Kumarakom, Queen of Vembanad

It is the perfect backwater village of KumarakomVembanad Lake, 15 km west of Kottayam. My biggest dream of seeing the backwaters of Kerala came live when I went there. It is the best weekend destination or getaway of the people of Kerala. Kumarakom is a perfect resort destination for the honeymooners, couples and the backwaters lover. It is a tiny village on the edge of Vembanad Lake which was practically unknown till Henry Baker purchased the land from the erstwhile Raja of Travancore to build himself a grand home. When they left India, Taj hotels stepped in to turn it into a fancy resort, changing the fortunes of the once quiet fishing hamlet. But today when I see it, it is a maze of modern resorts and heritage homes cum hotels spilling over the island banks.

I started experiencing the Vembanad backwaters slowly and leisurely. I hired a kettuvallom, the traditional rice boat turned houseboat. There are many floating hotels range from tiny canoes to houseboats capped by elaborate superstructures of bamboo and rosewood, paneled with mats of screwpine. There are scores of motorboats available to take a ride on Vembanad Lake. I saw the past paddy and coconut groves, mangroves, along fresh water canals and rivers that debouch into Vembanad Lake. Around Onam the waters of Vembanad at Kumarakom come alive with boat races such as the Kumarakom Arpookara Vanitha Jalmela and the Kavanthikara Boat Race. I also came to know that I can even fish in these waters and some of the resorts also offered water skiing and wind sailing.

The next day my plan was to view the bird sanctuary of Kumarakom which is spread across 14 acres on the eastern banks of Vembanad Lake. It is best to visit the sanctuary on foot by a 1 ½ km long walking track, where I spot heron, darters, storks, teals and common egrets. I also took the boat ride and came across waders like waterfall and ducks and some filers like parrots, larks and flycatchers. And I went in mid November last year which is the time when the sanctuary turns into a transit lounge for migratory birds. The entry fees was only Rs. 5 however the guide took Rs. 100 from me and the timings were 6 am to 6.30 pm which meant I had to go back soon to reach the starting point of the sanctuary.

My third and the last day were to relax on my houseboat and view the Museum of VembanadLake. On the Kumarakom jetty itself a distinctive building with its pillared verandah and sloping tiled roof at the Market junction is the Bay Island Driftwood Museum. It displays the art of the sea chiseled driftwood gathered from the beaches of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal. It was unique as I haven’t seen any museum displaying these things before. Raji Punnoose, a retired teacher were chiseled by him into shapes that vary from a crocodile found off Port Blair’s Wandoor Beach to a sculpture Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose I also purchased few sculptures here to gift them to my family and friends. And my last night in Kumarakom Lake Resort which also offered ayurvedic centre, backwater cruises, gift shop, Jacuzzi and water sports, I though of enjoying few of them.

There are many Kumarakom Holiday Packages available now. For Driving Directions from Kochi to Kumarakom check this out.

Kochi once upon a lagoon

The massive port of Kochi (weekend destination, getaway or beach holiday) encompasses Fort Kochi and Mattancherry, a cluster of islands on Vembanad Lake and Ernakulam and Thripunithura all to me was my idea of enjoying the holidays with my family. Welcomed with traditional warmth and contemporary gumption I’m at the airport of Kochi with constructed sloping roof typical of traditions Kerala homes. The beautiful highway to bustling Ernakulam confirms this enjoyable contradiction. Till recently Kochi was Cochin, and it was a lagoon which made Kochi a cherished destination as far back as the early 16^th century and it is the same port which makes Kochi one of the nation’s busiest ports now. The rich aroma of spices and sandalwood drew the Europeans here and they soon wrested the profitable spice trade from Arab merchants.

