Changes I noticed in Kodaikanal

In the last three and a half years since my visit to Kodaikanal, things weren't that different, but there were changes that I couldn't say were for the better or worse. While staying at my uncle's woodhouse, I went around Kodaikanal for a day and showed various sites to my sister-in-law, who was only visiting for the second time; she couldn't recall all the places and thus enjoyed visiting. I looked around and saw no significant changes, but the increase in roadside shops and new development disappoints me because it either limits the views or destroys a spot of greenery. 

Uncle's woodhouse premises also lacks showiness or appear faded because of continuous exposure to sunshine and rain, but it does not bring down the charm due to proper maintenance. I haven't been there in three and a half years; expecting the same is impossible. The surrounding area had been purged of trees, providing some beautiful views. 

As expected, the weather was damn cold, and we somehow managed with room heaters at night; the days were pleasant with sunlight. Usually, we visit Kodaikanal from March to July, but this is the first time to a hill station in the winter season, and it didn't allow me to enjoy it very much. Because of the freezing temperatures at night, the grasses on the roadside appear withered and brownish rather than green. Birds' tweets were also less audible; perhaps the migration has not yet occurred.

People come to Kodaikanal for its pleasant cool weather, beautiful views of nature, and refreshment and relaxation, but what one can see these days are the shops; not one or two, but rows of shops from one end to the other of the tourist spots with just a little entrance.

(A bend was full of shops that have a valley view once.)

Pillar Rock, for example, is a natural marvel of rock formation rising above the valley like three pillars that could be enjoyed from the road and a traveling car. But now rows of shops had blocked the view, and as if that weren't enough, the forest department had constructed a wall to create a selfie point with an artificial artwork background. However, due to strong public opposition, they demolished the wall; nevertheless, when I arrived, I noticed that the wall had not been completely destroyed and still blocked the view. Since it is under the jurisdiction of the forest department, they aim to gain money by obstructing, and thus tourists would buy tickets to see the rock by passing through the narrow gate between the walls and shops. 

(The Pillar Rock before the commercial shops interrupting the view from 2009.)

Nature has gifted us with these marvels and beauties to admire, and no one has the right to obstruct the views; as a tourist destination, commercial activities are hard to prevent, but regulating them in a way that does not interfere with the sights may be sufficient.

The neighborhood of my uncle's cottage had witnessed some changes: two houses next to the cottage had turned into concrete homes, and a new little grocery and chicken stalls had appeared less than 100 feet from the premises, making it easier for the staff of the cottage to cook and serve the guests.  A new innovative dining space has been created beneath the woodhouse for the convenience of the visitors, along with a new campfire pit was among the modifications I observed on the trip after a long time. 

(The beautiful, clean, and most popular Kodaikanal Lake)

In Kodaikanal, I see the municipality raising the lake's bank by increasing the height of the platforms laid around the lake road to prevent the Kodaikanal lake from overflowing in some locations. Like the harvesting machine, the municipality also uses a device to clean the weeds from the lake, and it moves in the water like a harvesting machine on land, and I should say the lake looks better now. 

The lake cleaning machine, a screenshot from youtube

Sheep Farm and The Sheep

Kodaikanal upland villages bore a lot of grasslands and sholas around them, providing a great feeding ground for cattle. So, sheep rearing is a natural habit; and to enhance the custom, the Central Government has established a sheep farm in a village called Mannavanur to produce wool from the sheep. 

Recently, I watched a video on youtube on the real purpose of the wool produced here: Sheep farm set up after India's defeat in the war with China in 1962. The main reason for the loss in the war was the cold that prevailed at the India-China border. Indian soldiers couldn't bear the cold because of the lack of woolen cloths available at that time, and keeping that in mind, the government brought the sheep farm on the 1340 acres of rolling grasslands at an altitude of 2000 meters MSL.

I visited a part of the grasslands during one of my trips to Kodaikanal in 2009 - that time, I came close with a herd of sheep from the farm. A little boy was driving those sheep, and they were simultaneously grazing the ground (heads-down like new brides) and kept moving that way. 

I captured the sheep (in the picture above) in 2019 on the roadside near Poombarai. One of the scenic villages of Kodaikanal, on the way to Mannavanur. A rope and bell tied to the neck of the sheep show it belongs to a villager, and the sheep was munching on cabbage leaves from a sack left beside. 

