VAYANADAN MANJAL MURICHA POLAE
Dear friends
Heard the title some where- Yes it was used to describe skin colour and beauty of Unniyarcha in Vadakkan Pattukal. When I thought of writing about Wayanad what first came to my mind was the above lines.
We are having the National Highway 212 to Mysore from Calicut passing through Wayanad crossing Kerala border at Sultan bathery. The bus takes it route from Adivaram, Vaithiri, Pookodu, Kalpetta, Mananta vadi and Sultan Bathery to Mysore. From Adivaram to Kalpetta in the hill section, there are 9 hairpin bends in the route. After Vaithiri it will appear plain to that much extend we our self will doubt whether we are in a Hill station. So much plain. On my first visit I could not believe it after experiencing the terrains of Kodaikkanal.
There is an anchor by name Arun in Kiran TV and appear rarely in other channels and interviews too. He has acted in
minor roles also in Malayalam films. As an anchor he used to appear very matured. He is from Meenangadi near Manatha vadi, father belongs to the hill station and mother from Aranmula. Once I spoke to him in the Megha Sandesam programme. He was very happy I know about Manatha vadi and Meenangadi (I was Divisional Engineer Installation-from 1996- 1998 of those areas under Calicut Division. I was the man behind new telecom installations at Kalpetta, Manatha vadi, Batheri and all.) He spent 5-6 minutes talking to me before the song since I know his area well.
The hairpin bends in the Wayanad route are not so steep as in Shenkottai- Aryan kavu route. But at two or three hairpin bends buses has to take a reverse to negotiate the bend. Jeep and car have no problem.
The hill route after three hairpin bends are thick forest and we can see monkeys all along the route sitting in Parapet walls of the road. It was a practice to
purchase Banana fruits as a Kula ( fully with stem) and offer to these Anjaneyars. My Asst Engineer was a Gopinathan, he will say " Sir, we will take one or two kula, with there blessing let us finish our installation with out competition. Let it be the beginning of our pooja." At Adivaram there are a number of petty shops selling Banana. They will tell the price for a Kula only normally.
At Vaithiri we are having a sarvodaya show room, we can purchase with all hill products from they're at reasonable price. The red sandal wood piece I have purchased once is still in our pooja room safely. In between Manatha vadi and Batheri we are having the rivers Kabani and Manatha vadi puzha.
For going to Tirunelli we have jeep route from Manantha vadi. I have wrote about Tirunelli temple already and about pithru karmas there.
Before I finish my prelude let me tell about the hospitality of Wayanad people. My Junior Engineer had a
cousin brother at Manantha vadi an Estate owner, and knowing that a DE has joined from Trivandrum he was special to meet me. (What kindled him specially to meet me is still mystery. So one night we spent with him and family after our works. They specially prepared vegetarian dishes for me. Really they were very tasty. The most important thing the first question they asked to me was Thirunelli Ambalathil Ellam pokanam Illae?( You have intention to worship at Tirunelli )
Not an exaggeration but fact. All good restaurants serve vegetarian and non-vegetarian items. It is very difficult to locate a pure vegetarian Uduppi hotel in Calicut, Cannore or Wayanad. Calicut is better- one or two better vegetarian hotels are there. While my stay of three years taking food from hotels, I had to alter between good restaurants to tell the fact.
Sincerely
Goal Krishnan 14-6-2010
1. WAYANAD – ETYMOLOGY
Wayanad
District is in the North East of Kerala. It was formed on November 1, 1980 as the 12th district of Kerala, carving out from Kozhikode and Kannur districts.
The region was known as Mayakshetra (Maya's land) in the earliest records. Mayakshetra evolved into Mayanad and finally to Wayanad. However the Folk etymology of the word Wayanad is Vayal (paddy) Naad (land); 'Land of Paddy Fields'. There are many indigenous tribal in this area. It is set lofty on the majestic Western Ghats with altitudes ranging from 700 to 2100 Metres above mean sea level. The district head quarters are Kalpetta. It has got three Taluks- Vythiri, Manatha vadi and Sulthan bathery
It is bounded on the East by Nilgigris and Mysore districts of Tamilnadu and Karnataka respectively, on the north by Coorg district of Karnataka, on the south by Malappuram and on the west by Kozhikode and Kannur.
2. HUMAN LIFE EXISTED AT WAYANAD BEFORE
CHRIST
Historians are of the view that organised human life existed in these parts, at least ten centuries before Christ. Countless evidences about New Stone Age civilisation can be seen on the hills of Wayanad. The two caves of Ampukuthi mala located between Sulthan Bathery and Ambalavayal, with pictures on their walls and pictorial writings, speak volumes of the bygone era and civilisation.
According to archaeological evidence, the Wayanad forests were inhabited more than 3 millenniums.
3.HISTORY
Recorded history of this district is available from the 18th century. In ancient times the land was ruled by the Vedar Rajas. Later Wayanad came under the rule of Pazhassi Raja of Kottayam Royal Dynasty.
