Wow! What a roller coaster ride! And its a double line too!
Btw, where is this temple located? Can we please have some details about it in terms of nearest city or atleast the state in which it is located.

Posted by Karan Desai on 2008 Apr 16 13:34:04 +0000

Karan the line is not double..but a triple one...temple is situated near Pollachi at Tamilnadu.

Posted by Deepak Murali on 2008 Apr 16 13:44:30 +0000

This has completly changed! I visited Palani around 10 years back and the so called winch was tied with a rope uphill and it opeated by a machine which pulls the rope. It took about 20 minutes to go uphill.

Posted by Ranjeet Ramaswamy Iyer on 2008 Apr 16 13:56:47 +0000

One can also approach the temple by climbing some 1000 steps!

Posted by Ranjeet Ramaswamy Iyer on 2008 Apr 16 14:22:36 +0000

This picture brought back wonderful memories of my Palani trip nearly 34 years back. We were in an MG slip coach from Tiruchi to Palani, changing trains at Dindigul. Pure MG steam! And we went up on this 'funicular railway'. I, too, recall a machine pulling on a rope tied to the car.

Posted by Mani Vijay on 2008 Apr 16 15:40:16 +0000

Do the uphill and downhill services operate in sync? I have seen an instance of such railways employing the downhill train load as a counter weight (and also transfer of energy) to the uphill train. Imagine a pulley with load on either side case. There is of course, additional energy required (as efficiency is not 100%) which is supplied.

Posted by S Ashwin on 2008 Apr 16 16:35:32 +0000

I think the winch is still rope hauled :) You can see the person resting one leg on the rope. I dont think much has changed except that a 3rd line has come up. And see the precarious state in which the pilgrims are travelling... Inspite of the couple of accidents in the recent past...

Posted by Manohar Natarajan on 2008 Apr 16 16:39:31 +0000

Btw Palani is on the MG (still existing ?) line from Dindigul to Pollachi/Podanur/Palgat...Its one hour journey from Dindigul (pronounced Dhindukkal in Tamil).

Posted by Manohar Natarajan on 2008 Apr 16 16:44:04 +0000

Yeah the rope is there! As said by Ashwin, the rope is tied to a pulley which pulls the winch uphill using a motor.However manual operation is also required.

Posted by Ranjeet Ramaswamy Iyer on 2008 Apr 17 02:55:13 +0000

Great atmospheric shot Deepak.

Posted by Arzan Kotval on 2008 Apr 17 16:18:37 +0000