Our Honeymooning in Kerala- Exploring the Adode of Serene Beauty

“I sing of mild flowers, gushing streams and placid winds
When amidst the tranquil pleasures of the earth,
Really like in its entire quiescence–assisted me uncover you
As my full currently being, my total lifetime…”

Perfectly, contrary to all the other travelogues that I have published these times, this one particular may perhaps sound like a fragment of my psychological fancies. And for that make a difference, whosoever on earth informed to recount his/her honeymooning ventures/escapades would just really like to express to you how significantly beauty, tranquility and lust for lifetime was waiting for them to be explored in their honeymoon haven, much from the madding group! As for me, it was an knowledge so preciously own that I could not have observed the eloquence of text to explain it for several years, had it not been for my husband’s regular insistence to pen down my views on it. So I dedicate this one to none other than my sweetheart, and to the consistent really like and affection that has held us limited towards every other amidst all odds of lifestyle!

What can I say when like was in its most tranquil form, amongst the roaring waves of the shorelines, the silent prayers within the sublime temples, and amidst the unique natural beauty of coconut trees?
The die-difficult romantic that I used to be in my teenybopper university days, I experienced constantly dreamt of an suitable day by the facet of a pristine seaside, with the sands flirting with our toes, with the waves gushing to proclaim the beginning of a new, interesting togetherness, with silence intertwined with soft whisperings. And feel me or not, all of it truly came legitimate in my lifetime, not on my first date, but on my honeymoon, in Kovalam seashore, Kerala!! How can I at any time forget about the day? It was a new dawn for me, the 3rd of December, the day we set out for our flight to Trivandrum in the midst of a foggy early wintertime morning in Kolkata!

Why did we opt for Kerala shorelines and backwaters as our honeymoon location:

Genuinely speaking, seashore websites all in excess of India have basically fascinated me given that my childhood. Moreover, considering the fact that both of those of us had just resolved on traveling to some location that would not be crowded (pretty a typical standards for honeymooners!) and at the same time would be unique sufficient to be remembered for a life span, we unanimously agreed upon touring the beach front sites of Kovalam as effectively as checking out the exquisite beauty of the Alleppey backwaters. And when I have heard some people say that beaches are the identical everywhere, I instinctively felt that it is not so in Kerala. And why not? Sure by the unique Arabian Sea on its western facet, with its broad shore line extending up to 600 kilometers, we can safely say the tiny point out of Kerala houses some of the best seashores of the country, or alternatively, of the environment!

Speaking of the shorelines, I will not personally know why the Kerala seashores have taken a backseat when Indian holidaymakers are anxious. Most of us blame the incredible recognition of the Kerala backwaters for it, but if you inquire me, very well, where else can you obtain such light surf and crystal apparent blue waters topped with a fabulous coastline line that is adorned by sandy beach locations, rocky promontories and coconut palms? And the magnificence of most of the Kerala seashores lies in the actuality that all of them are immensely picturesque web pages though at the very same time becoming silent and serene, fewer infested with seasonal crowd. And in all the three days we put in in the Kerala seashores including Kovalam, we just celebrated their tranquility, seclusion and virgin magnificence, along with sharing some of the most divine times with each other, viewing the modest, quaint neighborhood fishing villages, some outdated piers that extend in to the sea, lagoons, vast lakes and quite a few contemporary h2o rivers. At the Kovalam seashore website, we relished the sight of a small village down the shoreline, the exquisite Lighthouse beach. At the Shankhamugam beach front on the other hand, we had been fortunate to working experience a person of the most spectacular sunset sights ever amidst the picturesque surroundings of a preferred haunt of sunset watchers. Yet another intriguing seashore, the Thirumullavaram Seashore was a great early morning retreat, where by we started out our day hunting at the swaying coconut palm trees, and viewing neighborhood fishermen who set out into the sea in look for of their catch! On one particular hand, we were obtaining a lot more and extra awed by the untarnished attractiveness of all the beaches, although on the other hand, we have been just relishing our sheer perception of delight seeking at the distinction involving the blue hues of the water and the sky! Everywhere you go all-around us, there was a chunk of paradise, which was obtaining extra serene with the nectar of our sweet togetherness!

