers of a very popular 'Nandi' Brand Agarbathies) and Late Shri G. Pandurangiah Setty were instrumental in developing this old temple by building a new structure and by constructing a commutable road till the temple. The temple administration has undertaken a herculean task of growing trees on a war footing and also preventing the diminishing of forest area. All their effort has helped in bringing peaceful and clean environment around the temple that gifts the visitors joy and tranquility. At the foot of this hill there is a natural spring. Years ago this natural spring water was made to flow out of the Nandi Bull's mouth. The water is very tasty, and also cold, which rushes out here through out the year, all seasons.  For more info on temple watch this E-TV Telugu documentary Muktheeswara Temple-Part 1, Muktheeswara Temple -Part 2, Muktheeswara Temple - Part 3

 Murugamalla also has a very famous 'Dargah'- Amma Jan Bawa Jan Dargah. Devotees from distant places visit  to worship at this Dargah Shareef, a holy shrine.

Buried behind these famed religious places of worship lies an exciting face of Murugamalla. The hill that could be easily above 1500 feet is a great trekking location. The starting point of the trekking route is in the village near a public well. The trekking path has steps in between but  most parts of the route has the country paths. There are some steep stretches where they have placed steel railings for support. Since this is a rocky mountain it's slippery during the rainy season, got to be very careful while climbing down.. It would  approximately take 60 to 75 minutes to reach the top. On the top of the hill you'll see a temple under construction. Well, what else can you expect on a hill in India? You'll be disappointed if you expect a outlet selling chips and cool drinks. Thankfully there's none of these polluting entities. It's nature at it's purest form. There's a couple of sweet little ponds formed by rain water. The view from the top and the huge single rock plateau on top will mesmerize you. There's also a old wall structure suggesting that this could be a watch-over point of some era. Surely you'll enjoy the high!!

Amidst  the boulders that has covered the northern part of the hill, there is  a cave. The entrance of the cave is very small. As you sneak in to the dark it gets harder to go in so you have to turn,twist and crawl in.. At about, say about 100 to 110 feet, there's a large area, enough room for 6-8 people to sit, where there is a statue on a brick platform. There's also water beneath prompting you to think this could be the path of the natural spring that rushes out below. The power in the chargeable batteries and the cellphones will drop down. Not even a single ray of sunlight in there and not knowing the end of the tunnel makes it a challenging place to excavate. A very thought that you are under huge boulders erratically formed one above the other gives enough blood rush. CC strongly recommend  people not to enter in it without local guidance.