The Last Hill of India

Where is it?

The hill I'm mentioning here is the last elevated hill in the southernmost tip of India. That's the end of the Western Ghats. It is located in the Kanyakumari district. It is the southernmost tip of western ghats and the end of a high elevated hill in the south. What is so special about it?. Let's go on a trek to find out.

Trekking the last hill of India

I and my friends visited Kanyakumari to explore the beautiful landscapes of  Kanyakumari and nearby Nagerkovil. I'll make a separate blog about Nagerkovil. Wherever I go I always demand a trek to finish the trip peacefully. After finishing some parts of the Kanyakumari, it is time for us to leave for Chennai to resume our job. A known person who helped us explore there suggested a short trek on a  hill nearby. The hill is called Marunthuvazh Malai. He told us to come to the base of the hill the next morning at 5 am. We went there the next morning, had tea near the shop at the base of the hill.

Don't underestimate it

When we first arrived, while sipping the tea, the hill looked somewhat small. I thought it would be a piece of cake to easily reach the top. We started to trek by around 5.30 am. In the beginning, it was just steps only but up to a certain point where there is a small temple. After that, the path starts to become rugged. I slowly started to feel the difficult terrain. Since I have some trekking experience before, I managed to slowly continue the trek. My friends started to find that difficult. They took their time to slowly continue the trek. The hill is intense, it was not as I compared to what I saw before as a whole. There were caves, there were intense bushes, huge rocks on the way to the top.

Not keeping up with locals

while we are trekking up I saw some people with jogging outfits, going up and down the hill. While they are used to the terrain of the hill I found it difficult since it was new for me. After some time I figured out that it was the same people who are continuously descending and ascending the hill. They include a small child, two to three men, and 3 teen boys. I asked them whether they have reached the top and descending down. They told me that,

Wait for us in the top, you will encounter us again 3 to 4 times

I found that they were the locals living nearby whose daily morning routine is to jog up and down the hill.

A wise old man to be inspired

I met an old man who is one of the locals doing trekking as a daily routine on the hill. At the beginning of the trek, I saw him collecting plastics that were on the path. After reaching a certain point, he discarded the plastics and garbage in a garbage can. The garbage was fitted with a signboard saying, "Please drop the garbage here".  I asked him, "why are you doing this, being old, it's up to the corporation!". He told me that,

We are the ones who deployed garbage cans here with the sign board. Eventhough most people are not using it or following it, it is our responsibility to keep our surrounding environment clean. Since this hill is near to our home, i took this as my responsibility to keep this beautiful place clean

That stroke me hard. Even though I feel bad about the people not handling garbage in pure environments, his words inspired me the most. I think, like him, we also should take responsibility to keep our fellow surrounding environment clean.

It was all about Hanuman

Before reaching the top, the friend of mine who guided us told us to stop. He told us to look at a rock and asked us what can you see. I told him, it was just a rock. But then he told us to view all rocks from the top to the bottom of the hill. All the rocks resembled a god. It was Hanuman. The rocks in the hill in a certain way resembled Hanuman lying with his head in the top and legs stretching to the bottom. It was absolutely fascinating. It was believed that this hill Marunthuvazh Malai is a piece of Sanjeevi mountain that was carried by Hanuman to Sri Lanka. Like Sanjeevi mountain, this hill also contains several herbal plants.

Reaching the last highest point of India

After some time we reached the top of the hill. It took us 1 and half hours. When I was at the top it was absolutely amazing. I felt that this trek was so underrated, which led to a beauty like this. In the south, you can see the V tip of India. You can witness the Thiruvalluvar statue and Vivekanandha memorial, far to the south. The sun slowly emerges from the beautiful horizon of the Indian Ocean. On the right is the Keralam, with the Arabian sea merging with the Bay of Bengal towards the V tip. The top of the hill contains the Hanuman temple. People do poojas there. To your north, you can see the end of Western ghats. There stands the range of  Aralvaimozhi hills having the second-largest windmill farm of India. We spent enough time up there, syncing up to the environment, feeling good, listening to the wind, and finally descended down.

Why is it underrated?

To my knowledge, it is one of the underrated spots of Kanyakumari. It is a beautiful place for trekkers and many don't even know that this is the last hill of India and the western ghats. It is about 200 meters tall and it contains many herbal plants and caves which till now is being used. The rocks resemble Hanuman and this hill one of the best examples of 

You should not judge a book by its cover.

 Among all, it is the best place where you can witness the beauty of both the Land and the Sea. 

How to reach

The hill situated about 10 km from Kanyakumari and it would take up to 15 mins to reach there.

I have decided that whenever I visit Kanyakumari, I would visit this hill as well. What about you? Tell me in the comments below.

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