Flavours of Karaikudi - An experience

"Too much passion for culture and heritage triggers oneself to explore different aspects of it." Likewise due to my interest, I got triggered to explore the cultural aspects of Karaikudi when my friend Annamalai invited us to his sister’s wedding. So, I along with my buddies started to plan itinerary two weeks in advance. We were all excited to go to Karaikudi and stay there for the marriage. Since we are always ready to wander anywhere all the time, Annamalai’s invite came to us as a saviour.

Front Facade of a Chettinadu Residence

Thilakesh brought his car and seven of us started at the dawn of 24th January from Thanjavur. Our enthusiasm for the trip brought a glow in our faces. Rajaguru curated the playlist for the journey. After halting for fuel and tea, Thilakesh throttled towards Kundrakudi first.

Rock-cut Shrine and Kundrakudi Temple

Kundrakudi is a famous pilgrimage site known for its Murugan Temple, located atop a small hillock. But there are also 3 rock-cut shrines from the Pandyan period. Kundrakudi is also the place which gave us a legendary violinist Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan. At the temple,we were welcomed by the beautiful sight of Subbulakshmi (64 yrs old), the temple elephant who was enjoying her morning shower. We stood there for some time admiring her and listening to her master's tales about her. But then we were disappointed to know that nobody was allowed to visit the rock-cut shrines. But we got ourselves together and started climbing the hill and had Dharshan of Lord Subramanya. I was not ready to leave Kundrakudi without visiting the rock-cut shrines. So, I entered the temple office and sought permission from the officer. Then we went ahead and saw the shrines which remained in low lighting conditions and stinking due to the family of bats living there. It was so dirty and dangerous to go further and to take a look closer since all the bats started flying. But still we had the opportunity to see few details of it. Each of the shrines were dedicated to lord Shiva. I am yet to research about these shrines in detail.

Pillaiyarpatti Temple

Then we headed to the famous Ganesha temple at Pillayarpatti. The main deity here is known as ‘Karpaga Vinayagar’. This is actually a rock-cut cave temple of Pandiyan Kings. The other rock-cut shrine adjacent to the sanctum of Ganesha shelters is the shrine of lord Shiva as ‘Thiruveesar’, which is not accessible nor visible to the devotees. Historians claim that the Ganesha is the earliest sculptural representation in Tamil Nadu. The trunk of Ganesha is curved to his right which makes him more powerful and unique. We were amazed by efficient management of the temple. Unlike the other famous temple, this is managed by the Nagarathars, who are a popular community of Chettiyars. We spent some time around the temple’s pond.

A Grand house with Colonial personality stuccos

Then we thought of visiting the famous 1000 window house which is a grand Chettiyar style residence and where a lot of movie-shoots takes place. But we got disappointed once we got to know that visitors were not allowed inside. Then we proceeded to the venue of the marriage. To our surprise, the venue of the marriage was also a grand Chettinadu residence. We were awestruck by the grandeur and the design elements of the house. We reached exactly on the time for lunch.

The First Karaikudi Meal

Talking about Chettinadu by default, it is inclusive of the spicy, delicious cuisine. I was specifically amazed by the mouth-watering vegetarian dishes of Chettinadu. We were on cloud nine after having the authentic Karaikudi lunch. The Sakkarai Pongal was the sweetest amongst all the dishes. We had Mandi, Pudalangai (Snakegourd) Kootu, Raw Banana fry, Getti Kozhambu, Thanni Kozhambu, Beans Poriyal and curd rice as our first meal. Our disappointments just flew away after having a scrumptious meal. We embraced ourselves for the next meals already. To add to the beauty of the food, the dining hall were decorated with some colonial period paintings, which also includes the famous Ravi Varma portraits.

The Dinner Menu

We spent some time at the venue and left to our retiring house. It was again a Chettinadu house but less ornamented. We again went to the Mandapam in the evening to take part in the rituals. The dinner was very appetizing. The dessert was toasted bread soaked in badam kheer (not sure) which we loved the most and enjoyed hogging it. On the evening, we saw the procession of the deities of the Shiva Temple. Finally, we reached back our room for sleeping. Since we were overwhelmed with the grandeur of the Chettinadu flavours and residences, we couldn't sleep. I played with Maddy for sometime while others were trying to sleep.

