Punalur-Schencotta journey in 1890

[rijamrawther]

I would like to attach an extract of two pages of the Travancore Census Report of 1891, which was prepared by Mr: Nagam Aiya. The extract gives us a fascinating description of cart journey from Punalur to Schencotta in 1890s. I can not in fact find words to express my feelings on reading this material. You must remember that the road from Thenmala via Kulathupuzha to Nedumangad (Yes our Kollayil road ! )  had not been developed at the time of this writing. This pathway via Kulathupuzha was known as " Shanar Ghat' at that time and considered extremely difficult for journey. However it was got developed in 1901 by constructing many a number of bridges and culverts including our Irumbupaalam, Palode paalam etc. I invite your attention to the prophetic anxiety of Mr: Nagam Aiya expressed in the last paragraph of the extract. He earnestly doubted " I am not sure if this charm will not disappear with the introduction of Railway". Now it is more than a century after introduction of Railway through the Aryankaavu pass. Yes , now " the never ending beauties of Aryankavu pass became an old world charm". But still there are a lot to endure . We must try. RIJAM