CHITRAYATRA

Today, an impulse took me to Chempazhanthi, Sree Narayana Guru's birth place.

Beautiful Mandapam

Iaavipuram is a picturesque locality near Kollam (Quilon). On the one side of the road you see backwaters and on the other the vast beautiful sea. These local boys insisted we take their photos

The ship Hansita marooned at Kollam Mundakkal beach is now a tourist attraction. Ever since its owners failed to pay the repair and wharfage charges, the port had made it anchor some three nautical miles away from the shore. A few months ago it broke loose and washed ashore and now is sand-trapped. In dim light it resembles the 'Black Perl' of 'The Pirates of Caribbean' On the way to Trivandrum we saw the ship on the beach and thought of taking some snaps. കൊല്ലം മുണ്ടക്കൽ ബീച്ചിൽ ഏതാനും മാസങ്ങൾക്ക് മുൻപ് വന്നടിഞ്ഞ ഹാൻസിറ്റാ കപ്പൽ ഇന്ന് ടൂറിസ്റ്റുകൾക്ക് ഒരു കൗതുകമാണ്. നന്നാക്ക് കൂലി കൊടുക്കാതിരുന്നതിനാൽ പോർട്ട് അധികൃതർ വിട്ടുകൊടുക്കാതെ മൂന്ന് വര്ഷങ്ങളായി തീരത്തു നിന്നും മൂന്ന് നോട്ടിക് മൈൽ മാറി നങ്കുരമിട്ട് പിടിച്ചു കെട്ടിയിരുന്ന കപ്പൽ അതും പൊട്ടിച്ചു തീരത്ത് എത്തിയതായിരുന്നു. മണ്ണിൽ പുതഞ്ഞു പോയതിനാൽ കപ്പലങ്ങനെ ഉപേക്ഷിക്കപ്പെട്ടതു പോലെ കിടക്കയാണ്. അരണ്ട വെട്ടത്ത് കണ്ടാൽ 'പൈറേറ്റ്സ് ഓഫ് കരീബിയൻ' സിനിമയിലെ ബ്ലാക്ക് പേളിനെ അനുസ്മരിപ്പിക്കുന്ന നിഴലുകൾ. ഇതുവരെ പോവാത്...

This picture was taken at Kappil on the way from Kollam to Varkala. 

കായലിന്റെ മാറിൽ ഇരുട്ടിന്റെ നിറവിൽ തുഴയാനെന്ത് സുഖം  അലയാനെന്തു രസം

I'm in a coffee shop at Kalpetta, Wayanadu on the way to attend a funeral. A truck carrying a container to collect coffee and other produces from Kudag stops by. The coffee vendor wonders, "ho! What all places this fellow (container) must have visited! Cold, hot, beautiful, barren, warring, friendly and hostile lands! So lucky!". Was there a hint of jealousy, I'm not sure.

Today (9th Oct 2016) is Thycattusserry St. Anotony's feast. A few decades ago this was an important day for the people around Thycattusserry. The church was very crowded in those days. On this day, Kambili Naranga (Pamplemousse) was the main attraction. Most would return home with at least one on the shoulder. Today, I could not locate a single vendor of this fruit. No crowd! No traders! The feast has become a quiet affair. From Kelamparampil house front-yard at Thycattusserry

I found this fruit on the widespread climber on the outer walls of Trivandrum Technopark. It looks ominously beautiful and positively poisonous. Not sure though.

In my childhood, the sound "tak tak" was almost prominent all through the day at Pallippuram. Somewhere on the lakeside there would always be a repair work on country boats taking place. Those were huge boats mainly used for transportation of goods. The repairing process involved replacing the borer-ridden planks and stitching the new planks together with coir and coir fiber. The repaired boat would be coated with sardine oil so that it would be smooth and agile on the water. The stink from the oil would be dominating and intolerable. Recently I saw a repair session in progress on a small country boat as shown in the picture.

യു. എ. ഖാദറിന്റെ 'ചാത്തു' - കോഴിക്കോട് അൻസാരി പാർക്കിൽ നിന്നും   

ആനവാരിയും പൊൻകുരിശും നവകമിതാക്കളും - കോഴിക്കോട് അൻസാരി പാർക്കിൽ നിന്നും (8-April-2016).