Well leave the history now everybody knows about it. After check in the hotel and resting we left for the most important heritage sight seeing is Fort Kochi and Mattancherry. The distance between the interesting ancient and famous places in Fort Kochi is surprisingly short. We had little nature or leisure walks here however one needs many days to scroll the place well. Santa Cruz Basilica a Portuguese built church was celebrating its 500^th anniversary so we went to see the ceremony. Its Gothic façade with soaring spires is imposing but it was the interiors that were truly impressive. Princess Street is one of the oldest in fort Kochi; the buildings are all in colonial style, with their peeling pastel, bronze stucco walls and flowerpot laden windowsills. St Francis Church at the northern end was built in timber, by the Portuguese. /the famous Vasco da Gama was originally buried here in some 1500’s and his remains were later taken to Lisbon, but the tomb still exists. A short walk from Princess Street was Vasco da Gama Square and just before the beach are the cantilevered Chinese fishing nets, a legacy of traders from Kublai Khan’s court. The fort Kochi beach was itself a quite small though cleans and has a pretty lighthouse at one end of it. And as the light house turns back and walk down a street parallel; to the beach, to the Dutch cemetery, final resting place for the scores of soldiers and merchant adventures from 17^th and 18^th century Netherlands.

Once the Keralite Jews occupied all the houses in the Jew Street, today most of their former inhabitants living in Israel, the old residence are shuttered. Their firework arches, often inscribed with a Star of David, wear a forlorn look and their once audacious blue and green facades are fading. There were few shops still running who sell antiques, spices and curio. Anchoring one end of the Jew street is Jew cemetery road with its Malayalam and Hebrew tombstones. A walk through several blocks brought us to the wrought iron gates of the Pardesi Synagogue. It is 400 years old and its interiors holds carved brass columns, an intricately carved teak ark, Belgian crystal chandeliers and Torah crowns of solid gold set with gems. The floor has hand painted porcelain tiles from Canton, each tile with a different pattern.

Mattancherry Palace was built by the Portuguese’s in 1557 and presented to the Raja of Kochi, its exterior is quite boring but the interiors are good. The Central Hall on the upper story was once used s the venue for the coronation of Cochin’s Raja’s and has a beautifully carved wooden ceiling. In various rooms there were some excellent murals.

Ernakulam, Kochi’s new face was exciting. Many of the Broadway’s buildings retained their sloping roofs and inverted elevators. There is nothing a shopper can’t get here and the place has an exotic cardamom and cumin charm about it. Fronting Broadway is the city’s pride the seventy feet road and beyond it, the backwaters. And there it was the old jetty was all strangled in kelp and faded fish ropes, there is now the Marine Drive Promenade. We sat here and watched the Ernakulam-vypeen ferry made its slow passage. The lagoon was making a frown where the boat has disturbed its reverie. Ernakulam got it’s name from Rishinaga- kulam, a Shiva temple’s pond. This where according to the legend, a sage was finally freed from a curse. The temple is dedicated to Shiva in his Virata or primordial hunter avatar. The annual festival is in January and is spread over eight days. On the 7^th day is Pakalpooram, when the deity is taken out in a procession with caparisoned elephants accompanied by the panchavadyam orchestra. It culminates with the famous Pandimelam which is a percussion extravaganza and fireworks. In August – September is Onam, Kerala’s harvest festival and the Indira Gandhi Boat Race is a benefiting climax to a week of revelry. Sleek serpent boats vie with one another, the furious paddling turning the waters fronting Marine Drive into one frothing melee. I liked and enjoyed the racing.

Mattancherry and Jew street in fort Kochi and Broadway and MG road in Ernakulam are the shopping hubs. I picked up antique items, spices, coffee from Mattancherry. Do look out for door jambs, old mirror frames, metal locks, and quaint early 20^th centaury ceramic and Meta utensils. Shopping for gold is best in MG road of Ernakulam with few branded shops. In simple words I enjoyed the backwaters and the fort and would love to come here again and again.

There are many sites that are providing few holiday packages for Kerala.

