Athirappally Waterfalls

Athirappally, have you heard the name of this wonderful place. No. Neither have I heard about this place till October 2 , 2006. We were on a pilgrimage tour of some important Temples around Trissur District in Kerala for a week from September 30, 2006. My daughter in law, Kamala, told us that one of her collegues in the office mentioned about a Waterfalls in Athirappally near Chalakkudi, which we should visit without fail. So we decided to visit this place. At Chalakkudi we had our lunch and learnt from the local people that Athirappally was only 30 Kms from that place. We drove towards Athirappally in Sholayar Ranges of Vazhachal Forests bordering Tamil Nadu. The road was uniformly good. The weather was friendly with clouds and cool winds. Since this was just after the rainy seson the forest was fresh and green. There was the smell of fresh vegetation every where. I was wondering where we have lost our natural sense of enjoying real beauty of nature. Living in the midst of bricks and concrete and rushing towards making money we have certainly lost all the treasures that nature had provided free to us.

On the way we came across some mountain monkeys obviously waiting for the food items thrown to them from the passing vehicles. We did not see any wild animals otherwise. There were different kinds of colourful birds perched on the trees, the names of which we could not find, since we live in the cities! Throughout the journey we heard the gurgling of Chalakkudi River down below in the valley.

Just about a Km from the Falls we saw the overall view of the Athirappalli waterfalls majestically falling 80 ft. down. The broad river which looks calm and peaceful falls down from the bluff creating a wonderful sight. But to enjoy the real beauty of the Falls we had to walk down 2 Kms in the bridle path to the place where the water falls ferociously creating a huge mist raising to half the height of the falls. My wife and I found very difficult to walk down on the wet and slippery stones on the bridle path due to age. But my two little grand daughters did it without much strain and they were enjoying the walk too. When we reached down to the river where the falling water had created a huge lake before flowing as a river, all of us were drenched fully by the fine water particles of thick mist, as though we had taken a bath. That is the same with all the people who had reached down. It was a marvelous sight to view the falls from down. The afternoon sun light had painted a rainbow on the huge mist created by the falling water, which something one should see to believe and enjoy.

Thanks to lack of publicity and commercialisation there were not much of crowd in this waterfalls.When we were there, even though it was a holiday there were about few hundred visitors, mostly school and college students. There were some Tea shops on the road sides in Athirappally selling hot tea and freshly made snacks and of course junk food. We had Tea which was good. On the way, I saw some hotels and guest houses coming up. I am told this place is catching up fast with cinema producers in south,as a favorite spot for shooting.

I request the visitors to my blog to take a holiday trip to this wonderful place, if they visit Kerala, it will be really a memorable visit.

Kodungallur: Treasure-trove of History

Some times we step into places which open up a treasur- trove of knowledge. One such thing happened to me during my tour of Kerala in October, when we visited Kodungallur to worship Devi Bagavathy in the famous Temple there.

As one interested in the History and Culture of the Land of Malabar which was known as Chera Nadu, I wanted to know more about this part of ancient Tamil Kingdom. How this had become Kerala etc. A genuine query in my inquisitive mind. But could not progress much due to lack of resources and nonavailability of research material on the subject for me. After the darshan of Devi when we came out of the Temple, my son, who knows my interest in books, got me a copy of an old book, a bound volume for Rs.20/- sold in the temple stall. This book was so old the pages have become yellow and brittle, if not handled properly the pages will break to pieces! The title of the book was "Golder Tower" the author V.T.Induchoodan, published by Cochin Devoswam in 1970.

When I returned home, I started reading the book. I found the book was a work of love by the author on the History and culture of ancient Chera Nadu , with particular refence to Temples around Kodungallur. The author's familiarity with the subject was astounding. The references that he had given in the book indicate the erudition of the author. He had done a lot of research on the subject. His familiarity with Tamil Classics connecting the Cheras was an added advantage to the Author. Naturally I wanted to know more about Author V.T. Induchoodan, if possible to contact him. Unfortunately I found that he had passed away in 2002 at the age of 82. Then I learnt that, he was a researcher, Scholar and Writer in Malayalam and English. He was editor of Malayalam daily "Desabhimani" official Newspaper of Communist party, for some years. Later on he had come out of the Party and dedicated himself to research and Cultural activities. He was the son-in-law of Mahakavi Vallathol Narayana Menon., Great Malayalam Poet .