Our prayers in the Padmanabhaswamy temple:

As I had already listened to and go through some amazing tales about the hoary temple custom at the Southern State of Kerala, we experienced fairly decided that our pay a visit to would be incomplete with out seeing at the very least a few of them. Furthermore, like most of the newly married Hindu brides, me far too had some sentimental leanings towards providing prayers and ‘puja’ to the Lords for equally of our lives, our foreseeable future and our extended togetherness! Properly, I can however evidently try to remember the day we compensated a brief visit to the beautiful Padmanabhaswamy temple, when we have been just fascinated with its exclusive temple architecture and the silent serenity within the large temple boundaries! To be in sync with the temper, I dressed myself completely in a standard south Indian ensemble, purchased flowers from the community marketplace and hanged them all around my hair as a demure Keralite bride, and I beloved every single moment of it! The day started off with our sheer marvel in exploring the awe-inspiring architecture of the Padmanabhaswamy temple and the serene ambiance of divinity inside of it. Just one of the grandest and a single of the most historical temples of Kerala, it has been vivid with custom, possessing been associated for decades with the arts and new music. Needless to say, the most awe-inspiring sight within the temple was its shrine, showcasing an imposing impression of Vishnu in the Anantasayanam posture an impression which we viewed by three doorways in front of the shrine. It was a sunny Sunday early morning, and the substantial accumulating in entrance of the shrine was enough to convey to us the spiritual fervor of the persons there! Even so, further than the sheer spiritual pursuits of people today, we have been obtaining much more and far more awed by the Dravidian model of the temple architecture, its 100 feet large ‘gopuram’ (also designed in ancient Dravidian fashion) and its superb mural paintings and stone carvings! No question then, that with a vibrant calendar of festivities, the amalgamation of stonework, wooden work, murals and sculpture- harmoniously blended into a construction vivid with traditions of the location, the Padmanabhaswamy temple is extremely regarded as just one amongst the 108 temples focused to Lord Vishnu in India. To me, the temple was interesting to say the the very least (in spite of its rigid worship protocols), emphasizing absolutely on the sanctity, simplicity and a prevailing naturalism which marked the worship of Lord Padmanabhaswamy.

The journey to the attractive Alleppey backwaters:

The working day was the 6th of December and the early morning experienced been designed into an auspicious a person by the prevailing serenity of the temple. Now, we had incredibly tiny time at our disposal in Tiruvanandapuram, the temple web site, as we experienced to set out for yet another incredible journey, a evening at a sweet, picturesque houseboat, discovering the beautiful attractiveness of the Alleppey backwaters (now named Alappuzha Backwaters) and the cluster of attractive very little islands in the vicinity. We had by now booked a just one-evening cruise on a houseboat that would let us take a look at the natural beauty of Alappuzha, and we would commit the night time in the quiet tranquility of the backwaters. The thought alone was so intimate that when we were hoping to arrive at the coastal township of Alleppey, we didn’t even discover that our driver received perplexed with the route and we had been finding pretty late than our scheduled time! Having said that, just after substantially strife and tribulations, we arrived at the coast from the place we could see our compact, passionate houseboat amidst the drizzling raindrops, seated on a network of lakes and lagoons and canals that ended up crisscrossing just about every other! Never ever ahead of had I found a extra heavenly sight anyplace! People all across the world have named the Alappuzha as the Venice of the East. Rightly so, as it has been home to the image-perfect waterways and canals unmatched by any other site in the orient. Savoring the very romantic dusk with the sight of the enchanting backwaters and the raindrops which experienced manufactured the location even a lot more out of this earth, we stepped inside of our smaller, cozy houseboat for our backwater experience right after dusk. Sailing along the “kettuvallam” (houseboat) as a result of the enchanting backwaters of Alappuzha was the expertise of a life time, nevertheless the journey experienced to cease just after a though due to tough winds and heavy rainfall. Our boat was then anchored somewhere around the shore and we have been to stay inside the boat for the night time and once more start our journey the next early morning if the storm cooled down. Ours was a just one place houseboat which includes a picturesque sundeck, a cozy bed room and an attached non-public tub, with fantastic building and lavish furnishing showcasing exquisite flooring, hull and valavara (cover). The motive I am describing the interiors of the houseboat is that it was a fully calming knowledge to me, staying totally diverse in its raw, naturalistic enchantment in the midst of a photograph-great scenario of lakes, lagoons, canals and rivers. And while the houseboat operators had their share of flaws, they made up for it with some thoughts-blowing genuine Keralite cuisines like some attention-grabbing delicacies created with the nearby fish!

