Skip to main content

Featured Post

2023 - The Year That Was

Places impact you for a variety of reasons. And the same place impacts different people in different ways. This is especially true when it comes to spiritual experiences, where every single person’s experience is unique. And personally, every spiritual experience is unique, the same person can have different deeply spiritual experiences at different places, at different times. This thought has emerged because of my own experiences over the years, but especially so this year, with different and unique experiences at various places I have visited recently. I began this year with a visit to Baroda (Vadodara) with friends. It was meant to be a relaxed trip, a touristy trip, with our sons. We enjoyed ourselves to the hilt, but the highlight of that trip was a visit to the Lakulisha temple at Pavagadh. It was the iconography of the temple that I connected with, and I spent a few hours simply lost in the details of the figures carved around the temple. There was an indefinable connect with

Thekkady - Periyar Tiger Reserve


The Periyar is the longest river in Kerala, and is thus the lifeline of the state. The Periyar Lake is an artificial one created by the building of the MullaPeriyar Dam in 1895. What was started as a game reserve by the British, after independence became a wildlife sanctuary, and later, the Periyar Tiger Reserve. While the area where the reserve is located is well known as Thekkady, the town is named Kumily, and is located on the border of Kerala and Tamilnadu. Kumily is about 250 Kms from Trivandrum and 110 Kms from Kottayam. On the Tamilnadu side, it is easily approachable from Madurai, which is also 110Kms away.


There are lots of regular KSRTC (Kerala State transport Corporation) buses available to Kumily from Kottayam, and the 3 ½ hour journey takes us through picturesque mountains covered with rubber and tea/coffee and spice plantations. Though it was the month of May, and the period of the Agni Nakshatram (the hottest period of the season), as we approached Thekkady, there was a perceptible drop in temperature, which made us wish we had worn something warmer.

Here are glmipses of our journey from Kottayam to Thekkady.....



There is no dearth of places to stay at Thekkady and Kumily. You can get jus about anything from 5 star hotels and luxury resorts to homestays and small lodges. Just decide your budget and look around. No matter what the season and how crowded it might be, you will surely find an appropriate place to stay.

Once upon a time, this area had nothing but plantations, and only the plantation owners had built beautiful homes here for themselves. Now, only vestiges of them are left, for almost every plantation has been taken over by resorts, and you can find one resort after another, side by side, cheek by jowl, you might say! One of these used to be the Taj Garden Retreat, which has now been taken over by Club Mahindra, and has become ‘Tusker Trails’…not that there are as many tuskers any more……


Now that I have vented my spleen about the crowded nature of Thekkady, I must be fair, and mention that ‘Club Mahindra Tusker Trails’ has been incredibly well planned and laid out. At first glance, it is difficult to make out where the rooms might be. Every cottage is built on stilts; yet, the green cover is huge enough to cover them… barely the top half of the cottage is seen from any angle!



The approach to our room was along a path winding its way between bushes of hibiscus, and the plants were taller than even Shankar. I and Samhith were dwarfed by these plants, and the feeling was more acute in the night when we returned from dinner and had to walk almost in the dark, hearing the sounds of the night – especially frogs. We were so scared of stepping over snakes; we took to carrying a torch from the next night!


While I was not too impressed by many of the numerous resorts at Thekkady, I liked the attempts made by the Periyar Tiger Reserve for responsible eco-tourism. This seems to be a relatively new factor here, for I hadn’t heard of it earlier. As is the norm in all reserves, all activities inside the reserve have to be conducted only with permissions, and here, they seem to have all activities under tight control. Of course, none of the activities were possible, since it was the vacation, and the whole world seemed to be there, but you can find out all the details through their website. They have lots of interesting activities like a night time Jungle Patrol, camping in the jungle, nature walks, full day trek cum safari, etc. The list is long, and you had better see the whole list on their website.

Meanwhile, here is a scanned list of the Programmes...


Not only are activities possible through the reserve, but they also have their own rooms inside the reserve itself, some of them run by the Kerala Tourism Department (KTDC). Among these, the best is of course, the Lake Palace hotel, which is right in the middle of the Periyar Lake, approachable only by boats. Undoubtedly, it is the most expensive one. The Aranya Nivas is near the boathouse (middle range), and the Periyar House is a little further away (budget). All are inside the reserve. There are also other options for stay run by the reserve itself, such as the Bamboo Grove (just outside the reserve), Jungle Inn (log huts) and Jungle Camp (tents).


Here are the details for bookings:


For Information and Advance Booking:

Eco Tourism Information Centre, Range Office Complex, Thekkady.
Phone No.: (04869)224571

Unfortunately, as of now, advance bookings have to made by phone. They haven't begun online bookings yet. If you travel during the off-season (when schools are closed), spot bookings are possible.


With none of the interesting activities inside the reserve available to us, we had to look elsewhere for options, preferably not too strenuous (Samhith and I had to continue further alone, and Shankar had to go back to work). We finally settled on an elephant ride in one of the plantations. Again, there are many options for this, and there are numerous chaps who promise you all kinds of things, but they all end up taking you on a round of a small plantation riding an elephant. If you agree to pay more, you can bathe and feed an elephant, and the mahout makes the elephant show you a couple of things that it has been trained to do. Frankly speaking, Shankar and I were not too interested, especially as we believe that the elephants are not treated too well, but we gave in to Samhith, who loved every minute of it.

So, here we are, on an elephant – Samhith and Shakar enjoying themselves,and me uncomfortable.


We saw a couple of racket-tailed drongoes, but I was holding on tight with both my hands, and couldn’t use my camera at all! Next time, I have told Samhith, he and his dad can go for a ride while I walk beside the animal and take photographs!



