For most people Shevaroys is an unfamiliar name, which they have not heard too often. Yercaud! Sure it rings a bell! Well, to set the record straight, Yercaud is situated at an elevation of 4700 feet above sea level on the Shevaroy Hill range. The Shevaroy hills are a small outcrop of hills covering an area of about 385 sq. miles. There are 67 villages and 25 hamlets with a total population of about 40,000 of whom about 15,000 are tribals.

The elevation ranges from 2500 feet to 5200 feet above sea level. The mean temperature ranges between 22 to 25 C. In winter, temperature may go below 10 C and on extremely hot days temperature may shoot upto 32 C.

The average rainfall is about 45 inches to 60 inches from both the South West and North East Monsoons. In years when the North East Monsoon is active and rainfall distributed upto the first fortnight of December the summers are generally mild, comfortable and enjoyable and we are spared the misery of forest fires and water shortages. The soil is a laterite with generally poor depth compared to other coffee growing areas at an altitude of 4500 feet.

The Taluk Head Quarters is located in Yercaud. Yercaud town is situated at an altitude of 4500 feet. Yercaud has a number of seminaries and convents where brethren and sisters of various religious orders have their training schools. The Mont Fort School for boys and Sacred Heart Convent for girls are situated here and these are famous all over the world. The well-known tourists spots are Lady Seat, Pagoda Point, Kiliyur Falls, Bears Cave, Shevaroys Temple and Lake. You have a big lake, which is a natural formation, and the ornamental lake, which is man made.

The nearest Railway Station is Salem Junction, which is half an hour by road. The closest Air Ports are at Coimbatore 200 kms, Trichy 160 kms and Bangalore 230 kms. A number of hotels and Guest Houses cater to tourists with every kind of budget. Sterling Resorts Grand Palace and Hotel Shevaroys cater to the more well heeled traveler while Hotel Tamilnad, Select and Shoba cater to the needs of more basic travelers.

In the Vaniyar Valley, Teak is grown by the Forest Department and a drive through this area is both refreshing and an eye opener to the beauty of this valley. Frequently Bison, Wild Boar and Jackals can be seen and on rare occasions Black Bear is sighted on the lower slopes. A few enterprising coffee planters have branched out and cultivated Anthuriums and Gerberas on a commercial scale. The total acreage under Anthuriums is 5 acres and area under Gerbera is about one acre. The only industry in Yercaud at present is manufacture of Hitech laboratory instruments and one manufacturer of hi fashion pullovers. Certain growers have also ventured into commercially raising and selling saplings of Pomegranates, Mandarin, Sweet Oranges, Large Nelli, Tamarind, Seville Lemon, Seedless Lime, Mini Orange, Mango and various ornamental plants. Horticulture Research Station at Yercaud run by TNAU is conducting a number of trials on crops suitable for cultivation in Yercaud under rain fed condition.

There is an Orchardariam run by the Botanical Survey of India with a vast collection of Indian orchids and rare plants. Hill Development Society run by the State Government is also located at Lady Seat Road, Yercaud and caters to the needs of small growers of Yercaud.

The Salem District has recorded evidence of inhabitation from the Neolithic age and on the Shevaroys polished celts, chiseled stones for use as a hammer, stone discs, slick stones a ring stone and a phallus stone were discovered by Robert Bruce Foote of the Geological Survey of India. The workmanship of celts in this region when compared to those found in other regions of the South is much better & points to a more organized society with better living standards & more leisure for creative pursuits. The Megalithic age which followed which corresponds with the Sangam era, which extended up to around 200 A.D.

Around this time the early hunting & pastoral tribes or Vettuvars who were mainly nomads exploited areas of the Shevaroys. They harvested the honey, fruits & berries and sandalwood of the area. Also rare birds & animals were captured & sold to traders on the plains. In 1987, silver coins of the Emperor Tiberius were discovered on the outskirts of Salem. From findings at the spot & other literature it is known that even 2000 years back Romans came to buy forest produce from these hill ranges.

From around the 7th century there was large-scale migration of the agriculturist Vellala into the hill areas. The Malaiyalis of the Shevaroys are said to be the descendants of Periyannan who came originally from the Kancheepuram area either escaping persecution or in search of a promised land where they could freely practice their religion of worshipping Kari Raman also known as Servarayan.

They are essentially Vaishnavites with a trace of certain Saivite beliefs & customs such as, their offer of meat & liquor to certain deities. They also worship Nadukals (Planted stones). These were erected in ancient times to honour a brave deed, a beloved person or to honour a person killed in battle, killed by a wild beast or one who had committed ritual suicide.

Between the beginning of the Christian era and Salem District coming under the East India Company's rule in 1790, the district was ruled by the Pandyas, Pallavas, Chozhas & Hoysalas. In the 14th century the area was captured by Malik Kafur. 55 years later, the area was taken over by the Vijayanagar empire. In the 18th century, Salem fort was lost to Hyder Ali & finally with the defeat of Tippu Sultan the British rule of Salem was established in 1772.

