More about Viralimalai Peacock Sanctuary – Secrets Revealed

Peacock has been adorned the title as not only the National Bird of India in the year 1963, but also of Australia by a few Australians by “word of mouth”, as Australia have not adopted any National Bird until now. In India the most common peacock or peafowl which is usually spotted is the Blue Peafowl (Pavo cristatus).  This bird is also known as Indian Peafowl or Common Peafowl. Spectacularly stunning beauty abounds these birds and make them attractive giving a very pleasing personality.

Scientific Classification:
Scientific Name   Pavo cristatus
Kingdom : Animalia
Phylum   : Chordata
Class       :  Aves
Order     :  Galliformes
Family   : Phasianidae
Genus   :  Pavo

The blue peafowl has been part of Indian cultural and have its reference in the Hindu myhtology as vahan of Karthikeya, Goddess Saraswathi and Goddess Mahamayi. Peacock dance has been part of Indian folk dance of Tamil Nadu and Bharathanatiyam. Lord Krishna is always found to adron himself wiht a peacock feather as his head ornament. Besides dancing of peacock during monsoon and rain has been mentioned in Indian poetry and prose. This in fact instigated a scientific temper in one of my friend who tried showering peacock with hosepipe and wanted to know “WHY” peacock dances before rain or monsoon? What makes them to dance? While many studies points out as seasonal dance that happens to coincide with the weather which is time for mating and is a ritual dance before mating. However, the observations cited in prose and poetry by great poets and poetess and that of scientists still needs to be validated. Notwithstanding in Christianity Peacock stands symbol of eternal life and is compared in alchemy or in Harry Potter to the resurrection of the Phoenix.

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Authenticating the relationship and tradition of peacock dance to Barathanattiyam stands true is the Shanmuganathar temple on top of Viralimalai Sanctuary. Most of the inhabitants of the village can trace their descent from Isai-vellala (Melakarar) community. This temple belongs to the Chola dynasty and is still a prosperous village ever since 9th A.D. The hill is covered with non-thorny trees mainly Wrightia and is aslo the place for kuravars who display their classical Kuravanji dance every year on the hill top inside the temple court till 1993 the “kuravanji dance” in front of large crowds of people like nobles, officials and ordinary folks.

 

The location of the Viralimalai Peacock Sanctuary as seen on the map.

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Capture some of the scenes of the Viralimalai sanctuary and the Temple of Lord Murugan.

 

Talking more about the Indian Peafowl are its variation in colour dividing them into two subspecies – blue-green and green colored plumage. The peahen or the female has a mixture of brown, dull green and gray plumage.

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Bragg reflections explains the reason for the vibrant colour changes that one could observe over a distance of the change in colours which is not because of the presence of pigments in the feathers rather due to the presence of regular, periodic nanostructures of barbules which causes changes in colours. Other types of peacock that could be spotted sometimes are the white peacock, the black shoulder and the Palawan Pheasant.

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These peacocks which abode in the hills and in the sanctuary area nearby are omnivorous and eat most parts of plants, seeds, seed pods, petals, leaves and grass, insects and arthropods, reptiles and amphibians. They usually nest on the ground and rest on low tree branches, and if they are male peafowl will lie the beautiful tail touching the ground spreading like a curtain of colours.

One more variety or species of peacock that could be occasionally spotted in Viralimalai is the Palawan Pheasant, a species that belongs to the country of Philippines, Palawan Island which has a beautiful iridescent blue plumage and has been branded as Vulnerable by IUCN.

BirdLife International 2013. Polyplectron napoleonis. In: IUCN 2013. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 27 May 2014.

Below you will find snapshots of various peacocks species that could be spotted and identified in Viralimalai Sanctuary when you make your trip:

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Above all, peacock happened to be the symbol of commercialisation for NBC used eleven-feathered peacock abstraction with a slogan of pride of success “We are proud as a peacock!” showcasing yellow, orange, red, purple, blue and green in the year 1986.

Besides Peacocks, other attractions that you could spot in the Viralimalai Sanctuary are gazelles, porcupines, panthers, sloth bears and hyenas with the best time to spot them is in the season of October and April.

What is more left to do with the sanctuary besides spotting them on the factory walls on the roadway is to the sanctuary is to spot other wildlife and birds that could your trip more fulfilling and enjoyable.

And what is left more is that I never had an opportunity until now to visit the sanctuary ever since it was established rather than only passing through it.

The Peacock Sanctuary at Viralimalai

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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.

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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…..