February 2007 – Page 2 – Musings of a Wandering Mind

Let’s work on the names first. There are three names you can use and mean the same. ‘Periyar Tiger Reserve’ is the entire protected forest area, covered under project tiger. ‘Thekkady’ is the place inside the park where tourists arrive to enjoy boat rides, go on treks or register for any tourist package offered by the reserve administration or Kerala Tourism. Kumily is the town head, a tourist town just outside the park. The names are often used interchangeably.

Kumily is a town high in the hills and has the lovable, cool hill station weather. Go to any corner of the town and look around, and you will not miss seeing a couple of hotels in all directions. Whether you are looking for a Rs.100 per night lodge, or a Rs.10,000 per night plush resort, you will find it in Kumily. It is a tourist town cashing in on the popularity of South India’s most popular wildlife reserve.

We arrived at Kumily in the morning and checked into the beautiful Coffee Inn, close to the reserve gates. It was around 11am by the time we settled down and headed to the sanctuary. A couple of birds – a very pretty White Bellied Treepie, a pair of Black Drongos and a big bunch of jungle babblers kept us amused just after the park entrance. As we drove forward, we got glimpses of the lake shore now and then through the trees. Periyar lake was a sight I wanted to see. The huge artificial lake appeared all around us once we reached Thekkady. It is a large freshwater body tucked between the hills, with dead trees popping up here and there in the middle of it. A few boats stood on the jetty waiting to carry tourists on a boat safari. We had some time left before the next boat-trip schedule, and we used it to wander around the park office.

Thekkady is a small place with tourist facilities like a canteen, a forest department office and a couple of hotels run by Kerala Tourism. A sign indicating rules of behaviour for the tourist mentioned boldly that alcohol is prohibited inside the park. And soon followed another sign from one of the Kerala Tourism Hotels in the park, welcoming you to their ‘beer parlour’! Tourists can avail an hour long boat ride facility at a nominal cost, where a large noisy boat that can take a hundred people will ferry you around the lake. There are other ways to go around the park, like chartered motor boat trip, man powered floats, or trekking, all of which are expensive.

We took the evening boat trip on the lake. Within a minute of start, we had moved far from the jetty and sailing into the lake in the middle of hills. Water in the lake is clean and clear and it feels good to be floating on it. It is probably the greenery around that gives the lake its green color. It was a cloudy day and it looked like it is going to rain anytime. In the first half hour, we saw a few big birds like the black necked stork and egrest, a tortoise and a bunch of wild buffaloes. It started pouring heavily on our way back and visibility was considerably reduced. The rain added to the beauty of the lake and the experience of the evergreen tropical forest. I loved every moment we spent in the water and wish it lasted longer. I hoped to come back here some time and spend many days floating in the lake surface and enjoy the views of the hills, the forest and see all the fauna that the forest conceals.

We returned to Thekkady next morning, and this time we walked the 3km stretch to Thekkady from the park entrance instead of driving. We encountered a few Samabar deers and Chitals on the way as we walked. After idling in Thekkady enjoying the beauty of the lake for a while, it was time for us to get back and move on. We started out of Kumily at around 12pm. It was our last day in Kerala and we were now driving back to Bangalore. We passed via the towns of Theni and Salem and reached Bangalore around 11 in the night, ending a six day long eventful journey.

The End.

February 6, 2007 —Categories: bangalore, culture, karnataka, photo essay

Photo Essay: Janapada Jaatre in Bangalore, Karnataka’s Folk Culture at it’s best

A month ago I was at Janapada Jaatre in Bangalore, a cultural fair held fortnightly to showcase folk arts from various parts of Karnataka. It was a great event and every minute of the entire two-hour show was an awesome entertainment. Here are some images from the show.

folk artists of Karnataka

Artists assemble on the stage with traditional attire before their performance begins.

Goravana Kunita
Goravara Kunita is a form of dance where performers dress up and dance wildly with small drums called “thamate” in hand. It can be scary for children. In the yester years, the dance was meant to ward off evil, and was practiced in the some parts Southern Karnataka.

Yakshagana is the state’s official art form, and is popular in coastal Karnataka and parts of Malnad region. Yakshagana is a type of Opera, where performers dance to the songs depicting stories from Mahabharatha. Interestingly, it mixes dance and drama. After dancing with the drums for a verse, performers break into a conversation to elaborate the theme of the verse. As you can see from the picture, lot of work goes into the dress and makeup of the artists.

dance
A traditional dance to the tunes of a folk song – “Moodal Kunigal Kere..”

Another character from a Yakshagana. He is a comedian, as is evident from the image. Jokers, or Haasyagaara as they are called, are part of nearly every episode of Yakshagana. The episode they were playing on the day I was there was “Sreekrishna Paarijaatha”, the story of stealing the divine flower from Indra’s gardens.

Bhootada Kola was the star-event of the day, performed at the end. Kola is another custom to ward off evil, performed in the southern coastal regions of Dakshina Kannada.

Janapada Jaatre Information
Janapada Jaatre is a festival held at 6pm every 2nd and 4th weekend(both Saturday and Sunday), at Lalbag Botanical Gardens, Bangalore. The location of the festival is as interesting as the festival itself – it happens in an open air arena, where audience sit on a hillock, making it a Cinema hall like arrangement under the stars. This is an event organized as part of celebration of 50th year of forming Karnataka – Suvarna Karnataka Varsha. The event started in November 2006 and is expected to go on till November 2007.

Also see: More images of Janapada Jaatre on my India Image Gallery