Thiruvakkarai : Forest of Brown

Thiruvakkarai: Yes, if you think fossils are fun, says PRASSANA SRINIVASAN

TURNED ON by wood fossils? Nor am I. But Thiruvakkarai is the chosen destination for the Road Less Travelled this week and while gathering information about it, I cannot help regretfully noting that it is none of the following. A forgotten hill resort, a spit of virgin beach, the romantic ruins of a fort - the kind of places that RLT columns cover or ought to anyway.

Armed with my assignment, and some recently acquired knowledge about petrified trees, I hop on a bus to Tindivanam, consoling myself that this place I didn't know even existed since yesterday is at least not a long way away. Situated on the road between Tindivanam and Pondicherry, Thiruvakkarai seems to be better known for two places of worship - the Vakkara Kali Amman and the Mailam Murugan temples. But my assignment lies some five kilometres away - at the country's first wood fossil park.

The autorickshaw driver who ferries me from Tindivanam to the destination simply cannot understand why I am here to see the park and not the temples. He uses the time afforded by the bumpy 30-km ride to make me see light and then eventually gives up, probably convinced I am either ungodly or a little soft in the head.

The National Fossil Wood Park, which is maintained by the Geological Survey of India, announces itself without much fanfare. Two blue-coloured boards with factual information in English and Tamil are the only welcoming signs. A line of lush green trees, interspersed by small bushes, lead into the park. Or a part of it, to be precise. The wood fossils are spread over 247 acres in nine separate enclaves around Thiruvakkarai. The portion fenced off and formally open to the public is relatively small.

So what do you actually see? Walk along the meandering and narrow path through this petrified forest - which is an estimated 40 to 50 million years old — and trunks of various shapes lie strewn and half-buried in the soil. They are brown, look very much like wood but are as hard as rock. Some of the fossils, which are really trees that have petrified into stone due to a long-drawn out chemical process, have annular rings that reveal their age at the time of their death. No one is allowed to touch the fossils, which are guarded zealously by the lone security guard. To prevent even the very thought of doing so, the sides of the path are blocked by a hedge of cut branches with sharp dissuasive thorns.

Angiosperms and tamarindus are the main flora in this forest of brown, which is ringed by green fields and empty verdant spaces. The bottomline? Head out to Thiruvakkarai if you have a have a scientific frame of mind and are looking to educate yourself. There is a wealth of information you can pick up from visiting this park, which is now trying to promote itself as a tourist destination. However, if you are the type that prefers chilling out, then you had better settle for some place else - perhaps the one covered in next week's RLT?

How to get there

Accessible by road either from Pondicherry or Tindivanam. Thiruvakkarai lies on the road that connects the two.

Where to stay:

Don't even bother looking in Thiruvakkarai. Nearest accommodation in Pondy and Tindivanam.

Courtesy: http://www.hindu.com/mp/2004/01/17/stories/2004011700020100.htm

Mailam : Temple Town

Mailam: One way of cooking up an RLT, admits PRINCE FREDERICK

CONFESSION. WHEN I suggested Mailam as an RLT, the idea was greeted with a reaction that lay somewhere between deep scepticism and sheer derision. "Why Mailam?" asked my disbelieving colleagues. "RLTs are supposed to cover tourist places, not temples." Having spotted the place on the tourist map (marked by a man with a backpack), I was convinced that there was more to Mailam than the temple. "What about the fabulous scenery?" I shot back, silencing my colleagues. In my head, I pictured rolling hills, a freshwater lake and some other natural features, which add up to a good RLT.

REALITY. As I near Mailam, I discover the distressing truth. Mailam is a one temple town. The temple is situated on a hillock but the surrounding area is as flat as a pancake and the only water I can see is packaged in bottles in the numerous shops that lead to the temple.

STRATAGEM. This poses a problem. Will the powers-that-be allow me to publish Mailam as an RLT? Perhaps, they will if I write this as a confessional. So, having crossed my fingers, here goes.

The Mailam Murugan temple is located 15 km from Tindivanam, on a small hill on the slopes of which are a number of houses and an institute dedicated to the development of Tamil language and literature.

According to legend, it was here that Murugan rid a celestial being of a long-standing curse he `earned' from Shiva for dereliction of duty. Once cleansed of the curse, the being requested Murugan to grace this place with his presence. Murugan acceded. And so he has resided in Mailam (which derives its name from Murugan's vehicle, the Mayil or peacock) assuming his bridegroom form (Kalyana Kolam), along with Valli and Devasena. Many more interesting stories and beliefs unfold as I get a temple worker to interpret the iconography for me.

As I climb the steps leading to the temple, which is cool and ringed by trees, I learn from an elderly woman who strikes up a conversation that "the deity is also known to bless the childless with children". She seems to wonder why I am here when I tell her I am unmarried.

So, to return to the original question. Is there really more to Mailam than

Mailam? In a way, yes there is. It is just 10 km away from Tiruvakkarai, the fossil forest that was featured in an earlier RLT.

