Pareekshith Thampuran Museum

Pareekshith Thampuran Museum is a very good archeological museum located near the Shiva temple, on the Durbar Hall Road at Ernakulam. This museum boasts of an impressive collection of 19th century paintings, ancient monuments and coins, scriptures made in stone and Plaster of Paris, murals as well as memorabilia belonging to the Cochin royal family. Infact, Parikshit Thampuran Museum is counted amongst the best museums of not only Kerala, but the whole of the Indian subcontinent. 

Much before it was turned into a museum, the building housing it was used as a venue to receive the guests of the Kochi royalty. It also substituted as a place for official ceremonies and meetings. The most attractive part of this magnanimous structure is the former guest room, or the durbar hall, of the Kochi rajas. It has a sprawling, stringently Kerala style structure. The museum is, now, under the administration of the State Archaeological Department, which named it after Rama Varma Parikshith Thampuran, the Royal family's last ruler.

The museum is situated on the Durbar Hall Ground on DH Road, Eranakulam. The museum is open all days except Mondays and national holidays, from 9:30 hrs to 12:00 hrs and 15:00 hrs to 17:00 hrs.

How to Reach:

Nearest Railway Station : Ernakulam

Nearest Airport : Cochin International Airport, about 20 km from Ernakulam city

Peechi Dam

Peechi Dam, 23 km from Thrissur is the main irrigation project of the city, What started as an irrigation project has now burgeoned into a popular picnic spot ,which offers boating facilities at the reservoir. The dam is built across the Manali River and is endowed with an immense catchment area that stretches across an expanse of nearly 3200 acres. The project is intended for irrigating 17555 Hetr land in Mukundapuram, Thalappally, Thrissur and Chavakkad Taluk, through the left and right bank main canal and Branch canals.

There are several lush green botanical gardens near by the dam. This place is ideal for spending holidays. Boating and trekking are the bonus of this dam site.You will see many tuskers and tigers during your boating. Peechi wildlife sanctuary is located near to the dam. There are many orchids and medicinal plants near by the area that are also making Peechi dam very demanding. There are dense, moist deciduous forests and semi-evergreen forests in the area of the dam. You might see Sambar, Spotted and Barking Deer, Tigers, Leopards, Wild Dogs and more wild animals during boating.

The colorful and beautifully tended botanical gardens as well as the rippling fountains accentuate the beauty of the place. The Peechi Wildlife Sanctuary, located a mere 15 km away from Thrissur is also a big draw with the tourists. Peechi, a small and picturesque town, sited at a distance of 23 km from Thrissur , is one of the ideal spots to attract tourists with its vast catchment area, botanical gardens and lush green forests.

How to Reach:

Nearest Railway Station: Thrissur

Nearest Airport: Cochin International Airport

Kovalam

Kovalam, the beachfront that has made into the international tourism map, is 16 km off the state capital, Thiruvananthapuram. The Arabian Sea that lines Kerala along its west all along turns into a meek and placid waterscape at Kovalam. Its major attraction is the sandy seaside naturally divided by rocky mounds into three separate curved beaches. Clear water with shallow bottom up to a hundred metres has made Kovalam a swimmers' haven. However, the 1970's saw foreign tourists arriving and hotels being set up for them. In the early years of discovery of its potential a large part of the tourists were followers of the counterculture, like the Hippie movement, who wanted to enjoy an idyll on this lonely beach. Kovalam was the harbinger of the now thriving tourism industry in Kerala.

Since then, Kovalam has been the single major attraction for tourists for many years until other places began to be explored in terms of tourism potential. It is also the first place in Kerala to be featured on the International tourism map in a big way.

Nowadays, tourism lore treats Kovalam beach as made of three small beaches differently named. The beach is divided into three sections by rocky headlands jutting out in to the sea at two places. They are named Light House Beach, Hawah Beach or (Eves Beach) and Samudra Beach. The first two beaches lying southwards are tourist spots. The curved shape of beaches makes them a sort of coves with shallow water extending up to a hundred metres. This natural protection from strong waves and deceptive undercurrents make it safe for swimming. The clear water resembles the clear blue sky. Both the Light House Beach and the Hawah Beach have a large number of hotels and resorts. This little seaside town sees much business aimed chiefly at foreign tourists. There are also a large number of curio shops here selling things from all parts of India. The northern part of the seaside, known as Samudra Beach in tourist parlance, lies quietly separated by a high headland from the busy areas. It is still undeveloped and the local fishermen continue to venture into the sea on catamaran, the traditional sea faring device which is just a few logs of light wood tied together.

International tourism agencies have spotted Kovalam for its potential and of late chartered flights have begun to bring tourists every week from Europe in large numbers.

