Wandering in God's own country

January 20, 2017

Wandering in God's own country

Kerala - the name brings in the visuals of backwaters, coconut trees lined beaches, ayurvedic yoga spa centres, kathakali dancers, spices and food served on banana leaves..

This is story beyond all that..

Every corner has a temple.. Glimpses of Diya Thali, amalgamation of fire earth water air space..

Most temples say - Enter only if you want to pray, and no photography allowed.. Simple and straight. This is a view from over the wall.. the prestigious temples like Guruvayur or Padmanswamy temple etc have huge wall boundaries and typical dress code to enter. But one must go inside to experience the energy even if one has no inclination to pray formally!

Waiting for doors to open, to have glimpse of deity.. Even in wait there is witness of something bigger.. This is Devi temple, the prasad is tody, prepared and served inside premise. One of the few temples where i was allowed with my cam.

Theyyam dance, mostly prominent in North Kerala. Tradition in which a man is personified god, performs various rituals, the whole atmosphere is in trance with drumming and fire and dancing. It goes on for whole day, sometimes whole night.. Quite tough job i must say. These dancers belong to particular families and tradition is passed through generations. In real life they are like any other man, in job, with families. In theyyam days they become god, the medium, one in mind and body!!

It was a princely state ruled by Tranvancore royal family.. Walking through the city one can see palaces and temples owned by them, now open to public.. One of the palace is venue for the most grand music festival. Prince Raghu does the opening with his fantastic spell bounding performance. It brings back that era.

Why i feel i have seen him on my visit three years back. He was taking a dip in water while we were rowing boat through one of the backwaters! Dejavu :)

People.. facinating they are..thier eyes speak..their smiles take a moment to come..the first glance is question..then heart doesnt take time to open. He was sorting his catch.

Remember this is state with 100% literacy rate.. that doesnt mean they all know english..thats not the purpose of literacy..but yes they all know respect, they know humanity, they know how to relax in life, which we forget!

Simple things in life.. Goto nearby market to get fresh sabzi and fish, discuss daily soap on tv or in life, walk back, and say hello to all that u meet in street , because you know them all and you know whose child is not well, who has got new job.. maybe you wont know what policy EU has signed or What is Trump's new stunt!