Rural Arunachala

A couple of days ago on Ugadi (Telegu New Year) visited my friends at their farm south of Arunachala. But absolutely need no excuse to visit their place which is located about 8 kms from the base of Arunachala (as the crow flies).

They have a couple of acres of their farm currently under rice cultivation.

And below a worker winnowing the rice.

And next some of the beautiful cows at my friends' farm.

And more of their large herd of cows, peacefully grazing in front of Arunachala.

Some of the young 'uns foraging amongst some nice 'tasties' in a nearby field.

My friends have 11 doggies, most of whom have been with them since birth. Below is one of their large doggie contingent. As always when visiting the farm make sure to take lots of snacks for the doggies -- probably the reason I'm always welcomed by them with such a great fanfare.

One of the doggies making friends with the goats on the farm.

Nearby the farm are Reserve Forest Hills, which are excellent for a day's hiking and walking.

All in all a lovely way to welcome the New Year albeit Telegu New Year!

For information and photographs of agricultural land available in the same area as the farm, visit this link here.

Devanandal Farm

Shanti Vanam Trust of Tiruvannamalai have asked Arunachala Grace to give information about a farm under their control that they wish to sell. I have already posted this information on the May Arunachala Grace News which goes out this evening, but am posting additional photos of the farm on this Blog. If the farm is not sold to a private party, eventually it will get sold to a developer who will break it up for individual plot sales.

Anyhow, the area of the farm is northside of Arunachala near Devanandal village. As you can see it is in a undeveloped, unspoilt area with a spectacular view of Arunachala, which is probably about 3 kms distance.

The below photograph is of the small fruit plantation on the farm.

The farm has been well maintained and the soil is in good condition. The land is mostly flat with an excellent water supply.

This is one of the two agricultural water tanks on the land. Again everything in pristine and well maintained fashion. There is even a small rustic cottage on the land near the banana plantation.

Here the land is on an elevation and is well populated with indigenous trees. Again a spectacular darshan of Arunachala.

The below is of the protected water reservoir which is around 250 acres large. In the photograph there is not much water left in the reservoir, but it will get well filled during the next monsoon. As it is a natural water collector, development for building purposes will not occur, thus giving the pristine 11 acre farm an adjacent 250 acres of unspoilt land that will remain undeveloped.

If you are interested in finding out more about this farm, please get in touch with the Shanti Vanam trust at:

shantivanam@rediffmail.com