The outside world had rather mistook Tamilians and the people from our neighboring state of Kerala as enemies. Yes, we had some issues in the past, but that would not hinder anyone from visiting the tourist places of each of these southern states of India. In this vacation, we had thought of traveling up to Thekkady for our winter vacation. My family consisting of 5 including me the eldest son, set out for the trip of the final days of our winter vacation last year. Dad, who is retired a bank employee would never comprise our studies for any other activities, even though he too had been a traveler in his youth. Our mom belongs to the larger majority of women in our country, as she is a housewife and has been busy making our lives easier. What more? She would feel happy whenever she is taken out for a holiday or just a family weekend getaway.
As the younger kid of our family is barely two years old, we were a bit confused and even thought of postponing. But that particular call and assurance from the tour consultant of the travel firm we relied on for our trip, Gogeo Holidays had made all the difference to our decision. They had many interesting packages that provided its customers with diverse kinds of fun activities, besides covering various tour destinations all across the state. They really take care of its customers, especially if any toddler is also accompanying. But we did chose to visit Thekkady, as I got to know that the weather then was so soothing from many recent updates. Therefore, as per the pieces of advice given by the consultants, we did set out for our long journey to the beautiful state of Kerala from our hometown Chennai on the scheduled date.
On the first three days of our trip, we had great fun visiting every tourist location centered on Thekkady such as Periyar National Park, Elephant Junction, and boating in the lake. But, I would like to elaborate more about that particular trip to Ramakkalmedu on that particular day, because that was my personal favorite. However, that doesn’t mean that other spots are not up to the mark or bad, yet the experiences that we got to attain was really special.
So on that fine sunny day, the weather was truly gentle as the temperature was still very down. Our kid was wrapped up in those sweater clothes while trekking and was not troubling others, unless the fact that she was seen in mom’s arm after walking some distances. We traveled for some distance in the jeep initially, even before walking. We got to see numerous windmills on the path leading to popular sculptures of Kuravan and Kurathi. I thought for a moment, the wind energy generated here would not be that bad. The wind in that region was really strong, that my sister’s hairs were fleeing to different directions. To our surprise, the tour guide accompanying us said that the wind blowing here was at times recorded as the strongest in the whole of Asia with sometimes roaring up to 35kmph!! Thank god, it was not the wildest today, or else my lean sister herself would have flown lest her hair.
As it was an on-season for tourism, we got to see many other travelers also coming to the spot in large groups. Although that jeep part was a bit risky with those uneven and off-road paths, it was indeed challenging. It would be hilly and terrain, obviously, as I got to read from some signboards on the road, which said that, the hilltop that we mounted was around 3500 feet above sea level. After walking for some distances once reaching someplace, the sight around was truly mesmerizing. (Vehicles were not allowed after this point) There was all greenery in the valley of the hill with everything beneath were looking as if they are being observed from the satellite on a clear sky day. It is believed that even nearby villages bordering Tamil Nadu, such as Kombe, Theni, Thevaram, and Cumbum can be seen from the hilltop.
We were finally at the spot of the statues of Kuravan and Kurathi. It was really huge. I knew there must indeed be some historical myths behind the uniquely carved out structure. Out of my curiosity, I did ask our guide and he said that it was the Kuravan who suggested the spot for the construction of the massive Idukki Dam. Later he also showed a photograph of the same in his phone, which said that there are actually two hills on the sides of this largest arch dam of the country. And the water of Periyar River flows amid these large hills. After staring for some time at the statues, all of us took rest at the nearby built Mandapam kind of shelter. We refreshed ourselves with some food that we had on our possession on this tour.
Meanwhile, while resting there, my religious mom needed to know something. She turned to the guide and asked why was the place called ‘Ramakkalmedu’?? Had Lord Rama ever visited this place? He was all in praise for our mom, as he said that, she had guessed it right. Lord Rama had indeed visited this hilltop during his exile and there are indeed his footmarks somewhere on the hills. When she was keenly paying heed to this new information with great concentration, I don’t know, dad was smiling from the corner of his lip and later was laughing at her when the guide went to some other groups. He always does that. This does happen all the time between them, but that really looks cute. We as a happy family inevitably had a great time at this hilltop and in Thekkady in this beautiful Kerala. We absolutely loved this trip. Thank you Gogeo Holidays!! For making our time together special and memorable.
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