David Cockburn, the Scottish Collector of Salem between 1820 and 1829 can be rightly called the "Father of Yercaud" for developing the resources of the Shevaroys and for introducing the cultivation of Coffee, Pears & Apples. Expansion of coffee to the Nilgiris and other coffee growing areas of Tamilnadu is said to be from the Shevaroys. The first survey of the Shevaroy hills was undertaken in 1827. Elephants were common in the Kolli & Shevaroy Hills and disappeared by the end of the 19th Century.

In the meanwhile there took place at Salem a very unusual turn of events when Mr. G.F. Fisher a European of German origin purchased the Salem Zamindar in 1836. He was the first and only European Zamindar in the Presidency. The area of his zamin was 1,25,000 acres.

The Shevaroys as per the local inhabitants consisted of Selanadu (Area south and east of the Shevaroyan Temple) Muttanadu (Land in and around the shevaroyan Temple) and Moganadu (area North of the Temple). In 1842, after the death of the Pattakarar (Tribal Chief) of the Shevaroys there was trouble between the various Malaiyalis. This struggle for succession finally resulted in the British bringing this area under their rule in 1842.

The Grange Yercaud was built in the 1820's by M.D. Cockburn & after the Indian Mutiny in 1857, fearing trouble the Grange, Yercaud was fortified & ramparts built to accommodate gun placements & canons were installed. An underground cellar to store food for over 6 months in the event of a siege was also built & stocked. All Europeans in the area were to assemble at the Grange in the event of an uprising.

In 1866 David Arbuthnot, Collector of Salem granted land for coffee cultivation to a number of Englishmen. He was responsible for demarcating village boundaries and village land for establishing village greens exclusive to the Malaiyalis so that plantations may not encroach upon their land.

During these years the approach to the Shevaroys was though the following bridle paths:

Kannankurichi - Guntur - Tipperary Danishpet - Sorakkapatti - Kolagur - Nagalur Bommidi - Veppadi - Karadiyur - Nagalur.

The Mallapuram or Bommidi Railway Station was built on a grand scale to handle the forest produce from the hills. Suramangalam station which is the present Salem Railway Junction came into prominence many years later.

Planters traveled by Bullock cart to the foothills and from there walked up and they were carried up in Dholies for a sum of Rs. 6/- in the 1920's.

Roadwork on the Shevaroys was first started in 1872 and the present Yercaud Ghat Road was completed around 1903. The road became motorable in the late 1920's. It was designed and built with a slope of 1 feet in 22 feet to cater to the train of 15 to 20 bullock carts that would leave Salem by about 8 pm and reach Yercaud lake by 3 am. From there people went by Dholi (carried by 2 people) or the luxury of Munch (carried by 4 people) to their respective destinations. The first commercial transportation available was the Sydney Dyer Lorry Service introduced in 1925. The fare was Rs. 6/- per adult uphill and Rs. 5 down hill and Rs. 3 for children.

Electricity became available in 1930 after the completion of Mettur Dam in 1929.

The residents of Yercaud saw their first motorcar in these parts in 1931 reportedly owned by Mr. C.D. Rile and this car is said to have burnt out in Grassy banks, Yercaud. The second car in Yercaud was owned by Mr. Medra and the third by Mr. Sydney Dyer. The first local driver of the Shevaroys is said to be one Devidass.

Here are a few other interesting facts:


1st hotel in Yercaud - Shortts Hotel.

2nd hotel in Yercaud - Tipperary Hotel.

3rd hotel in Yercaud - Hillside Hotel run by Mrs. Kinipel.

1918 - 1st motorcycle in Yercaud - Red Indian owned by Fr. Capell.

1926 - First Gramaphone and 35 mm hand driven magneto projector.

1928 - First wireless radio imported by Bro. Octavion on Dec 17th 1928.

1928 - Wind or aero pump installed at Montfort school. Similar wind driven pumps also worked at the Ornamental and Big Lakes.

1930 - Cinema Hall - White and Green Palace functions behind Western Stores.

1933 - Panther shot near Ornamental lake, Yercaud.

1933 - Ghat Road washed away and unmotorable between 15th Dec 1933 & March 1934.

1941 - Yercaud receives 21" of rain & ghat road becomes unmotorable.

In the last two decades, the growth of Yercaud has been rapid corresponding with the growing fortunes of the people in Salem, Namakkal, Erode and surroundings. Granite mining has been resorted to. The tourism industry is slowly making headway and hotels and resorts are coming up all around Yercaud.

The number of trees on the Shevaroys compared to about 30 years back, say 1953, must be almost fivefold. Both large plantations and tribal holdings have resorted to large scale tree planting. It is unfortunate that the Govt. controlled Reserve forest and public areas lack proper care and security and these forests are getting denuded. The forest fires are playing havoc with the scrub and brush jungles in the lower elevations, leading to land slips and soil erosion.

In the years to come, higher wages, increasing cost of inputs such as fertilizers, chemicals and pesticides and shortage of man power to do these manual labour intensive jobs is going to be a great strain on the planting community. The present depressed prices for coffee and pepper is a phenomenon, which the growers will have to cope with and adopt and improvise for greater hardships and shortages in the years to come. Hi-tech horticulture, tourism and resorts seems to be the future of the Shevaroys.

Water has always been scarce on these hills and it is imperative that steps are taken to harvest the rainfall and retain the same in large storage ponds or lakes.