Find driving directions to Kochi here

Kalari Kovilakom, Ayurvedic Centre

Other than few temples, there isn’t much to see in the small town of Kollengode, an ayurveda holiday destination or a weekend destination from Kerala, but this is something I have to be told. I would never have discovered this for myself, for as a guest at Kalari Kovilakom, I’m not allowed to step outside the big, black gate that swung shut as soon as I entered. I’m not allowed to choose what I eat during my stay either. I’m not given access to a television set. I’m not able to enjoy a chilled pepsi as there are no refrigerators in the rooms here and besides, alcohol consumption is not permitted on the premises. I’m not allowed coffee, not even sugar, if I want to sweeten my herbal tea however I have to use honey.

I am experiencing ayurveda as something more than just getting a relaxing massage with oils made of herbs whose names you can’t begin to pronounce. Ayurveda in its purest, most traditional form, here with yoga, a balanced diet at Kalari Kovilakom, the Palace of Ayurveda.

And it was a palace a Kovilakom once. It housed the daughters of the royal family of Vengunad. The original architecture is intact, very little has been touched or added. There is a peacock carved into the ceiling, wooden beams radiating from its plumage like rays of the sun. A set of doors past the enormous four poster bed in the centre leads to a smaller room with space for storage, and further doors open out to the bathroom with bath products made of sweet basil and aloe vera. It’s easy to lose yourself in the past at Kalari Kovilakom. My dad’s leather sandals are taken away and he is given a padukas to roam around. We were woken up at half past five by devotional songs from a temple nearby, meant to awaken the town. Before and after meals the timings of which are announced by the ringing of a temple bell, we were asked to rinse our hands into vessel, using the water that the person waiting, pours on us through a spouted jug.

I heard a lot about energy at Kalari Kovilakom. I’m told that according to ayurveda, the year is divided into Visarga Kala during which our bodies give out energy to nature and Adana Kala during which our bodies take in energy from nature. The monsoon season belongs to the latter, which makes it the ideal time for Ayurvedic treatments because the body doesn’t get tired. I came to know that a popular treatment during monsoon is the panchakarma. The five step cleansing process includes vomiting, evacuation of the bowels with a laxative, nasal therapy, enema therapy and bloodletting. These massages aren’t typical. I’m here for two days, so I get these treatments just to have an idea of what the experience entails. If we were here for 14 to 21 days then the doctor would have first diagnosed us first. She would have drawn up a personalized diet chart, determined which herbs and oils would best suit us and the appropriate yogas for here.

I attended a session of yoga nidra, the aim of which was to attain a state of psychic sleep. The body sleeps, the mind is at rest, but the consciousness is aware. The effort is so relaxing, I doze off a guest helps me through a splitting headache which is due to caffeine withdrawal and that I should ask for a herbal remedy. I did so and half hour later someone walks with a drink hat tastes like rum and from another container he scoops out the paste and rubs it on my scalp. After an hour I felt better.

The yoga and the ayurveda take care of the body. And the fact that these treatments and exercises aren’t designed to occupy you 24 hours a day takes care of mind. And a sign here said that don’t let the silence disturb you.

Reaching there is easy, we took Air Deccan flight to Kerala and the nearest airport is the Coimbatore. Kalari Kovilakom is not a hospital, not a resort, not a spa but it offers the experience and the benefits of all these. There are 18 rooms and the suits called as Kovilakom or Vengunad suites. The minimum stay is 14 days. For reservation you can view kalarikovilakom.com.

Kemmannagundi, a monarch retreat

For a weekend break from Bangalore, we found Kemmannagundi in Karnataka. It is a single secluded hill that’s been successfully posing as a hill station ever since King Krishna Rajinder made its summer haven here. It can be viewed in one day with its views, gardens and waterfalls. The 58 km ride from Chikmagalur to Kemmannagundi is like watching a nature program on TV. There were views of sprawling coffee estates shaded with silver oaks stream on our car window as we bounce along on potholes. The Horticulture department guest house is thick with flowers in the garden. Then there was the Rock garden within the guest house premises maintained by the Horticulture Department. The Kallahati falls also known as Kalahasti falls descend from a height of 122m and are quite pretty. It’s a lovely place for picnic lunch. Then we went to trekking Mohammed Aseem who works for LEAF, an environmental agency, is the activity coordinator for the Taj in Chikmagalur and also organizes treks, coffee plantation visits and other activities for tourists.