The Raja of Kottayam divided Wyanad in to 10 Swaroopams (Naads) and appointed governors (Usually Nairs with the title of Vazhunnor) to rule each one of them. These swaroopams were again divided in to Chiefdoms, which were
ruled by Moopil Nairs.
The modern history of the district is associated with the events that took place during the invasion by Tippu Sulthan. First the senior Raja of Kurumbranadu helped the British in their fight against Tipu Sultan. ( Sulthan bathery got the name so, from being Tippu Sulthan camped there)
Following Mysore's withdrawal, Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja (the head of western branch of the family) and the British parted their ways. And in 1799, after the fall of Tipu, the British took over Wayanad. Pazhassi Raja engaged in a prolonged guerrilla war with the British until he was killed in 1805. The long spell of the British rule stretched over a period of about two centuries. The recently released Malayalam film Pazhassiraja would have been seen by many , acted by Mammoty as Pazhassi raja and Ganika a lady from Madurai a Tamil actress as queen. While many may know Mammotty is from
Malappuram was a Lawyer in Mancheri court before coming to films. His father desired to make him a Doctor as per his version on receiving Honarary Doctor degree from Kerala University about two months back. And believe me Ganika is an engineering graduate from BITS Pilani. The picture depicts the story of Pazhassi raja.
There was fierce encounter between the British and Pazhassi Rajah.
When the state of Kerala came into being in 1956, Wayanad was a part of Cannannore district; later in 1957 south Wayanad was added to Kozhikode district and north Wayanad remained with Cannannore district. By amalgamating the north Wayanad and south Wayanad, the present Wayanad district came into being on the 1st November 1980 comprising of three taluks; Vythiry, Mananthavady and Sulthan Bathery.
4.ADI VASI POPULATION
One important characteristic feature of this district is the large adivasi
population, consisting mainly of Paniyas, Kurumas, Adiyars, Kurichyas, Ooralis, Kadans,Kattunaikkans are the different aboriginal tribes of Wayanad. The Kurichyar is the most developed among them. They are small land owners, whereas the members of other tribes are mostly labourers. Wayanad district stands first in the case of adivasi population (about 36%) among other districts in the state.
5 SETTLER POPULATIONS
Wayanad has a large settler population. There are people from almost all parts of Kerala who migrated to this fertile land for building up their lives. Wayanad has a small Jain community consisting of Gowders who came from Karnataka. They have built beautiful temples all over the district.
Almost all sections of Christianity are well represented. One fourth population of Wayanad is constituted by Christians. Muslims constitute another one fourth population and rest of the population belongs to Hindus. Their hard work and
sacrifice helped them to prosper. On the other hand, the last few decades have seen the complete marginalisation of the indigenous people.
6.FLORA AND FAUNA
Let me first talk of Flora and fauna. The flora of Wayanad is characteristic of the Western Ghats and the plantation crops grown in the cool climate. A major portion of the district is covered by coffee. Trees of the wild type like rosewood, anjili (Artocarpus), mullumurikku (Erthrina), and several species of caussia and many other non-descrip varieties are still preserved here and there, to give shade to the coffee plants.
These trees give a rebalance of wilderness to the landscape of Wayanad. In a majority of coffee plantations, the age-old species are replaced by the silver-oak, which is suited to the cold climate. This tree grows quickly and its cultivation is widespread among coffee plantations for shade and for giving support to pepper. It is used for the plywood
industry and thus is economical to the farmers. Eucalyptus grandis, a shorter variety of eucalyptus, whose fragrant smell suffuses the very air around it, is cultivated on a large scale in centain parts of the district. Eucalyptus oil is extracted on commercial basis from its leaves.
Of the 20,864 hectares of reserve forest, the major portion is teak plantation. Arecanut palms and jack trees are also grown here. Tea is grown as an industry in large estates. The soil and climate of Wayanad are suitable for horticulture on commercial basis. For promoting the cultivation of vegetables and raising of orchards, the Kerala Agricultural University is running a Regional Agricultural Research Station at Ambalavayal.
One can still see the bonnet monkeys, loris, mongooses, jungle cats, squirrels, jackals, hares, etc, in the limited forest areas. The World's longest venomous snake, King Cobra is also found here. Elephant, bear and other wild animals
from the neighbouring wild life sanctuaries of Karnadaka and Tamil Nadu, stray into the Begur forest range and the forests around Muthanga, which is 20 kilometres away from the town of Sulthan Bathery. Karapuzha dam is near menangadi-10km, and Banasurasagar dam is 20km from Vythri. Here there is the one of the largest concentration of wild Asiatic elephants in whole world. Tiger, bison, sambhar, spotted deer, boar, leopard, wild dog and other large mammals are also present in fairly decent numbers.
Ready for tour to Wayanad? Fine. I will be ready with other details in NEXT POSTING – Kabani Nadi Chuvannappol
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