@Paniyeli Poru, Kerala, India.
Just like the thoughts about parallel universes and the existence of more than one solar systems of the same type as well as having thousands of same types of planet Earth where different decisions are made leading to various results leading to a possible apocalypse for which the humanity or the other equivalent dominant species with heavy thinking power is responsible, Paniyeli Poru has to be a parallel universe; not just the way the movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Virginie Ledoyen, ‘The Beach’, but also providing a parallel for being an inspiration for Nature poetry and producing people who can be Kerala’s equivalent to William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Robert Southey, even as comparing from entirely different situations can be a huge crime towards righteousness especially when one is supposed to do the right thing; the artists and writers have to go the right way as they are the ones who inject people with their ideas, most of them inspiring people to such an extent that their whole thinking process is altered. Paniyeli Poru can do that without being written about or written on; especially if the infatuation already exists from the bottom of the soul which sails strong enough to change, but weak enough to ask for the much needed inspiration from the wonderful greenery around.
The closest town to Paniyeli Poru is Perumbavoor which is just about twenty kilometers from there; nearest railways station is Alwaye and is located about fifty to sixty kilometers from the city of Cochin. It can be reached by taking a left deviation from the MGM School Junction, Kuruppumpady, on the Aluva-Munnar road or by taking a right deviation from the Vallam junction through Kodanad; the latter one being a road where there are seven churches on both the sides combined; thus making it a path through spirituality and religion which dissolves in the beauty of nature at the most appropriate levels until the road reaches a more scenic area and ends soon after the tickets to the place is taken from the counter. The road had so many gutters that it was difficult to count; considering the number of trucks which passed through that route, it was supposed to happen as a secondary result, the first one being the increase of risk. There were lots of scenic points to stop on the way, most of them near churches or bridges. But there was not much space to stop on the side if the travel was in a four wheeler which was big enough to cover most of that small road which was leading to that wonderful destination.
Paniyeli Poru is more of a less known, unexplored, adventurous place; not at all like those usual destinations which claims to be big tourist destinations supposed to be filled with real Kerala greenery. It is not advertised and therefore free from exploitation, but there are still people around; enough to affect a sample of that environment, but not as a whole; the limit is kept at least for now. But considering the popularity of Kodanad which is always rising, it is always close to being in the spotlight. The fact that the religious and spiritual centre of natural beauty, Malayattoor is also close and on the other side of the river, will add to the fame of this place and will contribute to the rise in the number of tourists. I did combine all of them into a single bike trip which was good enough for a wonderful day. The route map was so carefully planned that there was not many mistakes; there were deviations though. Another trip was planned after adding Bhoothathankettu, Idamalayar and Thattekkad along with a possible Iringol Kaavu, but it never really happened, even as they were visited as stand-alone versions sometime ago. But that story is too old to make an impact on this one or on the future trips. That semi-forgotten past along with the present will surely contribute to a similar thing according to another plan, but for now that is a distant reality.
The most beautiful church on the way to this wonderful place would be the St. George Jacobite Syrian Church which is not really an architectural marvel, but as it combines with nature, the beauty gets a boost; it mixes with nature in an unexplainable manner. Mar Malkhe Orthodox Church at Kodanad also does something similar as it stands tall among the greenery. The smaller St. George Catholic Church and St. Thomas Mar Thoma Church which is the smallest, blends with the nature in an even more perfect manner; the latter even as it looked as if it has remained closed for sometime, it was open to the soul due to the uncomparable beauty that surrounded it; no wonder as it was the closest to Paniyeli Poru among all these churches. There were more churches and all of them stayed close to nature. The spirituality lives within oneself as he reaches the destination where it combines with nature. It is a situation which can be risky if too much attached to the waters with a desire to get right into it. The rocks might be too slippery and the water level could be unpredictable.
I would try sitting on the shore and look at the water and the other coast, all day long. It is undoubtedly a refreshing place, not just for the body, but also for the mind; to the soul if gone further into the other dimension. The photography side will also get enlightened a lot by the beauty of whatever is around; there is no specific thing to take a picture of. Even the road to the inside of the area as well as the path through the interiors of the destination which is mentioned as what it is, proves to be more scenic than some of the more exploited tourist locations of Kerala. What inspired more than anything else would be the rocks; not the greenest of the green forests or the cleanest of the clean waters, as this was a change which happened for a difference. There wasn’t really a big rock of unshakable faith and I wouldn’t give any of it such a title. The rocks were still simple enough and one wouldn’t go there to see those rocks; it was just myself being selective at the moment looking for what was different out there compared to a few other places of greenery I visited much earlier; the rocks came as what I was looking for; the perfect part of nature which was not green and had no reflective surface. It was a stronghold to be exact; reminded me of various cavemen and cavewomen who resemble their ancestors by character.
There were the ruins of some old building which looked as if people practiced writing on it; the whole thing had roots on the sides and sometimes right through it. There were swings on it, as if it was a playground for children. But comparing it to the ruined state of building, may be it is more of a situation for horror, with spirits swinging at night; that would be wonderful for a story of ultimate horror, but such a thing is not heard of. There are branches of trees to hang onto, and also to be used to hang umbrellas and jackets, which will look kind of dumb though; still contributes to the photography. My journey on that occasion was blessed by a type of rain which stayed there till there was shelter. The clouds had fought among themselves to get into my camera and in the end they all disappeared, but not before doing what they were expected to do. Even the nature would have been so happy about it, as it was not the season of the rain and not even by mistake did it enter the area before that; may be I was that lucky for the place or may be someone equally lucky contributed to the flow of rain; sometimes rain follows you everywhere, and I have had that feeling so often, especially when it is the time without umbrella, rain coat or even a jacket which is worthy enough.
Diving out —>
TeNy
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