Find Travel Directions to Kemmannagundi here

Thalassery, drumbeats of another age

The coastline from Kannur to Thalassery to Mahe forms an exotic necklace of rivers and beaches, each with its own ambience in Kerala. A comfortable walk from the stadium brought me to the temple of the fisher folk near the maiden where cricket was first played in India many years ago. It stood on a beautiful stretch of beach, a symbol of gratitude to the Arabian sea for its bounty and its grace.

The Catholic Rosary church stood next to the English church and fort, south west of the cricket maiden. While the former pulses with the even tempo of daily prayer, the latter is closed. The Juma Masjid stands in friendly proximity and the three buildings stand together, wafting their prayers on the same elements.

Then comes the Wellesley’s bungalow which savour’s the peace and amble, the house is owned by Mr. Babar, a company man, played host to Lord Wellesley as Wellesley was the one who introduced cricket to Indians.

To get the birds eye view of this whole complex I climb to the ramparts of the Tellicherry Fort which is at the south west of the cricket maiden. Was built in 1700, I still saw the pepper cellars from which trade was conducted. Situated on a headland guarding the port, it provides a panoramic view of sea and land, picturesquely its invulnerability over the ages.

And then for relaxing I went to the lovely beach called a folly where I watched the glorious sunsets of Malabar.

Situated on the south bank of the Moolakadavu River and bisected by the Mahe River, Mahe south of Thalassery, is the area that the French East India Company negotiated as a trading post. It still remains a segment of the Union Territory of Pondicherry. A fascinating aspect of Mahe was the line of old families of the area has retained their joint family homes. The architectural style which has been used here is French giving the streets a distinction of its own. And there is a church which is famed for the efficacy of prayers said here St Theresa’s Church on the main road, draws people of all faith. At Cherukallu 1 km from Mahe, St George’s fort provides a spectacular view of Mahe and its environs. Not too distant are the ruins of the fort built by Thatcholli Othenan, a legendary hero of Malabar and a superb kalaripayattu exponent. Also on the River Mahe 1km from the centre is Mahe Boat House, which is delightful little boating pier.

A visit to the biggest cinnamon plantation in Asia, established by East India Company agent Murdich Brown in 1790’s should definitely on the agenda as it also has the distinction of being the first plantation registered in Kerala.

Thalassery is not generously equipped with fine hotels, barring one beautiful home stay at Ayisha Manzil where I stayed and it sits on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea.

Halebid, Carved in stone

Halebid is one of Karnataka’s open secrets. I have met people who have actually been to Halebid. It was the capital of the Hoysala Empire, which flourished in the 12th and the 13th centuries, and in its olden days it used to be called as Hale Bidu and Dwarasamudra, gateway to the sea. It is a town where one can walk, however it is one of those deserted places that unexpectedly comes upon you round a bend in the road, and surprises you with its charm. It is surrounded by fields which now cover the area of what used to be a large tank providing irrigation to the surroundings areas. On clear days from the road you can see the Gomateswara statue at Sravanabelgola looming in the distance.

In Halebid you can walk around the temples, admire the carvings and breathe deeply. The main attraction is the Hoysaleswara Temple, which comprises of two temples joined by a single platform. The second temple is the Shantaleshwara Temple. They took more than 100 years to build and are still incomplete. This temple is set in a pristine lawn and the restoration work done on the temple gives one an impression of impeccability.