Together, they could comprise a neat tourist package, the twin experiences can be taken in during the course of a day. At least that's what I am telling the powers-that-be who will decide on the fate of this RLT.

Courtesy: http://www.hindu.com/mp/2004/08/07/stories/2004080700050100.htm

Manora,Vallanadu, Ariyankuppam, Vattaparai : The road comes to an end

In this final RLT, Soma Basu recalls the thrills and travails of exploring a hundred less-travelled roads

Historical heights

Manora 65 km from Thanjavur

Visited May 2004

I remember.The perilous journey to the tower across a tottering makeshift bridge with missing floorboards and shaky handrails.

Last week I wrote my 100th RLT (Kurangani) with a mind filled with mixed emotions. During four years of travelling across the Southern districts of Tamil Nadu and fringes of Kerala, I have realised travel writing is not easy. For, the sky will alway s be azure, rolling hills verdant and forests emerald. The vast emptiness of the pristine white sand on the beaches and the infinite blue sea is not easy to describe otherwise. But then the limited vocabulary was never a deterrent.

The objective always was to dig out exotic spots may be few knew about and fewer perhaps cared to visit. And now there can’t be a better moment, completion of hundred articles, to windup the column.

Several sweet and some not-so-pleasant memories will always remain etched. Poring over maps for hours and friendly suggestions even from strangers led me to several perfectly created places for the column such as the Cardamom Hills, Thengapattinam, Manora, Chunnambar, Valinokkam, Govindapperi, Kumbhavarutty, Kiliyur, Kuttikanam, Mannavannur, Ambanaad and many more.

Buck is beautiful

Vallanadu Black Buck Sanctuary 22 km from Tirunelveli

Visited June 2005

I remember. The thrill at spotting a black buck after a four-hour wait!

“Have you really been to all these places? Are they as beautiful as they look in your photographs?” From cynicism and suspicion to appreciation, they have all come my way and even earned me the nickname “RLT Soma”.

First encounter

What started as an innocuous decision about a travel column in November 2003 turned into quite a haul week after week over the years for the MetroPlus team. When I made my debut with Karaikudi’s majestic banglas, trepidation overshadowed enchantment. I was neither a travel writer nor a professional trekker and had no knowledge of Tamil (having come straight from Hindi heartland of Delhi). But all through I banked on my boss’s precious words: “Your personal experience will drive your narrative. What you see, smell, hear and taste will make your copy interesting.” To the best of my ability, wherever I went I tried to present the flavour of the area, many a times at the cost of aching and cramped legs, terrible back pain, a ravenously hungry stomach, several near misses of blinding my vision by some dangerously thorny branches and even slipping off wet rocks.

One of my most difficult treks was to Olakkay Aruvi water falls near Nagercoil. I began disastrously. While crossing a stream to enter the forest I tripped over a slippery rock much to my embarrassment. For me, my expensive digital camera was more precious and with some never-tried-before acrobatic skill I managed to hold it aloft like an Olympic flame. Several uphill walks left my pair of legs shaking like tottering stilts and each time I yearned to be tucked inside a rolling drum for the descend.

The Thenmala Eco-Toursim Centre on Madurai-Kollam Highway had me literally on the rope, not the road! I crawled across a rope from one bank of a pond to the other like a spiderwoman but was never sure whether I would survive to write the next RLT.

View from the tree-top

Chunammbar In Ariyankuppam near Cuddalore

Visited September 2006

I remember.The heady feeling at night in a tree-top house.

At Sittanavasal, I temporarily lost my bag to a chatter of prancing monkeys who pounced on me when I was climbing up to reach the Jain caves. I almost thought of lodging a police complaint when the simian brothers took pity and flung it back at me. But I dropped the catch and the bag hurtled down the very 150-odd steps that I had just managed to conquer huffing and puffing. I was back at step one to retrieve my bag.

Quitting reluctantly

I had ambitiously dreamt that all the trudging for the column would help me knock of several kilograms. Four years later, people still recommend a gym. I started, albeit, reluctantly. Today I quit yearning for more.

On these roads less travelled I met several well-meaning individuals, who volunteered information and entertained me with jokes, food and history. I met some forest caretakers more than once as they got transferred in these four years from one district to another. Some of them spoke a smattering of Hindi being ex-Army jawans and helped me to improve my knowledge of Tamil. These years have surely made me a better photographer, a keen bird watcher and much more knowledgeable about flora and fauna.

For a cool splash

Vattaparai: 15 km from Nagercoil

Visited: November 2007

I remember.The uncanny feeling it left. Anything could happen in this corridor that's teeming with wildlife.

The RLTs took me on smelly boat rides in Muthupet and Manakudy, rattling bus journeys to Manjolai, Thiruppodaimarudu and clattering taxis which broke down and left me stranded in the middle of nowhere for seven hours in Kanyakumari.

