Malampuzha continuation
Hello readers,
I am back after a short break. I got several awesome suggestions and encouragement from my readers. Thanks readers for reading my blogs and encouraging me. I used this short break to work upon my third blog incorporating the suggestions.
We were speaking about Malampuzha Dam and gardens in the last blog, I devoted a lion's share of the blog to describe about Yakshi. Now I will write about rest of the Garden and the places around the garden.
I'll start with the hanging bridge, that i have mentioned in my last blog, built across the main dam canal. The whole bridge is suspended with heavy metallic cables with wooden platform. When you walk through it, the bridge will be shaking and slightly screeching creating an excitement or fear depending on your mental strength. In the book Alchemist by Paulo Coelho there is a scene were the hero Santiago meets the Alchemist. To answer his queries Alchemist share the story of a wise man and a boy. The story goes like this, once a father sent his son to a wise man for learning the secret to happiness. After listening to the boy carefully the wise man give a spoon with two drops of oil, to the boy, and asked the boy to go and see his huge mansion with out spilling the oil, the boy roam around the house and come back in some hours with the spoon and oil intact. The wise man questions him about what he has seen, the boy replies that he was focused only on keeping the oil intact so he couldn't notice anything. So the wise man ask him to go again, this time the boy observe, watch and enjoy all that wonders in his mansion and come back. He starts explaining about what he has seen to the wise man. The wise man simply ask him about the two drops of oil that is entrusted to him. The boy looks at the spoon and realize that it's missing. The wise man smiles and tell him "the secret of happiness is to see all the marvels of the world, and never to forget the drops of oil on the spoon". The real beauty of the walk through the suspension bridge is that it give you an opportunity to enjoy the beauty of the garden, dam and the main canal with a fountain (marvels of the place) while keeping yourself steady.... 😉
Moving ahead to the children's park and the toy train which runs around the park. When I went to Malampuzha for the first time, with my father, mother and sister, the toy train was something amazing for me. Being a grandson of railway employee trains were never new to me. I started train travel even before I was one year old. But the toy train with the bogies in the shape of tea cups were something new. I still remember faintly that we sat on a red coloured bogie. I don't know whether the bogies are of same shape now. I heard that there was a renovation some 2-3 years back.
From the garden there is a staircase to the top of the dam enabling us to walk on the top of Dam. The walk above the Dam, especially after monsoon is something I love. You can see the reservoir one one side and the beautiful garden on the other side at much lower level giving you a birds eye view. If you are fortunate to have some rain clouds (nimbostratus/ cumulonimbus as per scientific names) above the reservoir then what you will be seeing is the clouds moving close to the Sahya mountains with silver streaks of sunlight seeping through the clouds with the clear bluish water under them. What a sight it is .... Unfortunately for me, ever since I realized my passion in photography and started photography as a passion, I never could visit Malampuzha. Anyways I have a pic of the similar scene, explained by me, downloaded from google.
Now coming out of the garden there is an aquarium in the shape of a huge concrete fish, managed by fisheries department, lying in a pool of water with some good collection of fishes. When I visited the aquarium for the first time I was really scared to get inside as I was afraid that this giant fish with big eyes, lying in a pool of water with most of its body above the surface will close its mouth trapping us inside it... That was when I was 6 year old. There was a very long period when the aquarium was closed down. But the they have restarted it that's what I am told. I always love to watch fishes swimming in the water. It actually refreshes us a lot. This make the aquarium final visiting point as some time watching the beautiful fishes will shoo away your tiredness of walking around, if it is there.
Next major attraction is the snake rehabilitation center, which I never dare to visit. Being a herpetophobiac, I am sure if I visit the place then I may have to clean up my own puking. This is a condition which I have tried to overcome, but even now thinking about the snakes itself create a sort of aversion. Good thing due to this condition is that I don't go near the snakes and they are left in peace. But this condition is problematic to you, if your spouse loves snakes and she/he wants to visit the snake rehabilitation center. As per what I have heard from those who have visited the place is that there are several varieties of snakes including one or two pythons, king cobras, viper etc. They also have some tortoises and 1-2 crocodiles. There is a board, in the park, instructing what to do in case of a snake bite which in my opinion is a very helpful thing. The forest department, which manages the snake rehabilitation centre, has opened a stall for selling natural honey, coffee powder, jute bags etc. made by tribal people in the Parambikulam tiger reserve forest. If you are a herpetophobiac then this can be an excellent place to spend the time till your spouse or partner finish their visit, with out the fear of snakes coming out. But if the snakes do come out of their cages, as in Harry Potter and Philosopher's stone, no worries you are free to run. That's how I console myself. 😜
Next to the "Udan Khatola" or the rope way. The rope way was a later addition to the gardens, may be between 1991-1995 period or so. It's 1.25 km long as per internet. I remember it to be 1 + kms. I have traveled twice or thrice in that. It's really fun to see the garden, dam etc. in bird's eye view. During my first visit, may be I was in 10th standard I think, I was like, see I got the world under my feet. A 20 minute long illusion 😢 There were areas where the tree tops were just under your legs and you will feel that you can touch it by extending your legs a bit.
Winding up this blog, I am skipping several more small small attractions in the garden as I don't want to spoil the fun of seeing those attractions and make your opinion about it, when you will be visiting Palakkad and Malampuzha.
In the next blog I will write about some more attractions around the dam and during the journey from Malampuzha to Palakkad town. Bye for now.
By the way, if you like my blog and want to continue reading, please hit the subscribe button. The you will be notified when I publish my next blog. I also appreciate your comments and opinions in the comment section. That will be of a great help to me.
