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Thursday, April 06, 2006
Malayatoor
This place is just 4 km from my ancestral home in Neeleeswaram. It's one of the first mountains I've climbed and it a great experience especially when climbing with devotees of St. Thomas. The chanting combined with the steep slopes is indescribable. Since its festival season now, let me give you some of the more elaborate details, courtesy, www-travel-tours.com
Located 52 kms from Kochi, the Malayatoor Church is situated atop the 609 m high Malayatoor Hill. The church is dedicated to St. Thomas, who is believed to have prayed at this shrine.
One of the most important Christian pilgrim centres in Kerala, this holy shrine attracts devotees in very large numbers not only from Kerala but also from the neighbouring states.
This famous church is situated at Kurisumudi, a verdant hill in the Western Ghats girdled partially by the river Periyar. The Church has a life-size statue of St. Thomas and the imprint of the feet of the Apostle on a rock.
At Malayatoor, the first Sunday after Easter is considered to be a very important day. Pilgrims, chanting the name of the Apostle ('Ponninkurisumala Muthappa'), climb Kurisumudi, the steep hill to visit the holy shrine.
Also see www.malayattoorchurch.org
Malayatoor has been raised to Arch-diocesan Shrine status.
Posted by Hash @ 11:12 PM |
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Friday, March 24, 2006
Ernakulam
Cochin, 'Queen of the Arabian sea' is the capital of Eranakulam district. The city is built up on a cluster of islands and peninsulas joined by the bustling town on the main land, Ernakulam. Past entwines hand with modernity. Ruins of colonial days make the history a pervasive presence here. Cochin is the only metro in Kerala that is located on Central Kerala. Airport, harbour, oil refinery, public and private sector industrial units and hill- produce trading centres make the city the biggest commercial hub in Kerala. Geographically, the district with coastal, midland and high ranges is a Kerala-in-miniature. The urban district accounts for 8123-hector forest.
Tourist Spots
Bolghatty palace : A picturesque island with a palace turned tourist hotel, which was built in 1744 by Dutch Government.
Wellington Island : Airport, harbour and headquarters of several governments departments are on this island.
Museum : Evokes memories of 19 the century.
Synagogue : The jewel on Kochi’s physique, stands testimony to the tolerance and hospitality of local rulers of Kerala. Built in 1568.
Dutch Palace : A Portuguese contribution to King of Kochi in 1586. Named after Dutch when they rebuilt the palace later.
Fort Kochi : The first foreign Church in India. Vasco De Gama was buried here; later remains were exhumed out and taken to Portugal.
Chinese Fishing Nets : An enticing scene. Became trademark of Kochi.
Churches : Santhacrus Cathedral, Roman Catholic Church.
Thrippunithara : Hill Palace Museum
Edappally : History Museum
Kaladi : 45 km from Kochi. Birthplace of Sankaracharya, a Hindu philosopher.
Kodanadu : Elephant camp under Forest Department.
Malayatoor : St. Thomas Church, Edappally St.George Church are pilgrim centres.
Info courtesy www.Keralatourism.com
Posted by Hash @ 3:14 AM |
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Saturday, March 04, 2006
My first spot
I heard of this new spot by the river periyar some weeks ago but only got to go there the other day. It's situated at this place called Kaprikkad which is near Kodanad which is a major tourist destination with an elephant training center and all. I'll do one about Kodanad later. Now back to Kaprikad, like I said it's a new place so it's not run over by tourists. It's about 14 km from the nearest town Perumbavoor which is 34 km from the city of Cochin. Cool, quiet and by the river, Kaprikkad Eco Tourist Center as it's called is a fresh retreat with tree houses, long shaded walkways and even a small island just off the river bank accessible by a very traditional yet rarely seen bamboo ferry. The walk ways are sprinkled with park benches and platforms with views of both the river and the surrounding forests. These are also made with bamboo which adheres to the Eco-friendly part of its title. The view from the tree houses are most spectacular. Overall a very nice place to experience with lots of options for hiking, elephant rides, boating(in the traditional sense, no motor boats) and there are quite a few older tourist spots (that I'll be covering later) that you can visit alongside. I've included a few pics that I took during my visit. Please excuse the quality because I'm neither a good photographer nor did I have a good camera. Enjoy!
Posted by Hash @ 5:48 AM |
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Monday, February 27, 2006
About this Blog
Hi, everybody. This is my second blog( the first one is called everything & nothing and you can see it here) and I hope you enjoy it. In this blog I'm going to show you God's own country through my eyes, a personal experience of Kerala. The people to see, places to go and things to do on a typical tropical day. These places might not be the mainstream tourist spots you see advertised but they are fun places to be. There are so many small retreats here and not all of them are publicised that well, probably becuse the want to remain authentic or they cant handle volume or maybe they're just new. I'll also give info on general things here and some intersting mainstream stuff. but I know you're more interested in the hidden Kerala, so that would be my main mission. I also encourage any readers who know of places like these to give me a heads up so that I may review it. I hope you find the information useful and please do comment on it.
Posted by Hash @ 12:56 AM |
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