Around Thrissur with family

About tourism in Kerala

Nestled between the pristine waters of Arabian sea on west, cordoned by Western ghats on east,Kerala has one of the most scenic flora and fauna ,water bodies and beaches. True to its origin as per mythological stories and the present branding slogan  Gods own country, Kerala is blessed with rich culture ,places of worship and diverse forms of performing arts. Onam the internationally renowned state festival is a celebration of its rich traditions. The state attracts international tourists to a larger extent, it  earned a total revenue of Rs 33383.68 crores during 2017, in which the share of foreign exchange was Rs 8392 crores. If the district wise tourist arrivals are taken, Ernakulam followed by Thrissur district clocked the first and second positions respectively in attracting domestic segment.

Our annual tour to Kerala happens effortlessly, thanks to its proximity and train connectivity from Kasargod (the nearby railway station) to any major town along the Kerala coast line.I’m nostalgic narrating our  holidays undertaken in the month of October 2017 to the cultural capital of Kerala,  Thrissur. This tour was a complete package of fun, trekking, temple visit and watching elephants. A recap of our Itinerary for 3 days -Day 1:Anakutta, Guruvayurappan temple,          Day 2: Thrissur, Day 3:  Athirapally falls               Day 4: Journey back home

 Day 1

Guruvayaur temple 

Early morning (19/10/2017)we left Sullia, parked our car at Kasargod railway station, boarded Parasuram Express at 5.40 AM to Kuttipuram then took bus, reached Guruvayur at about 1.00p.m .Straight away headed to Temple to have Darshan of Lord Guruvayurappan. The sitting queue system for Darshan is fabulous here because one keeps hopping from one bench to another bench. It did not take much time for us to reach and pray at the sanctum. Happy after blissful darshan, we had lunch and a short nap. Off we set to Anakotta (called elephant fort) the shelter and sanctuary for the elephants. It’s a rare opportunity to watch (tamed ?) elephants doing their activities like eating palm leaves, bathing from a distance. Although there are sign boards which caution about some elephant’s unexpected behaviour, many tuskers are chained. Dilip was disappointed that photography is prohibited here. Elephants are taken care well , they get their food and medical attention.

Shri Guruvayurappan temple queue 

Mural paintings around the temple

Evening we hired a rickshaw and visited some of the temples Partasarathy temple, Mammiyor temple. The main diety at Mammiyor temple is Lord Shiva in the form of Lord Uma Maheshwar, there is another sanctum dedicated to Lord Vishnu. The pilgrimage to Guruvayurappan temple is complete only after a  visit to this temple . The mythology puts up that Lord Shiva voluntarily moved from Lake Rudrateertha  ,the place where Guru and Vayu consecrated the idol of Kid Krishna (presently Guruvayur temple) to  Mammiyur spot . In the Guruvayurpura mahatmyan purana  penned by Sri Narada ,it is  mentioned that King  Janamejaya was cured of leprosy by taking refuge under the feet of Guruvayuruppa.

Day 2  Thrissur 

Early morning we went to the temple side to have a look at the  mural paintings, depicting episopdes from the Puranas. After one circumlocution around temple, left Guruvayur in a bus to Thrissur. We checked into Ammus Regency , the hotel  is in close proximity to Bus stand. With the reference from travel desk , a taxi was booked to cover Thrissur and Athirapally falls. 

Thampuran Palace

Built in Kerala and Dutch style architecture ,is a 2 storeyed building with Kerala style Nallukettu. This palace dates back to the time of Rama Varma Shakthan Tampuram,the ruler of Thrissur. The palace converted into museum since 2005 consists of various unique bronze and granite sculptures, coins, inscription plates, utensils used by the royals and currency used in the Kochi dynasty. Various antiques belonging to the stone age are also on display. Well maintained butterfly garden and heritage garden inside the premises is a home to various species of flora and fauna. 

Tampuram palace,Thrissur

butterfly garden

Heritage garden

Thrissur zoo 

Enjoyed watching the birds, animals and rare species of trees inside the zoo.

Athirapally  waterfall

It took an hour and half  drive from Thrissur to reach this waterfall. The angelic waterfall pictured in the initial   frames of Bahubali movie where drowning Rajamata Shivagami leaves her just born grandson is the Athirapally  waterfall located  near Chalakudy of Thrissur district.  It’s an thrilling experience to trek through the forest to view  the bottom of the  falls  dropping from a 24 metre height granite rocks .This point is crowded with tourists who are not willing to return, indulge in dancing and photographic mood from the nearest point ,blocking the full view. When we visited in November there was heavy flow of water, hence spared from seeing bathing tourists. Even the top of the falls where Chalakudy river flows just before the falls offers an amazing view.

Chalakkudy river before flowing into falls 

Vadakkunathan  Temple 

Is an ancient temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. Situated at the centre point of Thrissur at a higher level, the temple has an enclosed 9 acres premises with teak wood forests fortified  by  granite wall.  It is said that this is the first temple built by Lord Parasurama. There is an inner complex with 5 shrines dedicated to Lord Shiva, Devi Parvathi, Ganapathi, Shankaranarayana, Shri Rama .All the shrines except Shri Rama’s have circular structures. There is a prescribed procedure of offering prayer to various shrines as put up in the board at the entrance. We simply followed the local pilgrims , wondering the magnanimity of the temple  The shivalinga  is fully covered in solidified ghee and hence we will not able to see the vi-graha but only a mount of ghee. The daily abhishek is of 1.8 kg of pure ghee.One can feel the solemn atmosphere associated with age and centuries of devotion – a Characteristic feature of South Indian Temples. The vastness of the temple premises makes a visitor 

feel that  the entire city life revolves around this temple.

Entrance to Vadkkunathan Temple

21/10/17 Back home

Morning breakfast was Charata puttu, Kadala curry and idlies.For the journey back home, we took the Ernad Express that departed from Thrissur at 9:20 a.m. Dilip was hooked to gadget while myself and Pradeep were enjoying the view outside. The 2 day tour was so exciting with lots of adventure, sight seeing and temple visits.