The Peacock Sanctuary at Viralimalai

(C) mapsus.net

When I was a kid my father’s parents used to live in Tiruchirappalli. He used to takes us for most of the holidays to their home. On the way to Trichy is Viralimalai where Lord Muruga abodes in the hilltop Shanmuganathar temple and his vehicle the Peacock flourishes on the richness of the mountain. With every trip I found as I grew up I found that the number of peacocks that I counted started going less. I was very sad and was wondering why on earth the authorities of that area are not taking any initiative to make this place “A Sanctuary for Peacocks”? While I was contemplating on this question, and do not know how well my peers at my college remember that we even used to discuss on these issues – for one reason losing the abode of our National Bird is losing the Pride of India.

(C) murugan.org

Viralimalai Wildlife Park as is named now is a very popular destination and a popular Holy Place for Lord Muruga worshippers. This village is located 30 km away from Thiruchirappalli and 40 km away from Pudukottai. To know more on how and what is the best way to get to this place, look at the table below:

Air	Rail	Road
The nearest airport is at Tiruchirapalli (30-km)	Tiruchirapalli junction is a main junction on the southern railway. It connects Chennai, Chidambaram, Madurai, Tuticorin, Tirunelveli, Tenkasi, Kollam, Rameswaram, Bangalore, Coimbatore, Kochi , Kanyakumari and Mangalore. Pudukkottai is also well connected by rail with the important places within and beyond the state	There are regular buses from Tiruchirapalli and Madurai

If you are looking for a place where you can spot peacocks in their natural habitats, learn, understand and enjoy their way of living, then Viralimalai is the place that you have to visit with your camera. Viralimalai, besides being the shrine for Lord Muruga and abode for peacock, this is the place where one if chance permits can witness the tribal population called the “kurvanjis”. However, with modernisation and civilisation creeping into this society many of their customs and culture including costumes, festivals have dwindled to nothing.

Talking more about the peacocks making this hill as their native, one if lucky will get to see six species of peacocks from different parts of India and South East Asia. The most attractive of all the peacocks that one can witness and must see to mark their visit a memorable one is the most attractive species of all the peacocks with vibrant colours that one can hardly find at one place in this world is the Palawan Peacock Pheasant or “Tandikan”.

If you are interested to learn more about the different species of peacock before you make your visit and jabber about this to your friend accompanying you, then do read the next post that is to follow…..