Fresh push for tourism in Yelagiri

An open-air stadium, botanical garden, lake beautification, among proposals

A century and half ago, Yelagiri Hills was a summer retreat for the English officers from Arcot and Vellore. The spicy North Arcot cuisine like the Avadhi biriyani made with short-grained rice, makkan peda (gulab jamun) and a smoked milk sherbet, a dessert, adorned the menus during their stay, according to history. Now, history is set to repeat itself and this time, not for the English but for local tourists, as the Tirupattur district administration is gearing up to revive tourism on the hill station to generate the much needed revenue for the newly formed district. Job creation, both direct and indirect, is another aim of the new initiative. “Local tourism will form a major source of income for the new district. The idea is to convert the entire district into a tourist hot spot rather than categorising certain places alone as tourist spots. This will also help promote local history, for instance, in Ambur,” Tirupattur Collector Amar Kushwaha told The Hindu.