Ravi Varma's works in the Dining Hall

Later, we decided to take a stroll around the lanes since nobody wanted to sleep early. It was almost 11pm. It was frightening to witness such grand houses in the dark light. We walked even further despite of seeing the houses and imagining a ghost staring at us from the portico of every house just like how it happens in every Tamil horror movie. GP courageously stood, starred and clicked few photos while walking. Asiq left us inbetween because he was tired (for real, he was slightly afraid of the grand houses and haunting stories we were talking). We came back by 12:30 am and slept.

At the Night

It is really amazing to see those grand houses which are actually residence for joint families of Chettinad. But what is unfortunate is that most of the portions of the houses are not used and it's dark. It makes one to reminisce about the good old days where families were large and each portion of the house was occupied and there was always some sound of joy around.

A sight of the busy residence

At the day of the marriage, we went to the nearby Shiva temple which is managed by the Nagarathar. Along with the procession of the groom, we reached back to the venue after bursting crackers and pretending to throw them on each other. Then the groom tied the knot. We stayed there for some time and headed towards Thanjavur in the noon.

The View of dining hall adorned with the paintings

While coming back, we visited the Thirumayam fort and the two rock-cut cave temples of Lord Shiva and Vishnu. The fort of Thirumayam gave an edge to the rulers of the region who were known as ‘Sethupathy’ against British. The rock-cut shrines are located at the base and the fort on top of this hillock. The shrine of Lord Vishnu in the reclining position was huge. I specifically liked the shrines of Lord Narasimha and Sudharshana. This shrine of Vishnu is believed to be built by the Pallavas, while the shrine of Shiva built by the Pandiyans. 

Sathyagirishwarar and Thirumayam Fort

At the temple of Lord Shiva, the Dwarapalakas were remarkably vibrant. We then had the divine opportunity of arranging the procession Vaahanas of Lord Shiva on the occasion of Thai Poosam. The shrine of Lord Shiva is the oldest among the two shrines. Without fail, we also had dharshan of the Kottai Bhairavar temple which is located on the outer side of the fort wall. Most of the drivers definitely stops at the shrine and offer their worship since the shrine is located facing towards the road and is very powerful too.

Dwarapalaka at the Rock-cut Shiva Shrine

After all the fun and blessings, the trip to Karaikudi came to an end. Throughout the trip, Rajaguru made us laugh with his rapidfire counters for which Kumar became the scapegoat most of the time. His playlist kept us cheerful while Thilakesh was driving with full focus and made us reach home back safely. All thanks to Annamalaiyaar for inviting us to experience the flavours of Karaikudi. We are looking forward for another invitation by Annamalai actually.

Yours East Gaterr

East Gaterr with a Star Gazer

As a kid, we have always dreamt of reaching the sky and catching the moon and stars. We were curious to meet the old lady making Vada(i)s there in the moon for who, only she knows. Often, moon is the toy which is shown to a small baby by the mother, to make that stubborn child eat the food. Grown-ups still love to observe the astronomical events through whichever means they could afford. Just observing the space will make our mind just blow and make us fall in love with this marvelous creation.

A Simple Snap of the Moon by Me :)

As a child, we always tried to run along the moon or to hide from it. We got surprised, shocked by a shooting star which appears just for a fraction of second. However hard we try, we always forget to make a wish when a shooting star flies in the sky. While there are many memories to reminisce about the vast space, moons and tiny stars, there are people who are doing serious business by learning, observing and researching about this grand space.

Saturn

Now, while all of the mentioned above are still happening with full curiousity, one of my friend is also observing the space from THANJAVUR. I was thrilled to witness the space closely through him for the first time. The stories and fact he tells about the galaxy makes me want to observe and fall in love with the space and planets more. 

