In God’s Own Country

I have always believed that Indian regional cinema shows the authentic picture of a particular state – the nature and attire of the people, their language and dialect, eating habits, body language and most importantly, its distinct geographical beauty. We see the diversity of our country through regional cinema. I have always been a fan of Marathi cinema and the great content that it offers in most of the movies. With the advent of OTT, movies in other Indian languages have become easily available. Using subtitles as my trusted acolyte, I have also taken an interest in watching cinemas from the South, which are getting popular these days among pan Indian viewers as well. Among the South Indian content, I love Malayalam movies the most, as the concepts are always unique and keep the viewer entertained throughout their duration. I have now become a fan of Malayalam actors like Prithviraj, Dulquer Salmaan, Fahadh Faasil and Tovino Thomas and look forward to watching their movies! What I love about Malayalam movies is not only the actors and interesting content but also the scenic beauty of Kerala. In 2022, having watched around 30+ Malayalam movies while touring through the greenery of Kerala virtually, I decided to pay an actual visit to what is called God’s own country.

While there are many picturesque places in Kerala as shown in the movies, we decided to explore Munnar and Kumarakom during this trip. Our journey thus began from Kochi airport to Munnar, a roughly 3.5 hours road trip spent while enjoying the views outside. As we were reaching Munnar, abundant greenery welcomed us with open arms. The tall green mountains, the vast expanse of tea estates and the coolness in the air were exactly something we were looking forward to in Munnar and these were the just the welcome glimpses of the amazing views that lay ahead during our stay. The next day, we set off to explore the sightseeing areas in Munnar. The weather was pleasant just how we had expected. It was foggy all around and everything, including the mountains and roads, seemed hidden behind the cotton-like white fog. All around Munnar, the only colours we could see were green and white. Our first stop was Periyakanal Waterfalls. They looked straight out of a painting in their milky white colour. The sound of the gushing water felt music to the ears and the view was a treat to the eyes. After seeing the little white part of Munnar’s beauty, next we explored the green beauty, in form of verdant expanses of tea estates. These tea estates go far beyond the reach of the eyes, and they look like symmetrically groomed mountains. When in Munnar, a picture among the tea estates is a must! To fulfil this wish of tourists like us, there was a photo point in the tea estate. We grabbed this perfect and rare opportunity to be seen among the greenery and clicked many pictures of ourselves and the views that were worthy of any desktop or mobile wallpaper.

Next, we visited the Lockhart tea factory and museum to understand how tea, our daily morning beverage, is made from the tea leaves that we saw on the colossal mountains. Just outside the factory, we read about the history and origin of tea and how it made its way in India. Through a well-guided tour, we came to know the types of tea and the stages of tea manufacturing. At the end of the factory/museum visit, we tasted different types of tea – green, black, and white. Throughout the visit in the factory, we could get refreshing aroma of tea as it was being processed and could tempt any non-tea drinker as well to have a cup full of tea. After experiencing the green and white beauty, we went next to see a palette of beautiful colours in form of a flower garden. Commonly known as the KFDC garden, the floriculture centre in Munnar is a place full of beautiful flowers, herbs, medicinal and bonsai plants. This botanical garden has a wide collection of Kerala’s well known as well as rare blooms. We could not resist clicking umpteen pictures there as it was truly a delight to see so many colours at one place!

Next on our list was Echo point. Echo Point provides a panoramic view of the surrounding hills and evergreen forest cover. It is a place where you can reconnect with your inner child by screaming at your heart’s content and hear back your own voice coming from the thick greenery around. Towards the sound of gushing water was where we went next, at Madupetty dam. It is a huge dam built in the mountains of Kerala, to produce hydroelectricity. Next to the dam is Mattupetty Lake which is perennial and never dries up even during summers.

It was now time to go high up in the mountains. Our last destination for the day was Eravikulam National Park. Situated in the high ranges of Kerala, Eravikulam National Park provides magnificent view of hills with tea plantations. At the base of the National Park, there are buses which take the tourists at the top from where one can see only and only huge green mountains with clouds descending on them. After getting down from the bus, we enjoyed a trek in Rajamala, the region lying beyond the road entry into Eravikulam. Eravikulam is also famous for the natural habitat of Nilgiri Tahr, the endangered mountain goat and this park is built with the aim of conserving them. The park also had information about how Nilgiri Tahr eventually found their way to Indian mountains starting originally from Alps in Europe. I envied these animals momentarily for their ability to travel across continents without any passport or visa! We walked while enjoying the cool breeze that pleasantly brushed our skin. The clouds had touched the road and with child-like excitement, we wanted to catch hold of a little piece of cloud in our hands! It was truly a breath-taking view which gave a feeling that you’re probably on top of the world. The park is also known for Neelakurinji flowers, which bloom once in twelve years and the entire place is carpeted with blue. The wonders of Nature are never-ending and limitless!

