Ballikkal Holidays Trip

Bellikkal is a Nilgiri village located south-east of the Mudumalai forests on the Sigur Plateau 16 km from Ooty and 249 km.

Loosen your purse strings until your purse sags earthwards, hire a helicopter, fasten your seat belts, take off into the blue yonder and savour the hypnotizing sights of the forest-clad Nilgiri mountains down below. Or, simply visit Silver Stones Estate at Bellikkal. Complete isolation at 5,500 ft, just 16km from Ooty enroute to the Kalhatti Ghats, whose curves can give the world’s best belly dancer a run for her money. The estate is perched like a lofty eagle edjoining the villages of Akuni and Hulhtti on the northern fringe of the smoky Nilgiri Hills. The 50 acres of absolute wilderness culminate at a point from where you can see nervetingling vistas. The forests of Mudumalai and Bandipur spread out down below, with their trees resembling the knotted wool of a million sheep grazing together in the distance. The Moyar River that slithers its way through a deep chasm leaves behind a trial of dense shrubbery in its wake that appears like closely worked embroidery. The dam across it looks much like a toy meant for the amusement of the gods.

From that height, the Siur Plateau unwraps itself like a fantabulous leaf stretching out in the open. And towards evening the light and shade effect brought about by the setting sun makes for a show that is purely in the realm of the divine.

Bellikkal is the place for long ambles along the ghats or a quiet afternoon by Bellikkal Lake. This is not the place to carry your tuxedo to. Pack some outdoorsy clothes that’ll blend in with the surroundings and some good walking shoes. This is an unsen and relatively unexplored section of the over-exploited Nilgiris. Go into the wilds here and you’ll literally have a different view of nature.

Walk down to Bison Valley which takes its name from the innumerable gaur Indian bison that roam around the Sigur area. If you have binocular vision to assist you, you’ll delight in the sight of herds moving around languorously, feeding in the lush undergrowth. The Kalhatti Falls shimmer and glint as they cascade down a valley. And from this height and range, the waters seem to come down dreamily in slow motion. The Nilgiri peaks at Bellikkal beckon the intrepid trekker. And if you climb one of them through a series of him trails passing through the foliage, you’ll be astounded by the splendour of the vast and varied landscape. Don’t be surprised if you feel on top of the world.

Bellikkal’s other attraction is the kurinji bush, covered with purplish blue flowers of delicate beauty. When in full bloom they lend a bluish haze to the area. But these bushes bloom only once in 12 years. The kurinji last bloomed four years ago.

To be in Bellikkal during the monsoon is an experience that will remain etched in memory. For when it rains, the whole area takes on a hazy magnificence. With umbrella in hand, make your way to the vantage point at the end of the estate and just gasp, gawk and droll at the sight in front of you. The mountains that gently wrap the verdant valleys in green gossamer look like hey are being showered with a billion tiny, speckled diamonds. And somewhere in the distance, up on a delicate branch, a babbler ruffles itself into a cute, brown ball and shakes itself dry.

Such dazzling sights of nature are not the only things here. The wildlife enthusiast will have no complaints, Imagine seeing a herd of elephants or gaur or sambhar or chital grazing in such complete solitude within the folds of the valleys below that they almost look unreal as if lodged like terracotta figures on a cardboard model of a forest painted green. Sloth bears and panthers abound too their droppings at numerous spots around the estate grounds point to their nocturnal permbulations.