Orion Nebula captured by Madhavan

Madhavan aka Maddy among his friends is a smart IT professional by day and a curous astrophile y night. Like everyone, Madhavan also wanted to run along the moon. Later when he grew up, he developed his childish curiosity into a hobby. He recalls this turning point came when he was listening to one discourse by Sri U.Ve. Krishnan Swamigal about some constellation in 2019. Madhavan recalls that this discourse was a catalyst to boost this tiny spark and made him to delve into the subject seriously. Also when he became part of some amateur astrophile groups in Facebook, he got some clarity on how and where to begin this space journey. After saving a big part of his salary, he bought the 8 inches Dobsonian reflector and made his terrace as his observatory. With the information from his astrophile networks, he observes the events on the sky. He also spends whole night awake just to observe few events that happens in the mid night or early morning. He has a beautiful Instagram handle, where he uploads shots from the space which he clicks with utmost patience. 

Jupiter's Moon - Lo

For the first time, I met him and it was a day before or after a full moon day. That’s when I discovered the bright shining stars are not stars, but they are planets. I learnt about this fact and he showed me the Jupiter, Saturn and Mars. Twin stars/binary star system is another interesting star to watch, the name of the star is Albireo which shines in 2 colors. Glad that we got to know each other and I got to witness the magnanimous space from Madhavan’s terrace with facts about what we are observing. I have seen Moon, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the binary stars and a small glimpse of the Andromeda Galaxy.

I am grateful for this astronomical experience that I had with the help of Madhavan. And also, we share one common interest i.e. the love towards the history and evolution of Thanjavur. Madhavan hopes that his interest to observe the space to grow more personally and also he welcomes anybody to get to known about the simple and mind-blowing facts about the space.

This specific hobby of observing space is unique. At least for me, I have come across only Madhavan doing this in Thanjavur. Space, galaxy and universe will be always one exciting subject for a commoner. Looking forward to witness more events that happens in the vast space.

Yours East Gaterr

This man is just proving that "Age is just a number"

Today’s kids, the future generation as well as, the current generation, often gets lazy easily. We get addicted to the dumb box smartphones. Even we have the thinking to be active, do all kind of help our parents in household stuffs and all. Still something pulls us back to be seated and just jump into the smartphones, locked in our hands like a handcuff.

The reason I’m talking about laziness is just because, for the remaining parts I’m going to talk just the opposite of it. Laziness comes with great pleasure and a huge irrecoverable cost in our lives.

I frequently notice Shri Janaki Raman, 74 years old, who works in the Swaminatha Swamy temple, Swamimalai. When I approached him to talk to him, he welcomed me with a divinely smile. He serviced in Swamimalai temple 30 years. He also worked in Sarabeshwarar temple Thirubhuvanam, for 10 years.

Janakiraman Thatha

As you can see, he looks literally old, skinny and bones visible, still he is able to lift some good amount of weights of Pooja materials and all. He says, “These are all the gift of Lord Swaminatha”.

Shri Janaki Raman thatha (Grandpa), is retired and still servicing voluntarily in the temple. He said, when he was young, he carried water for the abhishekam for Lord Swaminatha Swamy, from the well which is located in the downstairs and he had to climb 60-70 steps, once or twice daily for that.

He sets the perfect example for proving “Age is just a number”. I’m very much inspired by his energetic working even though he is 74 years old. Whereas in today’s world many people find silly reasons to escape from their commitments.

Young kiddos, my friends and all other young and energetic people, get back your focus and work enthusiastically, don’t get stuck with the machinery life. 

Come on dear readers, if he can do such energetic works at his 74 years, why can't we do our own simple works without any excuses ?

Thought of sharing these kind of inspiring personalities from now on. Stay tuned!!

Yours East Gaterr

Unveiling My Blog's common logo designed by Tech Geek GP

Whenever I need help regarding any programming, photoshopping, or any technical, technological assistance I have a dedicated tech geeks always ready to help me out. Hari Balan, Raja Guru, Guruprasath, Muthu selvan, Santhosh VR and Thilakesh are those tech geeks I’m talking about. I always count on them for any help on various queries about coding, AdSense, analytics, Photoshop editing etc., and their response is immediate.

