Elk Hill Murugan Temple

A forty-foot Murugan stands on the crest of Elk Hill, modelled on the celebrated statue at Batu Caves in Malaysia and visible from much of the town below. The terrace around him holds shrines to Ganesha, Shiva, Shakti and the Navagrahas, and opens onto a wide view over Ooty's roofs and eucalyptus slopes. About a kilometre from the Rose Garden, free to enter, shoes left at the steps. The temple is at its liveliest during Thaipoosam, in the Tamil month of Thai (January or February), when pilgrims come up the hill in a steady line.

A hilltop terrace of shrines with the whole town spread out beneath it