The sheep was cute and dirt as well and smelled not good. Its fur was a tangle, perhaps because of that, because it smelled, or due to the munching of cabbage. Anyway, it cooperated with shots. 

The sheep in the farm produce wool once a year, and every year in March,  the sheep goes through fur removal after growing enough of the same. After removing, the fur transports as a raw material to a place (I forget) where the fur collected from elsewhere goes into the process of making woolen blankets for soldiers defending the country against cold. 

The view of the sheep farm and sheep enclosures

Each sheep produces 1 to 3 kg of fur each year, but in the process, they are halved. The Sheep farm (Southern Regional Research Centre)  in Mannavanur is a regional center of the Central Sheep & Wool Research Institute, a premier Institution of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi. (source wiki)

Human-Animal Conflict and The Man-Eater

Tiger - the national animal of India - spread all over the country from the foothills of the Himalayas to the southern tip of India Kanyakumari. India has many National Park and Tiger Reserve. It was Project Tiger - a tiger conservation program that began in 1973 to prevent the animal from becoming extinct and preserving its natural habitat - the tiger population in India has increased to nearly 4000.

Tiger wall painting from Amirthi zoological park, near Vellore

There are five tiger reserves in our state (Tamil Nadu), and the Mudumalai in the Nilgiri District is the oldest National Park and Tiger Reserve. Nilgiri is the largest biosphere covering about 80% of the forest, and Ooty, a popular south Indian hill-station, is the administrative town of the district. And Nilgiri being a great forest terrain with widespread tea plantations and small towns and villages,  the human-animal conflict has been a common thing, and sometimes it costs human lives. 

Most of the time,  elephants cause damage to materials and lives of people, and seldom tigers or leopards, or bear cause death. Human-animal conflict is mainly because of humans occupying forest space and interfering with the path of animals. Human encroachment and building of houses and cultivation on the migratory path lost track of animals to invade human habitation and confront lives. 

Now coming to the man-eater that has taken away the lives of four people in the last few months in the Nilgiris has become a threat to lives adjoining the Tiger Reserve. The higher officials have issued an order to shoot the man-eating Tiger against the initial decision of capture it alive using the tranquilizer to sedate. The decision to kill the Tiger was taken based on 4th victim, who was killed and ate by the Tiger,  while in the other incidents, the victims were just stroke to die. 

Tiger is said to be a shy animal and mostly seems to avoid the human presence and stay away in the dense forest area, infiltrate the human habitation only when it was unable to survive in the forest, due to wound or aging. The case of the man-eating Tiger, which caused the death of 4 people, has taken place in the buffer zone - an area adjoining the forest, where people drive cattle for grazing. 

We can't justify here where the villagers would go - who lives inside or adjoining the forest - to feed their livestock.  I think it's the human mistakes that we can't blame animals, and they don't know the boundaries, and deforestation has shrunk their habitation.  So the only way to protect their existence was by giving before animals and staying away from the forest. 

They say, once the man-eater would always like to taste human flesh, and driving it away could never be a solution than hunt down or cage the Tiger at some protected place. I watched a Bollywood movie lately called Sherni - acted by Vidya Balan as a woman forest officer - trying to catch (believed to be) a  man-eating Tigress and create peace in a remote village adjoining forest. But the movie ends with Tigress falling prey to human pride and official injustice, leaving back its cubs. 

The targeted man-eater seems to keep moving since the victims don't come from the same place, and the last man reported to die was from Masinagudi, about 30-35kms from the previous victim. Masinagudi is a small town located in the middle of Mudumalai Tiger Reserve is one place that greatly infiltrates the forest land by building plenty of resorts in the buffer zone. Due to strict action lately, many resorts built on elephant corridors were closed.

The latest update was the man-eater escape the official surveillance! And a search operation is launched with the help of Kumki elephants - trained elephants to trap and rescue wild elephants. As a piece of good news, the Tiger will be caught alive, said the officials. 

 (sorry for the long post) I just went with the flow of thought and info. Thank you 

Kodaikanal Lake and Travel

Kodaikanal has been one of my favorite places ever since I visited in 1999. I had no idea how the place would look like other than learning it was a hill station like Ooty, the only other place I have visited then - two years earlier before visiting Kodaikanal. Since 2012 I have been visiting the Princess of Hill station yearly except in 2014, and my last trip was in 2019 so, it's obvious I haven't been there in the last two years.

Kodaikanal lake on a cold evening.