The next morning, we headed out to get another view from the mountain. The fog seemed to have settled on the mountains, making the view below white. We went ahead to take a jeep tour which covered a couple of sightseeing areas. The jeep took us to a dense forest area with patchy roads which we enjoyed while listening to some Malayalam songs. After this bumpy ride, we visited the Ripple Waterfalls next, another white wonder. We could listen to the flow of water from a distance and did a small trek till the waterfalls showed themselves. The milky white water flowed with full vigour. The never-ending flow of water made me think that life also flows like this water – it moves on despite difficulties and challenges, we learn from this flow of different situations in life. The next stop on this jeep tour was the Hanging Bridge. Built by the British, this bridge is nestled amidst the greenery. Standing on this bridge, we enjoyed the calmness and silence in nature’s vicinity. Close to this bridge is Ponmudi dam, another source for power generation. We saw film shooting point next, where some scenes of Chennai Express were shot. Like Echo Point, a serene lake is surrounded by beautiful mountains which reflect in the limpid water, worthy of enticing any shutterbug.

Kerala is known for its spices and Ayurveda. Our next destination was a spice garden. Kerala is home to a variety of spices: cardamom, pepper, cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg, among the few. Known as the Queen of Spices, cardamom is highly prized among all spices found. Through a guided tour in the plantations, we learned about the characteristics of some spices, their nutritive value, and the flavour that they add to the food. There were also some Ayurvedic herbs which are widely used in the medicines. These traditional Ayurvedic treatments and plants have been bequeathed till present times as we understood that some households still used these Ayurvedic ingredients in their daily course of life, thus being the torchbearers of rich ancient tradition. Such Ayurvedic oils form an important constituent of the famous Kerala massages. Thus, if you think that you are missing some aromatic spice in your life, Kerala is the place for you. We believe that variety is the spice of life, hence we carried this variety of aromatic spices back home as a fond memory of Kerala.

Kerala is also home to many elephants – most intelligent and emotional animals in the animal kingdom. We went to an elephant camp next. When we reached there, we saw the two elephants languidly chewing on the heap of grass that was served to them. Despite their mammoth size, elephants look calm and content, without a worry in the world. These magnificent creatures teach the mankind that unwarranted abuse of power can be avoided, and peace be maintained despite the physical might that one may possess. We clicked a picture with one of the elephants and it gave its approval by raising its trunk, while also cleverly posing for the picture. Indeed, they are intelligent animals! We bade goodbye to them as they returned to their job of entertaining other tourists.

Having experienced the natural beauty of Kerala, it was time to get a glimpse of Kerala’s culture in form of its dance and martial arts forms. We watched spellbinding performances of Kathakali and Mohiniyattam. In school, we had only read like a general knowledge fact that Kathakali and Mohiniyattam are classical dance forms of Kerala. But to watch these graceful dances was a different experience altogether. The movements of the dancers were in tandem with the music played and exuded elegance in every minute of the performance. Heavily focused on facial and eye expressions, mastering these dance forms is not an easy feat. The Kathakali performances depict episodes from Lord Krishna’s life, which also gives a storytelling experience to its viewers. The colourful masked faces and the exquisite attires make the dances an absolute treat to the eyes. These dance forms symbolize the rich Indian culture, one that highlights the diversity we are proud about. After the dance performances, we went to witness the martial arts wonder that was Kalaripayattu, one of the oldest surviving martial arts in India. These performances using different forms of weapons such as swords, daggers, sticks and even fire, were nothing but jaw-dropping performances. The physical reflexes that the practitioners had and the ease with which they handled the weapons showed the intense training that goes into mastering this unique form of martial art. There were moments where we watched the performances with bated breath, unsure what to expect next in this adrenaline rush inducing martial art form. Thus, our stay in Munnar ended on this energetic note, an energy that had been passed on to today’s generation as well, to keep the flame of traditional dance forms and martial arts burning.

We headed to Kumarakom the next morning, thus descending from the mountains to the backwaters. As we drove from Munnar, I bade one final goodbye to the huge green mountains that I had grown to love. Quite serendipitously, the sun shone brightly on the day we left from Munnar and we could see the mountains clearly in the absence of fog, standing proudly in their emerald green. On reaching Kumarakom, we were welcomed by tall coconut trees and banana leaves. Next morning, we headed out to visit a Shiva temple, where we also sought blessings of Lord Ganesha and Goddess Parvati. Lord Ganesha wore a garland of bananas, something which was seen in abundance in Kumarakom, which makes banana chips another must-buy in Kerala. Kumarakom is known for its backwaters and a houseboat ride in these backwaters was a must-have experience. In the evening, we set out on the boat sailing in these calm waters while the sun was setting and casting its shining reflection in the water, like a ball of gold. We enjoyed this sense of sangfroid which is possible only in Nature’s propinquity. Soon, the sun took its leave for the day, and we headed back to our hotel. With this, our beautiful stay in Kerala came to an end.

The enthralling natural beauty of Kerala, the aromas of its spices and the treasure of ancient Indian traditions in form of Ayurveda, Kathakali and Kalaripayattu will forever remained imprinted in our minds as another chapter in India’s diversity in one of her most beautiful states in South!