Magical Chain Tree & Mesmerizing View Point- Wayanad

                                                       Travel, Taste & Treasure

Part 1 (Magical Chain Tree & Mesmerizing View Point- Wayanad)

Kerala- “The Never-ending landscape”, It makes you wonder if there’s a painter somewhere who’s making it all up, OH! That’s why it is called “God’s own country” …

 Till the eyes can reach, feels fresh with the earthy fragrance sweeping the tips of tea plantations, The sky scrapers. not concrete buildings of the city but the Areca Plantation and the coconut Trees… One popular theory derives the name from Malayalam kera (coconut tree) and alam (land), thus "land of coconuts", that’s exactly what “Kerala” means: “the land of coconuts”. HMMM

An incredible experience that you feel, where words are never going to be enough…

As you travel through the narrow roads of the beautiful landscape, a mixture of fragrances of the fresh Spices & coconuts, scattered houses in between the green mountains, I have seen such Happy faces, eyes, so many beaming smiles born with no real reasons, the smile of someone who look at life with an optimism, where life goes marked by the swing of nature.

Rains are a gift from the heaven…. descend from the sky to impregnate the earth and facilitate renewal of life, fertility, cultivation of lands, abundance of cattle and food grains, and the journey of streams, rivers and rivulets to join the oceans and you find all in here. A feast to eye or rather soul… God’s Own Country that is the reason nature has gifted so much of Rain here, so beautiful, yet sometimes scary with all the thunder and Lighting. You can be rest assured that this Rain soaks you up till every inch until it touches and makes you feel it in the very soul.

Destination 1- Wayanad….

Wayanad, known for its alluring landscape and green cover, also known as Green Paradise in the midst of the Western Ghats. ‘Wayanad’ as it is written now is derived from ‘Vayal Nadu’ which translates to ‘The land of paddy fields’ in English, there seems to be an interesting history of Wayanad, which I will try to cover as I visit some hard to miss places over here. Wayanad is rich in its flora and fauna. Tea and Coffee plantations, green valleys, and of course dense forests with amazing wildlife.

To Reach Wayanad, means a road trip is a must, because it’s the only way to reach here and that is where the adventure would begin…. so started from Bangalore Early Morning to avoid the mad Traffic of Bangalore, At Gundlupet cross road, we get into a smaller road on the right, This Straight road takes us to Ooty and Bandipore forest.  A very important note, the drive in the Jungle is open between 6 AM to 9 pm. I prefer to travel inside this forest exactly by 6 when they open as you could spot a lot of wild animals...

I Travelled with my Pets M3 i.e. Max, Moose and Masha, frequent stops were unavoidable, and Buying vegetables from Gundlupet, a ritual my wife has not broken till date, she swears on the freshness and cost effectiveness as they are sourced  directly from the farmers, so It took me a little longer than the usual, Crossing the check post as you enter the Jungle the scenic drive through Muthanga wildlife forest was mesmerising, We pulled down our window to breath the non-polluted air and have our hair blown away by the cool breeze. (Posted a video below of how Moose is enjoying the driving, putting his head out of the window).

IT had been long and wanted to have my dose of strong Tea, didn’t stop at Sulthan Bathery, I didn’t want any disturbance because of my pets, was looking for a place with large parking so that I can leave my pets a little away, as we drive towards kalpetta, few kilometres from Sulthan Bathery I found a pretty looking Restaurant, for people traveling between the cities it may be hard to spot this restaurant called Natturuchi, means local flavours in Malayalam. True to its name we saw staff in Traditional attire of white shirts and Lungi greeting us. We all walked in to get a quick Tea and some snack with it, the staff was very cordial and warm I could smell Fresh coconut oil being heated to make Pazham Pori, made with bananas, coated with refined flour batter bursting out with a medley of that always wins us over for its simplicity, burst of flavours. We spent a considerable amount as the restaurant boasts of an antique in premises, we enjoyed a lot by chatting, taking photos, admiring art and artefacts (They are for sale also) The Collection boasts of a lot of paintings, handmade brass pieces, wooden carvings, furniture and the list is endless.  Promising to return back for dinner to treat ourselves with some authentic Kerala style sadya (meal).

As the sun was setting, we drove to Lakkidi View Point, it is the best time to get a nice view and without saying Sunrise would also be a good time. With nine hairpin caves it offers a resplendent view of the mountains in Wayanad, mesmerising scenery, an unforgettable charm of natural beauty Awesome experience.... memorable moments. The viewpoint is also a popular picnic spot which is often referred to as the 'Gateway to Wayanad'.

Few Meters from there, there is the famous Chain Tree, (If you remember I had mentioned it in one of my previous stories, of course that was frictional Use, sad to find it abandoned, but it has a wonderful story…

The Chain Tree is a Ficus tree with a massive steel chain hanging around its trunk, Oral history says that in the past when the British people ruled India, Wayanad was unknown to the world except the native tribes. In order to gain access to this beautiful treasure trove mountain and find the route, A British engineer befriended a native tribesman, known as Karinthandan. Once the engineer found his way, he killed the innocent man, so that he could take the credit of finding the route.

Karinthandan’s spirit was not happy and he started troubling the passer-by and the whole region was haunted by him. Scared, people of the region asked a priest to help them get rid of this spirit, who exorcised the spirit and captured it. The priest cast a spell and tied the captured soul to a tree using a chain.

Now the Interesting part, over the years, the tree has naturally grown tall, but quite unbelievably, the chain too has grown taller along with the tree. It is actually growing which is seriously scary!

People of the tribes honour the first martyr of Wayanad, Karinthandan. Every year, on the second Sunday of March, carry out a rally in the memory of Karinthandan. This rally is also called Karinthandan Smriti Yatra.

A small temple "Changala Muneeswaran Kovil" has been built adjacent to the tree. The deity of the temple is none other than the adivasi chieftain.

 

Will get back with more popular stories and some not very explored places from Wayanad and then move to other parts of “Gods own Countries” ….

Or maybe I will give my experience travelling to Gudalur first… Write to me if you would want to know…