I’m happy to unveil my blog’s common DP, designed by hardcore coder Guruprasath, conceptualized by Raja Guru based on the theme that I’ve coined. It’s really an appreciable work done by my friends as they found time for my work in between their hectic engineering studies and loads of projects they’re working on. Though it's very late that I’m posting it now. But this notable work should be posted for sure, that's why I'm posting it.

East Gaterr Blog's logo

Especially this work of designing the logo for my blog was done within 2 days and we’d just discussed for less than 20 mins to design such thing. My coder friend GP, tried various styles and finally ended up with this above logo. I’m really surprised to see this simple yet attractive logo for my page prepared immediately.

To talk about my friends they’re exceptionally doing well and have good command in various coding languages like C, C++, java, python, HTML, CSS and also creative in expressing their skills on various softwares too.

Wrapping up this simple post of introducing my blog logo here.

Yours East Gaterr

Nelliyampathy - A Natural treat to our eyes, mind and heart !!!

Everybody has this important desire in their bucket list that to go on a trip with the special friends. Whenever your friends are with you, you'll be more energetic and would feel adventurous than any other time.

Nelliyampathy's Pothundy Dam from a view point

I planned to go to Nelliyampathy, Palakkad district which is located on Kerala. A trip based on a forward message in a group on WhatsApp. So after receiving that forward message about Nelliyampathy, I thought if this trip gets done then this would be the unforgettable trip of my life and it happened. This trip is also a special trip as it was our first long trip together. Also it is a trip which is planned. So those who say "Planned trips don't happen", please note this is a "Planned trip with friends which really happened".

So I planned the trip, initially planned it for at least with 10 friends but at last the numbers dropped to 5 friends. The companions of the trip are Abinesh, Asiq, Hari Balan, Raja Guru and Myself.

Clean and Green Nelliyampathy

After Receiving the message, I googled it for at least 3 or 4 days to find out the amenities available there and finally ended up with getting one good travel agent number. This planning of mine began even before 2 months of the trip. With that travel agent named Abhan Abilash, I finalized the package for 2 days and one night package at Nelliyampathy covering food, trekking and stay at a resort.

About Nelliyampathy

Nelliyampathy is a hill station located in the Palakkad district of Kerala. It is just an evolving tourist spot. Thank God!! That we've visited this place even before coming to the limelight. All over Kerala filled with green plants and trees all over the places. Nelliyampathy is way too heavenly than any other places and truly it's a treat to our eyes. You could enjoy the authenticity of hill station only at Nelliyampathy. It is the best destination than any other hill station that I've visited ever like Kodaikanal, Yercaud and Ooty.

Clouds touching the mountain

About our journey

5 of us started our journey by train from Thanjavur by Ernakulam express which originates from Karaikal and terminates at Ernakulam Junction. We boarded the train by 6:45 pm at Thanjavur and got down at Palakkad Junction at 3:00 am in the early morning.

At Pothundy Dam, Nelliyampathy

During our journey towards Palakkad from Thanjavur, we encountered with many funny and some serious personalities. We got to meet them as we were travelling in an unreserved coach. One guy got very emotional about the problems happening Thamizh Nadu related to agriculture, another guy told us that they have remodeled a tourist bus worth Rs.1 crore and to the top of these encounters, we met one person who was saying that his wife tells him that he looks like Thamizh actor Vishal from that he became fan of actor Vishal. He was also judging us by our looks saying that Asiq looks arrogant whereas he is the most innocent in our group. All of us are teetotaler, without knowing that somebody asked us whether we need weed or alcohol and all. We all still laugh at this question. "Yean da engala paarthu andha vaarthaiya keta???” Like this our journey made interesting because of these incidents.

Nelliyampathy

Day 1

We took a nap in the platform itself till 4:15 am. We got refreshed and had tea at a tea stall. Then we reached the Palakkad bus stand from where we had to catch the bus to Nenmara which is located at the foot of the Nelliyampathy.

On the way towards Nelliyampathy

During our travel in the bus towards Nenmara, we found posters of famous football clubs and we were very much amazed by the craze that Keralites have towards football. To our surprise there were no posters of any political party or any caste based posters. That's a difference we found between Thamizh Nadu and Kerala.