There are many hotels and here to suit different budgets, including a few five star hotels. Kovalam is also a major destination of health tourism with many of the hotels offering Ayurvedic treatment. Sun bathing and swimming are two options too tempting to refuse. Surfing boards, beach umbrellas, beach benches etc are available on rent. There are lifeguards on the beach. Local fishermen offer a ride on their catamaran for a small fee.

The Lighthouse on a rocky promontory at the southern end is open to visitors. Vizhinjam, a natural port and site of the proposed Transhipment Container Terminal, is a few kilometres away. A rock cut cave temple at Vizhinjam, which is a protected historical monument, is also worth a visit.

Best Season:

Being a beach resort Kovalam really is a year-round destination weather-wise. The actual season is from September to March. The prices shoot up during the Christmas-New Year week as do the number of tourists, so it might be wise to avoid this period.

  

How to Reach:

Nearest Railway Station: Thiruvananthapuram central, about 16 kms away

Nearest Airport: Thiruvananthapuram International Airport, about 10 kms away

Periyar wildlife sanctuary

Periyar, in Kerala, is the best-known wildlife sanctuary in south India. Though billed as a tiger reserve, Periyar is really famous for its wild elephants, 100-year-old artificial lake and its setting in the beautiful thickly forested Western ghats. This is not your best shot at spotting the Bengal Tiger considering there are less than 40 of them that inhabit an area of 777sq.km but there's plenty of other animals like the Nilgiri langoor, Nilgiri tahr, bison, deer, antelope and about 700 elephants to make the trip worthwhile. The Periyar Tiger Reserve consists of tropical evergreen, semi- evergreen and moist deciduous forests. Its legal status as a National Park is still pending and only one notification has been issued. It was declared a Project Tiger Reserve in 1978 and the first research started in 1991. The results indicate 49 species of mammals, 246 species of birds, 28 species of reptiles, 8 species of amphibians, 22 species of fishes and 112 species of butterflies. The core area is 350 sq.kms. The final notification of the buffer area is pending. The national park and the tiger reserve is rated as one of the best wildlife sanctuaries in India for wildlife photography, bird watching, elephant herds and tiger watching.

Some of the deeper valleys contain tropical evergreen forest with extremely thick tree cover that even bright sunlight finds hard to penetrate. These trees that have grown to amazing heights of up to 130-140 feet seems to having being there forever. The few level areas in the park contain marshy grasslands near the edges of the lake and other water bodies. Spread out across the park are also patches of semi-evergreen forest used as important cover by many of the animal species.

 Apart from Elephants, the other animals to be seen in the Periyar sanctuary Kerala are Gaur, Wild Pigs, Sambar, Barking Deer, Mouse Deer, Dole or Indian Wild Dog and very rarely, a Tiger. There are, now, an estimated 40 tigers in the Periyar national Park. Four species of primates are found at Periyar - the rare lion-tailed macaque, the Nilgiri Langur, Gee's Golden Langur, Common Langur And Bonnet Macaque. Periyar also happens to be the habitat of the elusive Nilgiri Tahr, which is rarely to be seen.

Lake Palace and Aranya Nivas are options for stay set in the sylvan lakeside. The Lake Palace, a former summer retreat of the Maharaja of Travancore, is built on a small island accessible only by boat. Aranya Nivas(Jungle Retreat) a stone lodge with rubble masonry built in colonial style at the head of the lake is a premium property of the Kerala Tourism Development Corporation.

How to Reach:  
Nearest Railway Station: Kottayam, about 114 km
Nearest Airports: Madurai (Tamilnadu) about 140 km; Cochin International Airport, about 190 km. 

Vagamon

Vagamon is located 39 km from Thodupuzha, 33 km away from Palai, 45 km from Kumily, 22 km from Kuttikanam and about 65 km from Kottayam  of the state Kerala. It has a cool climate with the temperature between 10-23°C during a summer midday. It is situated 1,200 metres above sea level.

Vagamon is a perfect tourist place situated 1200 meters above the sea level surrounded by the greenery of tea gardens, fresh cool air, murmuring Pine forest, small waterfalls inviting you to Vagamon. It has been an incredible experience whenever I went there and I still want to go there once again. The hill station has a chain of 3 beautiful hills called Thangal hill, Murugan hill and Kurismala that give an enchanting feel to this beautiful hill station. So visit Vagamon hill station to experience eternal bliss and peace of mind. 

Reaching Vagamon itself is an extraordinary experience. The meandering road to Vagamon is cut in solid rock lined with pine forests. And as you wind your way through green capped hills, the rolling plains come into view thousands of feet below you.This tourist place also has to offer Thangal Para, the Indo-Swiss Project and Kurisumala Ashram. Welcome to a land which would make you come back again and again. So that you could rejuvenate yourself and cherish memories of this enchantingly beautiful land.