I really miss the place. Thanks to covid 19. Either we go to other places or not, we don't miss going to Kodaikanal, especially after my uncle established his Woodhouse and cottages in the lower hills of Kodaikanal. And needless to say, Kodaikanal has become like a second home for us, since next to our home, the longer we stay outside was only at Kodaikanal. The weather there has become familiar or adapted to us to visit any time of the year except the monsoon time where we could not explore any places due to rain and cold. 

A beautiful private boathouse along the Kodaikanal Lake.

A couple enjoying their boat ride in the lake. Glad motorboats are not allowed in the lake to keep it clean.

I have driven to many parts of the Kodaikanal, but yet there are many places to explore, and some are road-less traveled. I'm so curious to visit Kodaikanal, and other places too, and some never traveled before, when the situation becomes favorable. But the thought of Kodaikanal and travel, in general, keeps haunting me and inspires me to write more about them.

The road that goes around the Kodaikanal Lake for about 6kms

Cycling is one of the favorite activities for anyone who visits the Kodai lake, and you see some guys enjoying their ride around the lake. This is a candid shot I captured from inside the car.

There wasn't a trip to Kodaikanal complete without coming around the Kodaikanal Lake - the most favorite place in Kodaikanal. Taking a drive around the lake is a favorite pastime for me whenever I visit   Kodaikanal, and I also love spending time on the lake sipping on hot tea. The star-shaped lake is one of a beautiful artificial lake converted from a natural marshland, and it still retains its original despite the lack of cleanliness. Hope you like the lake photos I posted here.

Lake in thick mist and rain during a monsoon day in July

Btw. I have moved to 'Follow it' from 'FeedBurner' since they announced the discontinuation of the email subscription service in July 2021. Those who follow me through email, please subscribe again from the "Follow Me New column" in the sidebar, above the old email feed.

RGB Monday

 

While the farmers were busy washing, and packing carrots in sacks (what you saw in my previous post here) I found this little temple peacefully located adjacent to the activity of farmers, adding quiet to the afternoon.  Leaving back others at  Kukkal lake bank, where we picnicked last year July during vacationing at my uncle’s woodhouse near Kodaikanal, my cousin and I drove down the road from the lake just to see what lies beneath and was pleased to spot this temple in a fresh coat of paint. Google maps mark this as Amman (goddess) temple and I get no details other than that. But I guess it's a popular temple among the village people from an image I saw in google where people throng in average numbers. 

Washing and Packing of Carrots

 

Apart from tourism and cold weather, Kodaikanal is popular for vegetables that grow in mountains esp. Carrot is produced at large, along with the medicinal hill garlic which is an important cultivation in Kodaikanal upper villages of Poombarai, Mannavanur, Polur, Kukkal and Vilpatti. An important thing about the Kodaikanal Hill Garlic was it was granted by the prestigious ‘Geographical Indication’ (GI) tag – a name or sign used on products which corresponds to a specific geographical location or origin.

Going past the Kodaikanal town on the observatory road would take one to one of the beautiful mountain village called Poombarai at about 20 km from the town and Kukkal is another peaceful and pleasant village of the mountains about 10 km from there is where these photos of Carrots were shot.  What you see here is farmers washing carrots near a small canal that flows from Kukkal Lake above Kukkal village and stuffing them in sacks before taking them to markets in mini trucks.

Carrots don't look pretty when uprooted from the muddy soil because the condition of the soil - deep loose loamy - is left in a state of dirt that does stick to the carrot  and it's only after hard washing reveals its bright color. The carrot grows above the elevation of 1500 meters and is cultivated yearlong with assured irrigation unlike the land below the range (of 1500) that rely only on monsoon rain. Kodaikanal upper villages are located around 2000 meters, experiencing cool weather throughout the year and I enjoy taking drives around the scenic landscapes of terrace farming and forest.

A Weather, Reminder of Mountains

The weather has been pleasant and cools these days (in Chennai) and it wasn’t raining either but still, the clouds, continue to seize the sky, kept low the temperature that lures me to dream of mountains. Though not exactly, I feel a mild cold in the air to embrace me and my mind cling to the memories of the same feel. It’s been more than a year I visited mountains or stayed overnight other than the home esp. this cool weather is impossible to restrain the thoughts of Smokey Haven or what I call a bird paradise – Thandikudi – nestled in the lower Palani hills of Kodaikanal. It was a place that wasn’t too cold as Kodai or hot as plains but comfortable weather to stay all day out exploring the locality of coffee and pepper plantations and listening to birds in woods.