Football Posters

Football Posters

After reaching Nenmara, We then called Abhilash who arranged a cab for us to the resort and trekking point. Cab will be arranged if needed. Till the time we decided to have breakfast in the local hotel and found one vegetarian restaurant named "Hotel Sree Vinayaka", which is located near the Nenmara bus stand. To be honest the basic south Indian dishes were really delicious and authentic. The waiter, who exchanged his looks similar to "Mohan Lal", was very energetic and affectionate while serving food to us. After our breakfast we bought some snacks to have during our time at Nelliyampathy as nothing more other than general groceries available at Nelliyampathy hills. Our cab reached Nenmara, which is the typical jeep used to climb the roughs of the mountain and trekking route came for picking us up.

Our driver Vishnu, (who's just a graduate, so we exchanged the same wavelength throughout our journey) came with the jeep picked us and thus we began our fun filled adventurous trip towards the beautiful Nelliyampathy.

Vishnu Chetan with his Jeep (Our ride)

On our way to the hills, the first view we had is an amazing Pothundy Dam's view which made us, especially me to think that I've chosen the best destination for the perfect friends’ trip. 

Spectacular View of Pothundy Dam

Pothundy Dam, Nelliyampathy

Resuming the journey, we came through 3 viewpoints on our way to the uphill, namely Lower deck, padagiri and upper deck viewpoints. As the driver Vishnu clearly at the par of our thinking he helped us with patience to click some snaps for the memory bucket list. Even though we were dirty, we clicked more pictures on every viewpoints.

Pothundy dam, Nelliyampathy

View from the lower deck viewpoint

Then rode along the AVT tea and coffee estates and there we saw a snake casually crossing the roads. Our driver took us to the big and small waterfalls there and we chose to take bath in the small waterfall. There happened one funny incident that our body builder friend Hari Balan slipped into the water while trying to pull himself out of the water also dragging Raja Guru to manage not to fall. We were never tired of clicking photos there too. Had a relaxed and natural bath at the waterfall and changed our dresses at the shore itself. 

AVT Tea estate

As we had a confusion about the package, we then discussed and finalized the plan then decided to have lunch and to go to the resort and to take rest for the remaining part of the day as we didn't had enough sleep in the train.

A hanging bridge

View form the Hanging bridge

Rough waterfall at Nelliyampathy

Few of the gorgeous view we had at the Nelliyampathy Hills really left us astonished. 

We also had an option of bathing at rough waterfall and another place. As the current of the water was high we chose an safe option. But there were tiny leeches in water as well as in the plains as it was located in between forest.

Bathing spot

Our room at the resort

Our resort's ambience made us to feel the worth of the package. We were extremely happy and set ourselves to take some rest as we didn't slept at the night. We slept from 3 pm -7 pm.

Room at the resort

Then we told the resort manager to prepare the dinner. After having dinner, it was time for our bonfire (a mini campfire) night. The boys at the resort prepared the bonfire. There was a small mood swing during the bonfire as I was not ok with the songs playlist later I apologized for my mood swing. 

Interiors of the room

Then the rest of the night at the resort was awesome and filled with joy and fear as well. Fear because our room is the first room located at the front at the entrance itself, as it is a jungle we feared for getting attacked by animals, but fortunately nothing happened. The most feared amongst us was Asiq. He requested us and slept in the middle of us. We slept late because we friends were together and spent valuable time with each other as well. We were watching TV as there was no program, we changed into a channel in which a funny advertising was going on and we did it a spoof of it. Then the rest of the night we slept and boosted us for the next day.

View from the window

Day 2

We woke up around 7:45 and it was raining. We were worrying whether we could it make it for the trekking or not. However we got ready and had breakfast, the Kerala's famous 'Puttu Kadalai' with papads. Till the mean time the rain stopped and our driver Vishnu also reached our resort. We vacated the resort and started our journey towards the trekking point.

Room at the resort

Bonfire 

We bought the tickets for trekking as the forest department checks whether the tourists bring any plastics or not. They are strict about taking perfect care of the forest by not allowing plastics in the forest area.

