Places to Visit in Yelagiri

An artificial lake in Nilavoor village on the Yelagiri hills, flanked by a garden on its banks. It is a popular boating spot offering pedal and motorboat rides amid the hill scenery, and is quieter than the more central Punganur Lake.

Nilavoor Lake, Yelagiri is best understood through its defining feature, its relationship with Yelagiri and the evidence that survives at the site today.

The highest point of the Yelagiri hill station, reached by a trek of roughly 3 km from Punganur Lake. The summit offers a panorama over the whole hill station and surrounding valleys, making it Yelagiri's best-known trekking route.

A village in Tirupathur taluk that is one of Tamil Nadu's important prehistoric sites, excavated by the Archaeological Survey of India under S. R. Rao in 1964-65 and 1967-68. The digs revealed a Neolithic habitation level dated around 1390 BCE overlaid by a Megalithic period, with charred horse gram and green gram and black-and-red ware pottery. It documents one of the earliest farming settlements in northern Tamil Nadu.

An ancient Shiva temple on the banks of the Palar River, its origins traced to the Pallava period with additions by the Chola, Ganga and Vijayanagara dynasties. It carries inscriptions from the reigns of Rajaraja I, Rajendra I and Kulottunga Chola. Local legend links the town's name to Goddess Saraswati regaining her speech after worshipping Shiva here.

Indian Institute of Astrophysics observatory at Kavalur housing the 2.34 m Vainu Bappu optical telescope, long the largest in Asia; discoveries here include the rings of Uranus. Visits require prior permission.

Vainu Bappu Observatory, Kavalur is best understood through its defining feature, its relationship with Alangayam and the evidence that survives at the site today.

The gate opens in daylight, the sky programme has its own ticket window, and a clear forecast is still not a promise of stars.

Cooler, greener and far less crowded than Ooty or Kodaikanal — a guide to Tamil Nadu’s quieter ranges, from the Kolli Hills’ 70 hairpin bends to sleepy Sirumalai, Yelagiri’s lakes and the wild Jawadhu and Kalrayan plateaux.