കോഴിക്കോട് ബീച്ചിൽ നിന്നും ഒരു ഏപ്രിൽ സന്ധ്യാനേരത്ത് 

The 1979 black and white Malayalam movie "Vellayani Paramu" was about a legendary local Robin Hood. The popular movie had made the place Vellayani quite famous in those days. Recently I happened to watch the movie again in YouTube and suddenly an urge came over me to visit the place in person. വെള്ളായണി പരമു എന്ന മലയാളം സിനിമ കൊണ്ട് കേരളം മുഴുവൻ അറിഞ്ഞ സ്ഥലപ്പേരാണ് വെള്ളായണി. നസീറും ജയനും സോമനും അടൂർ ഭാസിയുമൊക്കെ അഭിനയിച്ച ആ സിനിമയിലെ "വില്ലടിച്ചാൻ പാട്ടു പാടി.." എന്ന ദേവരാജൻ മാഷ് സംഗീതം ചെയ്ത പാട്ടിലും "വെള്ളായണി അകലെ അകലെ" എന്ന് സ്ഥലനാമപരാമർശമുണ്ട്. പഴയ ഈ സിനിമ ഇയ്യിടെ വീണ്ടും കാണാനിടയായി. അപ്പോൾ അടുത്തുള്ള വെള്ളായണി കാണാൻ മോഹമായി. One must see the lake in person to appreciate its beauty! Decorated with lotus, the lake provides an experience you will never forget. You must visit the place early in the morning before the flowers get plucked by the local temples. വെള്ളായണി തടാകം ഒന്ന് കാണേണ്ടത് തന്നെ. നിറയെ താമര ഇലകളുമായി ഒരു കായൽ. പൂക്കൾ ധാരാളമുണ്ടാകുമെങ...

On the east side of Trivandrum Vellayani lake there is a farm. Among the various breeds of cows and bulls there, one particular bull attracted my attention. It looked similar to cows in Kerala of an early era. We used to have this kind of short cows in almost every farmer's house. In fact in our family too we had them. When I asked a farmhand, he said it is a bull of Vehoor breed, a diminishing species. I am no cattle expert and not sure if the claim was correct. Also, I can't say if the cows we had at our home were of Vechoor breed as that was long ago. Here is the picture. More info on Vechoor cattle is here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vechur_Cattle

It was on Sunday 4th September we visited Perumbalam, an island north of Pallippuram Desom. Secluded, serene and beautiful Perumbalam often witnesses nature enthusiasts from all over the world. In my college days, we used to visit this place for unadulterated toddy, which was in abundance. We enjoyed the product direct from the source! From Panavally boat jetty on the mainland it is a ten minutes ferry to Perumbalam.  The journey is enjoyable for the shortness and lake scenes. We reached Panavally early morning and the jetty was nearly empty. Our plan was for a short visit to Perumbalam island, so we did not take our car to the island though there was a  Junkar service available. We parked our car near the open space at the jetty. The beautiful Pnavally boat jetty The life scenes on the lake was always a fascination for me. A fisherman Perumbalam Jetty When we reached Perumbalam, we enquired an auto-rickshaw driver of places of interest. He took us to the north end of the isl...

If you were a cow you should be born in Vagamon for it is a bovine heaven! If green would make you happy, this place is for you. The meadows, the streams and the pleasant climate will make you forget the miles you have to go before you sleep. View from one of the green hills On 18th, when we visited the place the light was harsh and the sky uninspiring for a photo enthusiast. Since it was Onam holidays the place had witnessed lot of local tourists. They came in groups and climbed the hills with extended selfie sticks and camera phones protruding above them. We settled for sometime on one of the hills enjoying the scenery. Suddenly a butterfly took off from one of the groups and fluttered around the hilltop incessantly. The butterfly Many of the tourists who had brought food and loads of plastics littered the place inconsiderately. The place is sparsely inhabited and well preserved. Farming, laboring in tea estates and tourism are the ways of life here. The locals are mostly farmers or ...