 

Glad my uncle built his wood houses there, so it was always a hassle-free and home-like stay for us and it would be fun if two more families of my uncles join the stay. I too used to the comfort of the woodhouse or to say my uncle had built the house easily accessible by the wheelchair so that I could visit it anytime without difficulty. He knows how I enjoy staying into nature or travel to hills and the woodhouse was first executed for personal use before the idea of renting happen. The weather is one pleasing thing about this place and no matter what the season was, it never drops out of comfort and the weather in Chennai right away is something that makes the mind think about. Perhaps due to Aadi (the season with high wind blow, falls between July-August) is believed to bring a successful year of rain and these cloudy moments brings hope as the southwest monsoon had smashed this year.
 

I leave you with some nature and cool images for the glimpses of the locality from different times of the visit. I love being there any time of the season and it has something to please or offer with the arrival of differences in nature like the migration of birds, flowering environment and wind.  

Linking this post for  Good Fences by Gosia

RGB Monday

Here is a kind of line houses in Valparai, what is just a piece of what was washed off in the recent landslides and flash flood in the high mountain ranges of Munnar; killing nearly 50 people belong to the families of tea labourers. The southwest monsoon is smashing around the Western Ghats Mountains of Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and many a places are flooded and Munnar, a beautiful hill station in the Idukki district of Kerala is one of the top producers of tea and many a labours work here are from the plains of Tamil Nadu.

The landslide turned into a major disaster, where rescue operations are still underway as people are being dug out of the mud. The disaster location being close to the Anamudi, the highest peak of south India and the popular tourist spot (Eravikulam National Park) for Thar goat sighting, exposed to cold winds and rain to extend the rescue operation. Valparai is nothing less to Munnar, and these two places are bordered by a valley that separates the two states. And their living conditions were also similar and the workers were all settlers from the plains to work in the tea plantations. It’s the workers of Rajamalai tea estate went to grave before buried really. While the covid eradicating away the lives in plenty, the plane crash and landslides were doing their better half. Nature has its own plans and no one can predict its move and we could only mourn for those died.  

RGB Monday

A mini hotel or tiffin centre at Perumal malai near Kodaikanal. Perumal malai is an important junction about 12 kms before to Kodaikanal and the meeting point of roads from Palani, Periyakulam and Batlagundu. I remember landing on this junction when first time visiting the Kodaikanal in 1999, to call the person who invited us to the hill station to stay at their guest house.  

RGB Monday

'I have been sitting watching that ever since I came back, 

the continuous variations of light and shadow .' -

Laurie Lee

A part of simple light and shadow and shades of red, green and blue on the porch of uncle's woodhouse near Kodaikanal

The weather turned absolutely wonderful right away, from quite sunny to stormy, it was a kind of welcome weather during this season of hot summer although the temperature is mild this year so far. Usually it’s the June turns out hot for us in Chennai and being close to sea, the breeze rose from there is a kind of relief fought over the hot land breeze later by noon.  

We’re almost 70 days into the lockdown that was partially relaxed already but still a month long lockdown is imposed across India from today till June 30. Chennai had become the 2^nd largest city and hub in India with high Covid 19 cases next to Mumbai in Maharashtra and we lead by over 700-800 positive cases per day and it only seem to rise. North Chennai being a crowded residential place has become a vital part of transmitting virus in the city and it seems the people in age of 20-30 where influenced a lot to infective. The lockdown and Covid 19 awareness is well taken down into people and they mostly resist coming out after the noon, perhaps they used to the former time restriction and content through it. All evening seems Sunday here and life goes peaceful but can’t deny the fact that there’s a kind of fear of uncertain. Hope you guys take care and stay safe.

Silence Speaks Louder

Captured from one of my trips to mountains, staying at uncle's woodhouse in  kodaikanal

The world speaks in silence

Desert as ever before

Soundlessness is strange

Yet it is not so quiet,  

Tiny noises make sense

And annoys as well

Diverts the attention of anything

That I try to concentrate,  

Screeches and screams are loud

Perhaps we used to noises

That sustained to a level of decibel

Now, incredible low, due to lockdown

Silence reinstitutes the natural syllabus

In wind prose and bird poems,  

While the most dangerousness stays at home

The endangered are out

To give voice to their lost chord

Or shriek in restoring its space

As if they got their (last) chance

To speak, when world is mute.

