Way to Wayanad - 3

I enjoyed the cozy confines of the ‘Alaskan room’ previous night , the clothes had dried by now , The time was 5:30 am, I woke up to see my friends already busy with their chores. We finished the chores very soon and we were prepared for another busy schedule for the day. We boarded the first bus to ‘Thirunelli Temple’ which is 30 kms away from ‘Mananthavady’( the place where we stayed for the night), The ticket fares were quite costly, the KSRTC( Kerala State Road Transport Corporation) bus conductors procured an instrument for issuing tickets, when the destination and the starting code is typed, a printed paper is vomited in a jiffy, containing details like, ticket fare, Distance, starting and ending place…

We reached the temple after sometime, The temple is a modest one, I would call it ‘a typical keralised temple’.One common feature of these temples is that, the male devotees have to be topless before they enter the shrine, really don’t know why such a necessity, while the same god can tolerate t-shirts, and shirts, kurtas etc in our land. thinking on these lines, after much hesitation I removed my shirt and tucked under my arm, and gazed around for a while, to make sure ladies are at a good distance, unfortunately they were only few millimeters away, if only the temple had thousand pillars like The ‘Temple in Rameshwaram’ I would sneaked between them , but, there wre no such provisions here. The offerings and pooja delayed our worship, after sometime, we scurried in, clapped our hands and muttered some prayers, ran out and slipped into our clothes.

Some Pointers

- Sree Thirunelli Devaswom, Thirunelli, about 32 km north-east of Mananthavadi, Wayanad district, north Kerala.
- The temple is also known as the Sahyamala Kshetram. It is believed to be more than 3000 years old. Legend has it that this temple dedicated to lord Vishnu was built by lord Brahma (The Creator) himself - an architectural marvel with 30 granite pieces supporting the shrine and the floor paved with huge square granite blocks.
- Papanasini, the holy mountain spring believed to have divine cleansing powers to absolve the soul of all its sins, flows nearby. Also in the vicinity is a sacred rock where ritual offerings (known as bali) are made for the ancestors on the New Moon days of the Malayalam months Karkkidakom, Thulam and Kumbham. Besides the rituals during the two-day festival, art forms like Kathakali and Ottanthullal are performed.

- Getting there:Nearest railway station: Kozhikode about 72 km from Kalpetta

- Nearest airport: Karipur International Airport, Kozhikode about 23 km from Kozhikode town.
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After loitering around the temple premises for a while, we decided to have our breakfast near the temple, meanwhile, we were informed by my native friend’s uncle that , we can visit the another forest reserve, we had our breakfast, I had 4 thick dosais and a tea, we headed for ‘Tholpetty ‘ which is some 7 kms away from Thirunelli Temple . Initialy,our stay in the forest was destined to this place. Due to unavailability of the watch towers , we opted for’Muthanga’. We reached the spot in a very short while, we hired a jeep for 500 rs and we were prepared to enter this part of the forest, the forest officer warned us that, spotting animals at this part of the day is rare, but, we took it lightly. Along with us, an interesting man came, whom we met in the bus while heading to ‘Tholpetti’. He claimed himself as a ‘Nomad’ and for the past 33 years he‘d been visiting various forests in the country. But, not even once he had spotted a tiger, I can feel his agony! So, the jeep entered the forests and I again started squinting at each and every bush , squinted more when I saw the water bodies..ocassionaly couple of deers and Langurs disturbed my concentration.

Some Facts:

- About the Sanctuary:- Tholpetty wildlife sanctuary is situated in Wayanad, in the lower hills of Nilgiris, 300 Kms north east of Cochin (six and half hours journey ) and 100 kms south west of Mysore. Being part of the Niligri biosphere reserve of the Western Ghats, Tholpetty is one of the largest protected areas and best places to see Asian elephants and Indian bison. The sanctuary cover an area of 345Km.

- Accommodation:- Accommodation is arranged in a sixty year old homely bungalow Pachyderm Places (just opposite to the sanctuary). The well furnished and comfortable rooms have attached western toilets with hot water shower. Traditional and authentic Kerala food will be served.

- Wildlife Tour: - Wildlife tour is organized in a jeep everyday morning and evening. Photography is allowed. Visit to tribal villages, waterfalls and ancient Hindu temple is also arranged.

- Visiting time: 0600-0800 hrs and 1500-1730 hrs. Ph: 04935 240233.

- http://www.wayanad.net/forest.html.

After 7 kms we reached a watch tower and took some snaps with horn of a Deer and we traveled further for another 17 kms after three hours , we emerged out of theforest a bit disappointed. The forest officer was right!. Later we rested for a while in a local tea-shop, had fruits and spoke with the proprietor of the tea-shop, who claimed that, he had spotted Tiger for 5 times, he must be around 17 years old!.. he just spotted outside his shop it seems!. Only when the bus arrived, I closed my mouth, which, I kept open, after hearing how and where the guy spotted the ‘Wild cat’…We headed to a place called ’Kuruva Island’ . The Island was made, coz of the back-waters...

Some facts:

Kuruva island is situated 17 kms east of ‘Mananthavady’,. This 950 acres of uninhabited, evergreen forest on the tributaries of east flowing river Kabani is an ideal picnic spot, far away from the disturbances of city life. The wooded land is a home to rare species of birds, orchids and herbs. Occasionally, wild mammals can be observed by the riverside.

There are two islands , each can be reached by boats and a raft. Negotiating the river with help of ‘raft’ was quite exciting!. We were told that , the calm waters are infested by alligators!
Later then we left the island around 5:30 pm, we had to walk 1 km to the bus stop. From there we boarded a bus to ‘Mananthavady’. After we reached the place, we enquired about the buses which will take us to the places included in our next plan of action. After a formal enquiry with the bus drivers and locals we narrowed down on one particular bus , scheduled for, next day at 1 am. For that, we have to retire early.
We had our last supper at ‘Mananthavady’ in a restaurant called garden restaurant..
After a good meal we returned back to our rooms and vacated around 11 and left for the town bust stop. The town bus stop was busy even at this juncture, I tripe-checked my watch to make sure it is not 8 pm. We sat down monitoring the surroundings, that particular lace was preparing for some Communist meetings , the place was buzzing with activity. Drunken men exlplained their views on world matters..the bus came at 1 o clock, we had a brief travel of about 45 mins to a place called ‘Kannur’.