The trekking route is full of bumps which will get you nauseous and you'll get tired very easily. But the trekking is entertaining throughout. You can also enjoy by seeing some wild animals of the forest. There are some viewpoints which is mesmerizing and you'll wonder about the creation and nature will make you to forget all the luxury you enjoy in the city. This trekking will take minimum 3 hours to 3 and a half hours roughly including the halt in the viewpoints.

We went and visited the viewpoints and clicked many pictures throughout the trekking. We totally enjoyed the views and we were enthralled by the magnificence of Nelliyampathy's which is totally filled of green trees, plants, herbs and shrubs.

Breakfast Puttu Kadalai

When we got back from the trekking point to the town, the clouds just covered the place and it was like a fairy tale that we entered into the clouds and unexpectedly it started to rain. We then continued our expedition towards Nenmara to get back to our hometown.

We reached Nenmara by 3 pm and had lunch at the same "Hotel Sree Vinayaka". My friends bought some savories’ like Nendrampazham chips (Famous banana chips of Kerala) from "Ashtapadi Bakery" for their homes. Then we boarded a bus to Palakkad. There we went to the Palakkad fort. The time we reached it was cloudy and about to rain. The view was really stunning. As we had enough time there we were planning to do something. One of us suggested watching a movie and I suggested to visit some nearby places. But in the meantime, it down poured, we got not roof to settle there so we all got drenched. Finally decided to go to the railway station and catch an earlier train to Coimbatore, from there we had plans to catch a direct train to Thanjavur.

Entrance of the trekking point

Breathtaking view from our trekking

After reaching the Palakkad railway station we bought some snacks and changed our wet clothes in the waiting room of the Palakkad Junction. We boarded the 6 pm Coimbatore passenger. During this journey one guy asked us whether we have cigarette or not? Then we told him that we don't smoke. Then we were discussing the incident about the guy who asked us whether we need weed and laughing, hearing this the guy who asked us for cigarette got excited and stared at us.  And reached Coimbatore by 8:30 pm and had dinner at a hotel opposite to the railway station. Then we bought the tickets for Thanjavur and settled in the platform.

Green Green all the way

We reached Thanjavur by Chemmozhi express which departs from Coimbatore at 12:30 Am and reached Thanjavur by 6:30 Am.

Every one of us were tired, but Hari and I were awake throughout our journey. We were playing 'PUBG' and Hari showed me a horrible Telugu movie named "Middle class Abbayi". The movie provoked me to hit and abuse him very badly. But we enjoyed by joking at the logic less movie. In between these scenes, I saw the sleeping faces of everyone, Abinesh who got settled himself in the upper berth was sleeping with his eyes open. It was way too funny to watch him like that. Hari and I laughed out at this sleepy face of Abinesh.

Palakkad fort 

Back to Hometown

We reached Thanjavur by 6:30 Am and everybody went back and settled in our home. We shared the pictures from one to other the next day.

With all this incidents with mixed emotions made into one of the memories to look back and cherish in our life diary. I described exactly what we did throughout our journey. However I described all the funny moments of my friends, I Am expecting revenge would be taken by bringing my funny moments into the limelight.

End of the trip

This trip was just planned based on a forward message in WhatsApp. I then planned most of the things 2 months earlier itself. Nelliyampathy is an evolving and untold tourist spot located in Palakkad district of Kerala. Rather than describing Nelliyampathy, people must visit and relish the true color of the nature and the creation. It's a destination which perfectly suits any kind of tourists like bachelors, family members and couples.

P.S: I've added below the contact numbers of concerned people like Mr. Abhan and the small restaurant where we had breakfast and lunch and the driver's number also for further use of those who are interested in going to Nelliyampathy.
Mr. Abhan Abhilash (tourist agent)  - 9447693444
Sree vinayaka hotel - 9446101581, 9496804592

Mr. Vishnu (jeep) - 9400178143

I've added a lot of pictures taken by mostly Haribalan, Rajaguru, Asiq and Abinesh. Though it seems slightly disturbing the content but I've added them just to show the reality of Nelliyampathy.

Ending this really long post of our trip here.

Yours East Gaterr