TELC Jubilee Church (aka German Church), Kodaikanal

Every time I decide to travel, even if the destination was same, I do some research for any new places to see because I think only if there’s a search for something a travel would be interesting.  And old is something always fascinate me and top my list of places to see, more than anything newly constructed. If you’re a follower of my blog, would know Kodaikanal is a beautiful place where I had yearly vacation in last several years and have covered overall places, but still my search of places haven’t end or doesn’t seem to. And one such place I visited in recent times was the century old TELC Jubilee Church.

Kodaikanal has many historic places esp. churches that are more than 100 years old, built during British regime and TELC (Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church) is a cute little church with unique architecture that really made me wonder have I seen anything similar in construction. It has a cylindrical bell tower to capture our attendance at glance and constructed in granite stones, the church still looks amazing in its original structure and features. As it located on a small hill mound, one need to climb the rock stairs to reach the door front, opening a small wooden gate at the entrance what resisted me further going up close to church.

We visited the church in evening after going through another historical church (which I would write about later) and the weather was pleasant with mild sunshine as we went in search of the church. It took us sometime to find the church as many unknown about it when enquired at the locality and Google maps did wrong locating as well; the church hide away like a treasure in a patch of woods cover above the upper lake road in Pambarpuram area of Kodaikanal. My parents, grandma and bro went up to the church, to capture some photos on my behalf and they were invited by someone in charge, took them around and explained about the church.

Dad, mom and grandma posed in front of church

The church was founded in 1906, by the Germans and the Swedes who emigrated over a century ago in Pambarpuram area of Kodaikanal and the church practiced worship in four languages: German, Swedish, English and Tamil, from the following year. In 1919, the Tamil congregation of different German, Danish, and Swedish Lutheran missions joined together to form the Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church (TELC). And following the independence of India, in 1947, the Germans and the Swedes agreed to the self-administer of the church by Tamil people and later on to till date the worship is conducted in Tamil by designated priest.  

What I think special about the church was its architecture of German and Sweden, though I have any idea of its architectural style, its unchanged look of ancient beholds. The church still holds the sacred objects leftover by the Germans and the bell outside the church is also a German established in year 1923, and the name of the church is engraved on the bell in Tamil. The sound of bell is heard up to 2 km in radius. I find the entire atmosphere of the church is quiet and being evening, the birds’ noise was pleasant as natural prayers.  TELC Jubilee Church is a different aspect of Kodaikanal, from the regular tourist places, but I hope the future won’t be the same.

Delight through Sunlight

It was a fresh morning just out of dews, wrapped in warm sunlight as we moved out of the woodhouse in mountains (of lower palani hills in Kodai) the sun was dazzling above the sky even before it was 8 am. It was a coldest night of December blanketed quite in mist, clouds and rain and a day and two night stay at the woodhouse wasn’t different from the mentioned above until we hit the road sparkled in  dazzling sunlight.

The trip to the woodhouse then was a short break from our drive to Munnar, and the weather was awesome at both the places contrary to the splendid sunshine we had on the morning when we moved out of the woodhouse. It was blissful getting into the sunlight from an experience of overcast and mist weather for a week, thanks to the Ockhi cyclone formed in the ocean then, though it created a great damage in southern India it treated us well with multiple waterfalls flowing down the mountains and adventurous drives through dense fog and forests.

Further down the hills on road, the ride became magical with many light and shadow moments waived in front, with sun filtered its energy rich rays through natural foliage. The rain soaked mountains, trees and roads all sparked in sunlight radiates joyful ride and this is something I always enjoy anytime we pick up a return journey in morning. The play with light and shadow continued all the way to foothill but it wasn’t a sunny day all the way to Chennai rather many surprises waited ahead what I could share with image later.

Linking this post with ShadowShot Sunday2 

Skywatch Friday

I feel good enough right now as I say goodbye to the setback of my health! A visit to pulmonologist last week has helped recovering a lot from cough and cold and also could sleep well laying straight and to left and feel relaxed to go through blogs but still haven’t checked many. Here I share couple of pleasant sky shots captured from the woodhouse balcony where I spent vacation with the families for a week last month.  I’m someone always look out for natural frames rather adding frames through Photoshop and here I got to crop the image to get the up and bottom frame of wood house’s porch top and rail. In-between the shadow of trees and mild blanket of clouds the blue sky glimpse pleasantly. 

