Wayanad - Part III - Way to Patchi paadalam

I heard a big noise and some one was shaking me. “Siva..Siva..Wake up man..Wake up..Its late”, woken up by this and I slowly opened my eyes..Its the PM ”Sir, its still dark outside and what’s the time?” I asked by closing my eyes again. “Come on da.. its 4 already. We have to take bath and start soon”. What the F..!!! Getting up by 4 AM in such a hill station and taking bath? That too its drizzling outside. Finally he woke me up and when I saw my friends, they were also in same situation which made me happy..! He he.

Its almost 6.30 when I came out of the tourist home and I was shivering in cold. Oh.. What a beautiful town it is. Its covered with the morning due and fog. A freezing breeze oozed. Everyone gathered and enjoying the moment. We are so refreshed and now we have to execute our plans. Wait..First break fast, then rest of the day plans. We have done a little research on the previous day and found out a Keralite traditional restaurant which opens a bit early. We got into the restaurant and break fast was ready by that time.

The break fast menu is very simple and in traditional way. The call the restaurant as “Puttu Kada”. We started with Kerala famous ‘Puttu’. We tried so many items like Vendaya dosa, chappathi with patcha kari, Vada and zeera coffee. Food items were served very hot and traditional style plates which made us feel like a heaven at early morning of a cold hill station. Anyway we had a heavy break fast with simple menu as our plan is to have dinner only, also its not possible to have any food items since we are going to be in a deep , thick forest.

We have enquired and came to know that there is place called “Thirunelly” and there is a famous Vishnu temple near by. Actually the thick forest range starts from the temple. We cannot cross the temple with proper permission from the forest ranger and its not possible to go to the place with out guide and local guards. We decided to reach the temple first and spend some time there, so that we can plan for the rest over there. There is a bus starting from Wayanad Bus depot by 7.45 AM and reaches the temple by 9 AM. Its not a big distance – only 52 km if I am not wrong, but due to the hill ride it takes much time.

We reached the temple and before us there are so many families and other gangs, among them it’s a ladies arts college from Cochin(Again, the girls from Gods own country are really beautiful..!! Mummy.. I want a dolly.. )




It’s a very old Vishnu temple and I forgot what century it is built. Before entering there were so many restrictions like don’t wear trouser’s , jeans, T- shirts / shirts. No leather items or camera should be carried inside etc, etc. We made one complete round and admired the beauty of the temple along with the beautiful girls. The temple is simple and with out any electricity. They used traditional oil lamps for light. We felt very good when we came out, its really a good experience.

The basic idea behind going to the temple is that there is a broker who is running also a devotional books and music shop that explains the history of the temple. We spoke to him about the permission for entering into the forest and guards to take us in. We negotiated with him and finally he agreed for a good amount and its his responsibility to take permission from the forest officers and arrange guards.

With in half an hour or so he made all the arrangements(Really..! Money can make wonders..!!). He got permission from the forest officers and also arranged guards to take us to the place. Among the guards one was a government forest official and other guy was a local tribe. He might have paid some good amount to them also, since they showed so much respect. The local guide brought “gingley oil” and some kind of tobacco powder. He said that it will be useful later. (Oh..!! what is it for?!).

Okay..now its all set. We have the permission to go inside the forest, we got guards and guide with proper weapons for our protection and here we are ready to go in. We had just taken 3 water bottles and some 4,5 packets of snacks because we cant carry so much wait also. We have been advised that to eat less and don’t loose your energy. Keep walking and keep your focus. Don’t loose the track and make sure every time that you are with your team.

I was wondering why so much of hype.? We are just walking in the woods, and its not possible to miss each other because we didn’t even loose others in T.nagar at festival shopping..!!!

But later I realized how its really true. The Journey wasn’t simple as I thought. Its like a dream I am alive now and writing this blog by recalling the events. I will share my thrilling experiences in my next post.