The following working day, early at dawn, the storm cooled down and we could see the obvious azure sky, which intended we could now get started sailing by way of the backwaters all over again. And lo, what do we see as we start the backwater journey? Palm fringed slim canals winding as a result of the huge expanse of paddy fields, neat tiny hamlets lined up along possibly sides of the canals, and above all, a bewildering labyrinth of shimmering waterways composed of lakes, canals, rivers and rivulets! Additionally, together our way, we explored the scenic countryside of Kuttanad (referred to as the “rice bowl of Kerala” thanks to its wealth of paddy crops) with its shimmering waterways, its dense tropical greenery and its rich crop of bananas! There have been people fishing nets of the regional fishermen, the flock of ducks swimming all around the banks and tiny birds traveling throughout the sky, smelling deeply of the lively lifestyle in the countryside of the magical Kuttinad!

Late at midday, we determined to come upon the cluster of little islands on the Vembanad Lake, which is incredibly substantially a part of the Kuttanad region. There was an immensely wonderful chook sanctuary in the vicinity, distribute across 14 acres–very a favourite haunt of migratory birds (like herons, teal, waterfowl, cuckoo, wild duck and migratory birds like the Siberian storks) and an ornithologist’s paradise! We have been explained to that the finest way to watch the birds of the Kumarakom sanctuary is a boat vacation. On the other hand, we failed to have enough time for the boat journey, but explored to our entire the lush greenery of a couple of islands and the serene elegance of the Vembanad lake that juts into the mainland in a series of lagoons and streams. Jointly, all of it produced splendid surroundings that is continue to new in my memory like a fall of morning dew!

It was the last evening of our tour, and with hearts heaving with the sheer ecstasy of the surroundings as nicely as with the sorrow of parting means with the magical Kerala, we reached the
Whispering Palms lake resort, the 4-star vacation resort in Kumarkon, situated on the lender of the Vembanadu Lake. It was fascinating to learn that this resort also adorned the pure backwaters! That was the last evening of our remain in the picturesque honeymoon haven that we had preferred for ourselves. To make the evening unforgettable, and to bask in the luxury of tranquility, we remained awake till the wee several hours of the night time, not in our home, but exterior, seeing the breathtaking natural beauty of the backwaters nestled undauntedly by the tall palms and coconut trees which was being relished from a stage just outside the house the vacation resort! As small youngsters sitting down in the lap of Mother mother nature, we experienced our ft floating in the waters, and also experienced to spend a small rate for it. A single of my pair of sandals instantly disappeared into the waters, and soon after some time, we understood it was worthless searching for it. As we laughed it off, our guffawing and ‘sweet nothings’ evaporated into the air and mingled with the mystic attraction of the configurations of the attractive Kumarkon! Now staying some thousand miles away from my nation, I wistfully yearn for the essence and the fervor of these several days put in in the lavish exploration of nature’s wonders in Kerala, the God’s individual land! Some working day, ahead of we die, we would definitely adore to relive all those idyllic days! Until then, all I can do is to conclude my composing with these well-known traces of William Wordsworth:
“Earth has not anything at all to display a lot more reasonable/ Uninteresting would he be of soul who could pass by/
A sight so touching in its majesty!”