I visited many places in Kerala, but as someone has very rightly said, some places are truly special in many more ways than what comes to mind.
There is something unique about certain place that manages to stick with you longer over and above than all the others. That is what exactly happened on my trip to Kerala recently.
It was at first amazing when you consider that my trip to Palakkad wasn't originally in tour plan and this made my belief stronger that this was something that destiny had in store for me.
Palakkad gets its name from the Pala trees that grew in profusion all over the picturesque Palakkad hills in the olden days. The term Kadu literally means a forest in Malayalam.
The scenery and the landscape I saw on my way into Palakkad can aptly be put as being 'Picture Perfect'. And as the train made its way I can see the train been surrounded by mountains and hills that stood tall protecting this 'Ghat, which nestled between these giants guardians, with small streams and rivers running beautifully between them making this beautiful picture complete.
The biggest river 'The Bharathapuzha River' wraps entire Palakkad in a glittering silver ribbon.
I arrived in Palakkad junction in the early hours of a chilly morning. The entire station seemed to be deserted or asleep. Then suddenly an elderly 'Coolie' came up to us and offered to help. He enquired whether we were from Mumbai judging by our Marathi, he was friendly and offered to help, and to our surprise even invited to his house for some snack as he lived near by. Even though we politely declined it has dawned on us that this land of god also had 'Hearts of Gold' amongst its people.
To me the true beauty of a place is often judged by its people more than anything else. We soon got our hosts for our trip to stay in Palakkad, who were conveniently friends of ours from Mumbai.
On our way to our hosts, I could see greenery all round, with paddies filled with cows, ox, goats and many other animals all pleasantly munching away at the green grass all over.
The culture and tradition of the district of Palakkad is also very proud. It is said that Thunchathu Ramanujan Ezhuthachan, the father of Malayalam literature, spent his last days in Chittur. To commemorate this, there is the “Thunchathu Acharya Madam” at Chittur.
Also, The “ Kalluvazhichitta”, the most popular school of ‘Kathakali’ had its origin in Palakkad district and its exponent was late Sri Vazhenkada Kunju Nair.
The other site that attracted me were the all the beautiful people going to the temple in the morning, all beautifully dressed, and there was flowers all over, either neatly adorning someone's hair or on there way to the gods.
Palakkad was surrounded by three rivers, and the rivers plays an important in the daily routine to the folks of Palakkad.
And another sound drew my attention. It sounded like a religious recitation, but it was very soothing and refreshing at the same time. Later I found out that it was called 'Suprabatham'. It is heard daily and is something that heralds in the morning along with being a prayer for deities.
Nearby the local temple was all abuzz with 'Puja's, religious recitations with decorations and there wasmuch fanfare all round. Soon I found out that it was that year that the locals celebrated 'Kumbabhishekam', where groups of priests perform abhishekam on all the shrines at the appropriate time amidst holy chants by devotees.
Around 1,500 people attended the kumbabhishekam, which was a dream come true for some of the residents who worked hard to make the function a success, and every day that I was there I was learning so much about the people, the land and there culture.
One of the highlights among the various ceremony every day was the time when about 50 musicians came together to play what the locals called the 'Panjavadyam', by which they hope to please the god and people alike.
It was truly a sight to behold. It was a bit like 'Lezhim' of
Then came when the last day when the gods and goddess were bought into the temple after the ceremony. The idols of the gods were paraded all over the town, with priest chanting religious recitations continuously.
Elephants were bought in from allover the state to be part of the processions. The elephants were decorated in grandeur for the ceremonies and atop sat young children and adult men carrying traditional and religious items aloft the elephant and raising it regular intervals which made for an interesting sight. At all this time the music played on.
In Kerala the reputations of an elephant precedes him and they are considered a star in their own right, and are always the biggest draw in any occasion.
There was also procession that included children dressing up as gods and goddesses and being paraded all over. For many this was the biggest celebration that they had seen in their young life.
All through the celebration I spoilt myself with all the delights of Kerala, strictly non-vegetarian although. They served up delicacies that arose some of taste buds that I hadn’t experienced before.
Dining in banana leaves which included numerous items apart from the staple rice, 'Pappadum', Papad for us in Mumbai, 'Mor', what we call 'Dahi' here. Also included was a delicacy called the 'Payasam', and so many varieties of them that you would soon lose count.
From 'Pal Paisum' (Made from milk), to 'Vellum Paisum', (Made from Jaggery), although they were made as 'Prasad' to the devotees, it was also prepared for celebrations and also during weddings.
During my visit Palakkad Fort, Thiruvalathoor temple, Vishwanatha Swamy Memorial, Pattambi Mosque, Chittur Gurumadam, Kalpathy Temple and the Malampuzha Garden.
My 5 days in Kerala seemed to pass of much faster than I had wanted to. I had learnt and experienced in one place that turned out to more fulfilling and endearing than many of the some of the other places that was lying ahead. But leaving Palakkad the one think that I sure of was that it is only a matter of time until I returned.
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