P.s. The Ghats along the west coast of India is highly battled by rain and everywhere there’s flood and landslides to keep things and life at trouble. The Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu is witnessing historical rains with Avalanche records the highest ever in south India – 92cm in last 24 hours and 82cm a day before followed by 42cm on 6th August. The landscapes and roads all over the western side of Nilgiris were damaged and most of the dams were at fullest and already opened the shutters to prevent further flooding. I wish the situation turns normal soon. We are in need of water badly, but how could it benefit all when it downpour at this particular place alone? Many districts in north central Tamil Nadu is still at the grip of drought and Nilgiris become the wettest ever recorded history! Who could be blamed when nature plays the trick but we could not say it’s no man’s fault.

Linking this post with Skywatch Friday

Family Vacation 2019 Ups and Down!

Don’t know why the vacation wasn’t exciting or to say there was something missed feeling throughout the stay but travel wise I enjoyed the trip and spending time in lap of mountains in company of birds and trees. It’s always a pleasure to stay at Smokey Haven, my uncle’s woodhouse and cottages at Thandikudi near Kodaikanal, where we spent our days with extended families from July 8 to 13. Since the inauguration of the resort in 2015, I continue to visit it at least once a year and I’m happy and thanks to my uncle for executing a project alike i.e. building a woodhouse in the vicinity of coffee estate and tall big trees helps me staying and enjoy an environment full of nature rich.  Anytime there would be a bird chirping outside but this time I felt a bit lesser sound of the birds and spotting birds has reduced too what I perhaps guess was migration! I know there are some little birds that migrate from Himalayas and it was the environment that console me lot as I felt down sometime.

Smokey  Haven Woodhouse and Cottages we stayed

Though we waked up early and began the journey, the most part of traveling (490km) went under scorching weather until climbing up the hill. Our car couldn’t produce enough cooling to the cabin, though we serviced the car before traveling it quite went out of gas when we switched on the AC on the return journey. We travelled in two cars and our 9 seater was occupied by 5 of us with boot space quite went for wheelchair, commode and luggage and the uncle’s Innova had other five since my uncle’s family was ahead of us in another car. Though we travelled together they speed up always leaving us far behind as we drive on moderate speed to help me balanced.  While traveling at two different speeds doesn’t bother me much unlike how it continues at the vacation period as well.  My uncle had built an additional woodhouse at their vicinity at a ground below the already exists, were all others stayed and we 5 including the grandmother stayed at the old woodhouse. It wasn’t the old or new mattered, but none came above to spare time with us and it felt like we came alone like how we travel last time to the same place.

Dad standing in front of Thandikudi village (beneath), picture shot from Balamurgan Temple come viewpoint

I was irritated lot to sit alone always, even though nature gives me company I felt lonely when all my dear ones were around not sharing. I haven’t felt this before while travelled as five and I would sit ideal watching birds and taking photos as it was my choice and nature of traveling, but as a family vacation mind thoughts about being together, sharing and having fun rather think about anything. I love exploring places and traveling but love double folds the family vacation or group traveling at least once a year to keep cherished throughout. As soon we come into the range of Thandikudi we all lost our Airtel network signal and I actually thought that it could be a mild fault in connecting, but the disappointment came hearing that Airtel network has stopped working there due to fall of tower! I know I haven’t gone there for networking and it didn’t bother me actually, instead only made feel happy that none will be looking into the smartphones so there would be more chances for sharing face-to-face but my cousins had another network to still connect and also hopping on and off in jeep. 

A moment together with family at the woodhouse deep inside woods

Though we expected rain in the mountains, as monsoon already began, the first two days restricted us to woodhouse and we got to the Balamurugan temple one morning and then to another woodhouse my uncle had built on behalf his friend and one day spent driving to Kodaikanal and Kookal Lake/Village. We hear people complaining of no rain until we got there and it was obvious wherever we visited except in Kodaikanal where the lake was at its brim! The Kookal Lake was muddy with water at the bottom where only water hens were walking in and out. The weather was much colder in Kodaikanal, even though clouds form as if it going to rain it didn’t happen until we move to the woodhouse. One night we spent at my uncle’s friend woodhouse (which my uncle built on behalf his friend) in a place called Vel Farms, a place deep inside the woods and remote from much activity. Overall I had good time despite the lack of sharing and feeling alone while being together as well, it was refreshing and relieving to travel after more than a year and I could cherish this for some time until I pick up another trip. 

A part of beautiful star shaped Kodaikanal Lake at its full level, in the eventide light with reflection of trees.

More details and photos will follow in further posts.