Reading this book gave me fresh impetus to continue my studies in the History and Culture of Chera Elam (Keralam) or Chera Nadu of yore, the Capital of which was Mahodayapuram or Vanchi other names for Kodungallur. I am writing on the subject purely from the information gathered by me from various sources, and I claim nothing in this of my own. If some one could claim any factual error in my writing I am open for corrections and I thankfully welcome such corrections.

Kodungallur, known as Cranganore was the anciant port city of Muchiri or Muziris of kingdom of Chera Nadu. This was the Capital during the reign of last Cheraman Perumal. Kodungallur had a chequered History from ancient times. This has been mentioned by ancient Greek and Roman explorers in their records. It is claimed that Thomas the Apostile of Jesus landed with his followers in 52 AD and established the first Christian community in India. This is the earliest Syrian Christian Centre known as Syrian Nasranis in Malabar Area. Nasrani is the term used for the followers of "Nazarene messaiah ( Jesus)".

Similarly the Cheraman Jama Masjid in Kodungallur is the oldest and perhaps the first Mosque in India built around 612 AD. It is said the last Cheraman Peruman had gone to Mecca to learn about Islam and became a Muslim there. And, this last Cheraman became sick while returning to India and died in the port town of Salalah(Oman). This has also been confirmed by the present descendant of Cheraman family Raja Valiathampuram of Kodungallur in an interview. Interestingly I was in Salalah (Oman) for 18 months during my eight years' stay in Sultanate of Oman. The locals and my Malabar friends used to say there was "a kabarastan of Malabari King" in Salalah. Now I feel sorry that I did not care visit the place during that time.

The History of Jews also records that the first Group of Jews landed in Cranganore (Kodungallur) at about circa 70 to esacpe the persecution of their community in their home land. Then they proceeded to Kochi where they were granted land for settlement by the then Chera King.

The Rule of Chera Dynasties can be divided into two periods. The first was the Cheras of Sangam Era,who ruled a wide area including Kongu Nadu upto present day Karur and flourished along with Cholas and Pandyas in South. The mighty Cholas destroyed the Chera Kingdom, which became divided into small principalities in the coastal areas only. But in 800 AD the second Chera Empire was established under Kulasekhara Varman more famously known as Sri Kulasekhsra Alwar, famous Vaishnavite Saint who was a schlolar in Tamil and Sanskrit religious litrature. His "Perumal Tiruvaimozhi" in Tamil and Mukundamala" in Sanskrit are sung even today.

Chera Nadu showed phinominal Economic and Cultural growth during the reign of Kulasekharas from 800 AD to 1102 AD with their Capital at Mahodayapuram or Tiruvanchikulam,very near to the present day Kodungallur. Brahmin families from North were brought and settled in Chera Nadu. With them they brought Vedic Culture and Sanskrit. Malayalam as a language refined liberally with Sanskrit was separated from Tamil during period of Kulasekharas only. It is my desire to write about the origin and idendity of Namboothiri Brahmins of Kerala and their rich contribution to the healthy fusion of two main steams, Aryan and Dravidian Cultures in Kerala. The Malayalam Calendar more famously known as Kollam Era was introduced by Rajasekhara Varman in 825 AD", second king of this dynasty. There was an all round cultural renaissance of Art, Architecture, Literature and education took place during this period, in Chera Nadu. It is believed Chilappathikaram the famous Tamil Epic, was written by Ilangovadigal while he was residing near Kodungallur. Adi Sankaracharya also belong to this period only.

During its glorious time Vanchipattanam or Muzirri was the busiest Port in the South western part of India handling ships from as far as Rome and , Babylonia, Misr (Egypt), and Arabia in the west and as far as China, Siam and Swarnabhoomi in east. But there was a sudden end to this when an unprecedented Flood in Poorna (Periyar) River deluged the city and the port in 1341 AD. Thus the glory of Kodungallur was interned into the History of Chera Nadu.