Bio-diversity

Whether it was experiencing a slice of bio-diversity from a close range or letting imagination run riot in fort ruins, or the romantic misty mountains and cascading water falls, the unusual swamp forests or the archaeological sites, each time it was an exciting and adventurous road that I refused to stray from even though it brought me dangerously close to elephants, bisons and bears. Various snorts and grunts kept pushing me deeper into the Saptur forest, and I had never been more scared. Mainly because my three-year-old son was with me. Unlike me, he was bereft of any tension, comfortably perched on the shoulder of a forest guard. My daughter’s first expedition with me was as a four-month-old in a basket to mist enveloped Addukam and Poolathur near Kodaikanal, where we almost lost our way back. Ever since she has accompanied me on almost every RLT.

All good things come to an end but I remain “not out” after a century. I owe a lot to scores of faceless and unknown readers who call, e-mail and write letters suggesting new and less-known places. I am only declaring my innings today. There are still many hidden spots in the State waiting to be explored.

Courtesy: http://www.hindu.com/mp/2008/01/28/stories/2008012851190300.htm

Pondicherry : For a date with history

The 150-year-old bungalow offers three rooms and a colonial suite with breakfast

OLD WORLD CHARM Patricia Guest House

It all happens in a moment. The sky changes hue, the landscape alters, even the familiar turns quaint as we reach our destination. Pondicherry is a potpourri of people, where history meets legend and a confluence of cultures exists. We go to Pondicherry in search of new landmarks — to look beyond Auroville and the Aurobindo Ashram. The French influence is almost omnipresent. You can sense it in the streets, in the red kapis of the policemen, in the architecture, the cuisine and even in the accents. It is not just the French, but even the Roman connections that are evident here. Excavations unearthed in Arikamedu, on the outskirts of Pondicherry, have proved that the Romans had settled here. Legends associate this seaside town with the ancient Hindu sage Agastya. The 300-odd temples here are testimony to this. It is difficult to typify this town that smacks of the colonial era and yet is so distinctively Indian. Even more difficult is to find accommodation in this weekend getaway, that too on a Saturday afternoon. We drive past a few resorts that boast a sea view, cross many a cottage in and around Auroville and enter the heart of the city, looking for colonial bungalows which offer guest house facilities. Meandering our way through the maze of streets, we set out in search of a heritage guesthouse, Patricia Guest House.

Enquiries lead us to a nondescript door on Rue Romain Rolland shrouded by greenery. We cannot see beyond the huge compound wall, not a soul is around. After a brief wait, the portals open to unveil two portions of a renovated old bungalow, more than a century old, enclosed by foliage. A small tank of water has become a fishpond, even as a huge metal pot hangs over it, supported by a rope.

A series of large pillars support the open hall, which serves as both the living and the dining room. An eclectic array of curios and antique furniture dots the space - from seashells to pottery, from colourful lampshades to terracotta dolls, the mélange is unique. At one end is an antique wooden swing touching the red oxide flooring, at the other are petite breakfast tables and chairs, overlooking the garden.

Run by Patricia Michel and her son, Thierry, this guesthouse currently offers three rooms and a colonial suite with breakfast. Thierry recollecting his childhood days says this 150-year-old bungalow owned by his grandfather was once an arena for cockfights. A narrow staircase leads up to two levels, to the rooms with attached bathrooms and private verandahs. Our room is on the first level which is spacious and has the same feel as the hall downstairs. A huge wooden bed covered with mosquito nets is the first thing that meets the eye. The second part of the guesthouse is the heritage portion with a kitchen and a living room. A vast expansive suite with a private garden and a lounge is now being renovated. It's almost a house in itself with a living room and a dining area enclosed in that space. Scattered with antiques and artefacts, Thierry calls it a colonial suite. Every item has been carefully arranged, be it the wooden furniture or the dry flowers. The walls are adorned with old paintings or with buffalo head mounts. The duo also manage another colonial guest house which is a home stay, just a few streets away. In fact Pondicherry is full of them now, complains Thierry who has returned from France to manage this property. Several bungalows are now converted into hotels and restaurants; we have dinner in one of them called Dupleix, named after the erstwhile Governor General and housed in the former Mayor's residence. It is not just the food or the experience that we partake of, but a large slice of history as well. The trip does give us a hangover, of the colonial variety.

Fact file

Getting there

Pondicherry is about 170 km from Chennai. There are two Patricia Guest Houses, the first one in Rue Romain Rolland and the second in Francois Martin. I would recommend the first, which is parallel to the Beach Road. The board is missing and some locals have not even heard of it.

Facilities

Rooms in Patricia Guest House 1 come with private verandahs and gardens

Patricia Guest House 2 is a typical home stay.

Totally seven air conditioned rooms and a deluxe suite with attached bathrooms

Medical help, transportation and food are arranged on request

Traditional board games and books available on request

Tariff

Rates here start from Rs. 1,500 and go up to Rs. 3,000 for the deluxe suite Breakfast is part of the package. It is better to book a room in case you are planning to go during season (October to February) or during weekends

For details contact 04132224720 or email colonialeheritage@rediffmail.com.

Courtesy: http://www.hindu.com/mp/2005/07/02/stories/2005070203030600.htm