The best part of Halebid is its finely executed carved sculptures. Along with Khajuraho and Konark, Halebid is one of those temples with ornate carvings, which are precisely done. The temple although incomplete resembles a finely engraved casket. Some of the sculptures are actually hollow, rather than being simply carved onto the walls. Vastu shastra has been followed to make the temple extremely comfortable even in hot weather. One wall, for instance, is completely solid to block out the afternoon sun, whereas the other has numerous perforations to allow air and light to enter without increasing the temperature inside. The resultant inner space is cool, dim and lovely.

The Kedaerswara Temple is equally ornate but large portions of the temple have collapsed. It has star- shaped pillars and carved ceilings. Basadi Halli, a group of Jain temples famous for its pillar, which is so highly, polished that they resemble mirrors. Although this complex consists of three temples, the famous is the Parswanathaswamy Temple, which has a 14 ft high figure made of black stone. The temples are open all day long and there is no entry fee. A guide would take Rs. 125 – 250 depending on the size of the group.

In Halebid you can stay at Mayura Shanthala, Tourist cottages. Also try Malnad food in Hassan, the ragi balls with mutton or vegetable stew are quite different from the Keralite versions of the same dishes.

Kerala, The Land of Trees

Kerala

Kerala is a green strip of land, in the South West corner of Indian peninsula. It has only 1.1 8 per cent of the total area of the country but houses 3.43% of the the country's population. Kerala is a land of rivers and backwaters.

There are a thousand things that you can do like embark on an enchanting journey on the speckled backwaters on a kettuvallom, a fully furnished traditional rice boat, venture in to the very heart of the paddy fields, on narrow dykes with water passage running through the muddy path, cross water bodies with extremely narrow bridges or watch the natives do so. You can even drift across cheerful and colourful banks in a country raft or tread a treadmill used for irrigation even today.

If you have an experimenting palette, you can feast here relishing the traditional panorama of vellayappam, Uppuma, iddli, puttu, masala dosa, appams, vegetable/meat stew, kappa and meen curry, hot red fish curry with steamed tapioca or boiled rice. If you are not the one dish at a time person, just can roll your sleeves and savour a multi course feast of rice, 15 vegetarian dishes, spicy pickles, crunchy banana chips, crispy pappadams, plantains and payasam- the dessert. Served on a plantain leaf, the meal is eaten with the fingers. Apart from all this, sip on coconut juice all throughout or relish the soft white flesh, natural and healthy. Indulge with a swig of toddy or fresh madbura kallu prepared from sweet toddy extracted from the coconut palm. Teem it with exotic karimeen pollichathu (baked fresh water fish) or spicy pickles. If you are a fish eater, visit the Malabar Coast and at Vasco da Gama Square in Fort Kochi and take your pick from the inviting display of juicy sear fish, sardines, prawns, red snappers etc. and ask the fishermen to fry it the local way for you for an unforgettable snack.

Having toured and eaten to your heart’s fill, you can now turn your focus on something lavish…Keralan sarees. With thousands of colours, pattern, fabric, embroidery to choose from, Kerala offers something to suit every pocket. This five metres of fine off-white cotton edged saree with golden zari that lends an extraordinary elegance to the person wearing it, is woven from traditional handloom. Run around with gajras or a string of jasmine flowers adorning your head along with the swish sash of the patt pavada. Kerala is the spice capital of India and you cannot leave the place with a bagful of these aromatic spices.
The more adventurous can visit Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary in Thekkady and go on a safari in an elephant. Try following the tiger trail and spotting one, apart from the numerous egrets, herons, Siberian stork, darters, teals and hundreds of other migratory birds found here.

If you are a luxurious traveler, you cannot return without pampering yourself to an authentic Kerala massage. The options range from rejuvenation therapies like Shirodhara, Navarakizhi and Pizhichil to medicated treatments like Panchakarma processes of Vamana, Virechana and Raktamoksham etc.

Kerala is a magical place that offers so much to see and do, and yet leave you yearning for more. The addictive charm of the place mixed with the hospitality of the people and the fast urbanization definitely makes Kerala one of the most sought after destinations of today.