Vagamon hill station is comprised of a beautiful series of hillocks, valleys and cascading waterfalls that make it the ideal getaway for tourists. Take a walk along the narrow, mist covered zigzag roads that wind up the hills and experience true bliss. For adventure seekers, there is an option of trekking, para gliding or rock climbing.

How to reach:

Nearest railway station: Kottayam

Nearest Airport: Cochin International Airport is the nearest airport

Power House Waterfalls

Power House Waterfalls is a popular tourist attraction in the hill resort of Munnar of Kerala. It is located on the way to Periyar wildlife Sanctuary of Thekkady from Munnar. This is a scenic spot at a distance of 18 km from Munnar town.

The location of Power House Waterfalls is surrounded by lush green hill ranges of Western Ghats. Power House Waterfalls is a cascade that runs down from a height of about 2000 m from steep rocks.The verdant Western mountain ranges add to its scenic beauty, making it an ideal stopover on the way to Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary. The torrents of water plunging down Power House falls is said to emanate from Devikulam, a pastoral hill station few kilometers from Munnar. The waters of the fall are believed to have curative powers, and acts as a natural massage.The waterfall is a spectacle when visited soon after monsoons (monsoon lasts from June to September), when its white foaming water thunders down in torrents from such an elevation onto fern-fringed pools. With the spray of water on your face, you will be bemused by its sheer might. Take a stroll around the area, photograph the waterfall from different perspectives, and soak up the natural ambience.

The natives of Munnar believe that the water of Power House Waterfalls has strong healing property. It is believed that the cool water of this waterfalls originate from Sita Devi Lake of Devikulam. As per folklore, Sita Devi, of the epic Ramayana, took a bath in this lake which imparted healing property to the lake.

Power House Waterfalls is truly a refreshing break on the way to Periyar from Munnar, and suitably rejuvenates you for your journey ahead.

How to Reach:
Nearest Railway Station: Ernakulam Railway Station (4 Hrs from Munnar)
Nearest Airport: Cochin International Airport (4 hours 30 minutes from Munnar)

Parashurama

Parashurama , is the sixth avatar of Vishnu and belongs to the Second Age, and is the son of a Brahmin father Jamadagni and mother Renuka in Hindu mythology. He is considered one of the seven immortal (Chiranjivi) humans. He received an axe after undertaking a terrible penance to please Shiva, from whom he learned the methods of warfare and other skills.

He was the last son of Jamadakni Rishi and Renuka Devi and was named Raman. Pleased with his severe thapas, Lord Siva gave him a weapon called Parasu. Raman thus came to be called Parasuraman. 

Kaarthaveeriyan, a vain king cunningly stole Jamadakni rishi's holy cow Kamadhenu.  Kamadhenu could grant any wish.  An angry Parasuraman fought with the king, killed him and brought back Kamadhenu & its baby to the ashram.  But his father was upset for he felt a brahmin has to be patient.  Parasurama went on a pilgrimage for a year to please his father & to atone his sins.  

Parasurama's mother had deep respect and devotion for her husband and worshipped him as her Lord. So pure was her devotion that each day she would go to the river bed and pick up a handful of sand and this would form into a pot. She would be able to fill water in this unfired pot and take it to her husband for his daily pooja.  One such day, as she took up a handful of river sand, she saw the reflection of a handsome gandharva in the water and she looked up in admiration. This was a step down in her sincerity and she lost the ability to create a pot of the river sand. Sage Jamadakni realised through his Gnana Drishti of the happenings and ordered his sons to kill their mother. His sons refused to do so, claiming their mother was even greater than God to them. Parasurama immediately chopped off his mother's head to do his duty to his father. Rishi Jamadkni was overjoyed by his obedience and was willing to grant him any boon. Parasuraman asked for the life of his mother and brothers and also that they have no memory of the happenings. Jamadakni rishi granted him his wishes.  

 

Kaarthaveeriyan's sons were meanwhile lusting for revenge.  One day, when sage Jamadakni was alone in the ashram with his wife, they chopped off his head.  Parasurama then decided that such bad blood should not be allowed to run in the ruling class and completely destroyed the kshatriya clan.  (Since Parasurama was an avataram, we must assume here that he destroyed the evil kings.)  Moolagan was one of the kings who escaped Parasurama's wrath and Dasharatha, father of Lord Rama was his descendant.  

Parashurama in Kerala History 

The legend says that Warrior Sage -Parasuram, the 6th avatar of Lord Vishnu, the preserver of the universe, stood on a lofty cliff and ordered the violent sea to recede by throwing his warrior axe in the sea. The sea obeyed his commands and the land that egressed of the sea waters came to be known as Kerala, the land of abundance and affluence.