I am back after a short break. I got several awesome suggestions and encouragement from my readers. Thanks readers for reading my blogs and encouraging me. I used this short break to work upon my third blog incorporating the suggestions.
We were speaking about Malampuzha Dam and gardens in the last blog, I devoted a lion's share of the blog to describe about Yakshi. Now I will write about rest of the Garden and the places around the garden.
I'll start with the hanging bridge, that i have mentioned in my last blog, built across the main dam canal. The whole bridge is suspended with heavy metallic cables with wooden platform. When you walk through it, the bridge will be shaking and slightly screeching creating an excitement or fear depending on your mental strength. In the book Alchemist by Paulo Coelho there is a scene were the hero Santiago meets the Alchemist. To answer his queries Alchemist share the story of a wise man and a boy. The story goes like this, once a father sent his son to a wise man for learning the secret to happiness. After listening to the boy carefully the wise man give a spoon with two drops of oil, to the boy, and asked the boy to go and see his huge mansion with out spilling the oil, the boy roam around the house and come back in some hours with the spoon and oil intact. The wise man questions him about what he has seen, the boy replies that he was focused only on keeping the oil intact so he couldn't notice anything. So the wise man ask him to go again, this time the boy observe, watch and enjoy all that wonders in his mansion and come back. He starts explaining about what he has seen to the wise man. The wise man simply ask him about the two drops of oil that is entrusted to him. The boy looks at the spoon and realize that it's missing. The wise man smiles and tell him "the secret of happiness is to see all the marvels of the world, and never to forget the drops of oil on the spoon". The real beauty of the walk through the suspension bridge is that it give you an opportunity to enjoy the beauty of the garden, dam and the main canal with a fountain (marvels of the place) while keeping yourself steady.... 😉
Moving ahead to the children's park and the toy train which runs around the park. When I went to Malampuzha for the first time, with my father, mother and sister, the toy train was something amazing for me. Being a grandson of railway employee trains were never new to me. I started train travel even before I was one year old. But the toy train with the bogies in the shape of tea cups were something new. I still remember faintly that we sat on a red coloured bogie. I don't know whether the bogies are of same shape now. I heard that there was a renovation some 2-3 years back.
From the garden there is a staircase to the top of the dam enabling us to walk on the top of Dam. The walk above the Dam, especially after monsoon is something I love. You can see the reservoir one one side and the beautiful garden on the other side at much lower level giving you a birds eye view. If you are fortunate to have some rain clouds (nimbostratus/ cumulonimbus as per scientific names) above the reservoir then what you will be seeing is the clouds moving close to the Sahya mountains with silver streaks of sunlight seeping through the clouds with the clear bluish water under them. What a sight it is .... Unfortunately for me, ever since I realized my passion in photography and started photography as a passion, I never could visit Malampuzha. Anyways I have a pic of the similar scene, explained by me, downloaded from google.
Now coming out of the garden there is an aquarium in the shape of a huge concrete fish, managed by fisheries department, lying in a pool of water with some good collection of fishes. When I visited the aquarium for the first time I was really scared to get inside as I was afraid that this giant fish with big eyes, lying in a pool of water with most of its body above the surface will close its mouth trapping us inside it... That was when I was 6 year old. There was a very long period when the aquarium was closed down. But the they have restarted it that's what I am told. I always love to watch fishes swimming in the water. It actually refreshes us a lot. This make the aquarium final visiting point as some time watching the beautiful fishes will shoo away your tiredness of walking around, if it is there.
Next major attraction is the snake rehabilitation center, which I never dare to visit. Being a herpetophobiac, I am sure if I visit the place then I may have to clean up my own puking. This is a condition which I have tried to overcome, but even now thinking about the snakes itself create a sort of aversion. Good thing due to this condition is that I don't go near the snakes and they are left in peace. But this condition is problematic to you, if your spouse loves snakes and she/he wants to visit the snake rehabilitation center. As per what I have heard from those who have visited the place is that there are several varieties of snakes including one or two pythons, king cobras, viper etc. They also have some tortoises and 1-2 crocodiles. There is a board, in the park, instructing what to do in case of a snake bite which in my opinion is a very helpful thing. The forest department, which manages the snake rehabilitation centre, has opened a stall for selling natural honey, coffee powder, jute bags etc. made by tribal people in the Parambikulam tiger reserve forest. If you are a herpetophobiac then this can be an excellent place to spend the time till your spouse or partner finish their visit, with out the fear of snakes coming out. But if the snakes do come out of their cages, as in Harry Potter and Philosopher's stone, no worries you are free to run. That's how I console myself. 😜
Next to the "Udan Khatola" or the rope way. The rope way was a later addition to the gardens, may be between 1991-1995 period or so. It's 1.25 km long as per internet. I remember it to be 1 + kms. I have traveled twice or thrice in that. It's really fun to see the garden, dam etc. in bird's eye view. During my first visit, may be I was in 10th standard I think, I was like, see I got the world under my feet. A 20 minute long illusion 😢 There were areas where the tree tops were just under your legs and you will feel that you can touch it by extending your legs a bit.
Winding up this blog, I am skipping several more small small attractions in the garden as I don't want to spoil the fun of seeing those attractions and make your opinion about it, when you will be visiting Palakkad and Malampuzha.
In the next blog I will write about some more attractions around the dam and during the journey from Malampuzha to Palakkad town. Bye for now.
By the way, if you like my blog and want to continue reading, please hit the subscribe button. The you will be notified when I publish my next blog. I also appreciate your comments and opinions in the comment section. That will be of a great help to me.
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| A view from the top of dam |
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| Aquarium |
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| Rock garden entrance |
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| Inside the rock garden |
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| Hanging bridge |
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