Bathing the elephant was the best part, and here are some photos and a video to prove it…….







We spent almost an hour with the elephant, and here we are, bidding goodbye to her………..



The resort had plenty of options for Samhith, who loved running around and climbing the tree house over and over again…. But what really caught his fancy were the adventure activities like rope climbing, river crossing, etc. all conducted within the resort. Here are some pics….





We had all looked forward to the boat ride on the Periyar River, hoping to see elephants (the last time we were there, Samhith was about a year old, and we had seen a mother elephant suckling her calf. That was before I got my Canon, and also before I was introduced to blogging, so bad luck guys, I have no pics of that memorable trip… just my memories). Well, we weren’t lucky enough to see elephants this time, though we did see bison and wild boar, and also a mongoose, and of course, plenty of cormorants and darters. Without wasting any more words, let me take you along with me.... through my photographs.

View from the boathouse...boats lined up, waiting to be filled and start on a journey along the river...

Our boat,up close. There are two types of boats - some with lower and upper decks and some with a single deck. Try to get an upper deck or a single deck boat....

The journey begins....

A darter or Snake Bird

A Red Wattled Lapwing

Another Darter

The characteristic scenery of the Periyar Lake - these trees died when the area was flooded by water from the dam and the lake was created...

here's a closer look ....



Two darters on a tree - one black necked and one white necked..

A Bison..

"Why are you gaping at me????" He seems to ask

The herd scatters among the trees


A couple of Great Cormorants.... two of my favourite pics... Tell me which ones you like...



A couple of Wild Boar

Another Darter - the best pic of the lot!

Is that an egret or a heron??


More Bison...



The sun starts throwing light on the hills..

More Wild Boar..

And here's one up close...



A peep at the Lake Palace Hotel, which is hidden behind these trees on an island right in the middle of the lake.

And here are the steps leading to the hotel...

Is that a tortoise on the log? Wish I had a pair of binoculars!


Looks like a White Necked Stork...

Incidentally, this was the bird on the Number board of our room at Tusker Trails:

A Kingfisher looking up at the sky. Did it know that it was going to rain???

Our last view of the lake and hills(for the present)....

The journey ended on a disappointing note, for we had not seen even one elephant in the wild, something we had all looked forward to. However, there is a positive side to this - I now know the different options open to me at Thekkady, and when Samhith is a little older, we can plan a trip better and hope to enjoy more time within the jungle with whatever wildlife is there then, rather than outside with the mass of humanity! 

Comments

  1. I had been to Thekaddy some time back... all memories revived. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anu : I expected to see a detailed post and I got more than I wanted. I like the way you narrate things comprehensively.

    Your images show that nothing has changed in Thekkady in 5 years. I went to Thekkady 5 years back since someone told me its a birding heaven and you could see wildlife too, I came back really disappointed. I m suprised you haven't posted images of the Nilgiri Langur and Malabar Squirrel which are abundant out there. Beautiful series of images nevertheless.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Awesome blog, visit www.spotalks.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. Really interesting blog. Thank you so much for sharing this post.

    ReplyDelete
  5. wow interesting blog. I really like it...

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks so much for stopping by. Please leave a comment for me so that I will know you have been here....

Popular posts from this blog

Gokarna Part II – The Five Lingams

We continued our Gokarna trip by visiting four other Shiva temples in the vicinity, all connected to the same story of Gokarna. The story of Gokarna mentions the Mahabaleshwara Lingam as the one brought from Kailas by Ravana, and kept at this place on the ground by Ganesha. (See my earlier post- Gokarna – Pilgrimage and Pleasure). However, the story does not end here. It is believed that, in his anger, Ravana flung aside the materials which covered the lingam- the casket, its lid, the string around the lingam, and the cloth covering it. All these items became lingams as soon as they touched the ground. These four lingams, along with the main Mahabaleshwara lingam are collectively called the ‘ Panchalingams’ . These are: Mahabaleshwara – the main lingam Sajjeshwar – the casket carrying the lingam. This temple is about 35 Kms from Karwar, and is a 2 hour drive from Gokarna. Dhareshwar – the string covering the lingam. This temple is on NH17, about 45 Kms south of Gokarna. Gunavanteshw

Rama Temple, Gokarna

To my right , the waves rush to the shore, eager to merge with the sand. To my left, the same waves crash against the rocks, their spray diverting my reverie as I ponder over the beauty of nature, and wonder what first brought people here. Was it this beauty that encouraged them to build a temple here, or was it the fresh, sweet spring water flowing from the hill here that made this place special? No matter what the reason, I am glad my auto driver brought me here. We are at the Rama temple in Gokarna, just a few minutes away from the Mahabaleshwara Temple, yet offering so different a perspective.

Pandharpur Yatra 2023

The first time I visited Pandharpur was back in 2007 . The names Vitthal and Pandharpur, were just names to me. I had heard of them, but that was about it. Seeing the lord standing on the brick, hands on his hips, was memorable, but more memorable was the sight that greeted us as we walked out of the main sanctum of the temple. In the mandap just outside were a group of devotees singing abhangs , and dancing. This was the first time I had heard abhangs , and even almost 15 years later, I can remember the welling of feeling within me, listening to the songs, and how fascinated I was by the sight of the devotees dancing, lost in their love of the Lord. Over the years, as I have read more about Vitthal, and participated in Ashadi Ekadashi programmes at Puttaparthi, that first experience has stayed clear in my mind and heart. Every time I tell my Balvikas students of the saints who sang of Vitthala, it is that experience that I re-live. I visited Pandharpur again, in 2010, but that experie