When going gets tough, I often surrender to the wild. Because wild always embraces all kind of unsureness of our mind. It questions our stringent beliefs that we assimilate in our calm, mediocre course of existence. It shatters the idea of settlement. It breaks our excessive faith on logical, well built plans for future. The wild often stirs our inner urge for infinite freedom that is otherwise chained to the stale loop of eating-working-sleeping cycle.
My life seemed like a downward spiral of late (last couple of years). So many changes, so many disasters, so many uncertainties over a small period of time. It reached a stagnation in the middle of nowhere. There was no clear visibility on both ends. My reality looked so clumsy that I decided to take an escape pathway. Needless to say, the pathway opened up in the arms of colourful wild from Kodaikanal.
How to reach: By Air: Madurai International Airport is the nearest airport to Kodaikanal and is well connected to all major cities like Chennai, Mumbai and Bangalore. From airport travellers can easily avail bus and cab services to reach Kodaikanal.
By Road: Kodai is linked with several prominent cities like Bangalore, Madurai, Chennai, Ooty, Trichy and Coimbatore. There are wide range of bus services from luxury AC Volvo bus to pocket friendly state government buses. I travelled from Bangalore and it took almost a seven hours overnight bus journey.
By Train: Kodai Road is the nearest railhead and is connected to Madurai and Trichy. From railway station one has to take bus or cab to reach Kodaikanal hill station.
Mark your Calendar: Winter season is the best time to visit Kodaikanal. From October to March the climate remains very soothing. The next two best months to visit Kodai is June (the full monsoon is yet to arrive in July-August, the post summer climate is pretty much comfortable) and September (Monsoon is over). But both in June and September, be mentally ready to get some light drizzle twice or thrice a day. During my stay in Kodai in June I observed a typical rainfall pattern. Always try to start your sightseeing trip early in morning (between 8-9 am) as mornings are generally very bright. It starts raining after 12 pm. Again the blue sky replaces the grey cloud in the afternoon (around 3pm). So it is wise to schedule your journey accordingly.
My love affairs with Kodai started with this short walk. The exquisite mountain ranges stretched themselves as ocean waves. As I walked up the the vertical slope, the vast landscape of Kodai valley kept on changing its colour. The leaves changed their shades from green to orange to bronze. The feathery clouds of early monsoon hopped gleefully from one mountain range to the other. Some opted to hire a bicycle to cover this 1 km scenic route. After walking for a while came a telescope house where tourists gathered in queue to explore the surrounding. There were many food carts catering street foods.
Credit: Saheli Bera
The serene Berijam lake of sparkling blue water adorned with water lilies was formed as a result of construction of a dam. This lake is peacefully nestled in mother nature's lap, away from hustle and bustle of main city. Being surrounded by acacia and pine trees of reserve forest, this lake is flourishing like an ecological hotspot that hosts many species of birds, animals, plants and fish.
Originally I planned only one hour to spend at this place. But unknowingly I was forced to settle down beyond my estimated hours. After lazing around across the endless green pasture in the surrounding, silently sitting by the lake and watching the birds flying away over the lake, I realised that three damn hours had already passed just like that.
Credit: Saheli Bera
Green valley view offers a heart throbbing views of white cloud laden mountains standing at the end of pea green valley below. I was lucky enough to witness a magical crimson sunset here. The mountain slopes were drenched in dusk hues. Though the sun was resistant to come to the surface but the sky poured the crimson rays over the entire valley. This panoramic view once again confirmed that I'm indeed spending every magical moment with the princess of hills.
Credit: Saheli Bera
On my second day I took a quick halt by this appealing viewpoint. The sharp contrast of the blue water of star shaped Kodai lake surrounded by lush green valley looks absolutely stunning. Tourists ran out of patience to stand or sit on the bench and take photos with the view in the background. I quietly moved out of the crowd and found an alternate position to capture the dreamy view perfectly.
Credit: Saheli Bera
This place is one of the most favourite places of mine from Kodaikanal. The name is placed so as three vertically positioned rocks standing up gracefully to the height of 400 feet. The aura of this place felt to be so royal. The view of these majestic rocks is something not to be missed at all. Standing on the edge and eyeing at this mysterious creation of mother nature created a plethora of thoughts in my mind; 'Is it your unpredictable force or unmerciful weather or magnificent height or majestic gracefulness that makes your presence so demanding?'. One can easily go into hypnotised state while soothing the eyes with this view.
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After leaving pillar rock garden my car drove the way towards dense pine forest kodaikanal . This place showcases the mesmerising beauty of nature which has been preserved to date and is considered as heritage of the town. The forest looked like straight ripped away from a Bollywood movie. The pine trees in abundance welcomed me in their world. As I went deeper and deeper into the nut brown forest, mother nature unfolded her hidden beauty one by one. The trees stood like pillars and almost covered the blue sky above. A broken chain of golden sun ray softly fused through and played a perfect kaleidoscope on the silver mist.
Every now and then the semi dried branches and leaves crackled under my feet. A damp, organic smell rose up in the air like wave. I ran from one tree to the other. Twirled with rustling foliage and combed through every corner of the forest to collect the perfectly shaped pine cones.
I sat on a giant, mossy branch and silently witnessed Mother Nature weaving her colourful stories with gold, silver and metallic magic.
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Today I started my sightseeing trip after lunch as my health was not well. The sky was covered with dark grey clouds. My first stop was Kurinji temple. This beautiful temple is dedicated to Lord Muruga and is surrounded by picturesque view of Vaigai dam and Palani Hills. This temple is a venue for summer festival which is celebrated in the month of May every year. This place is also very popular for blossom of Kurinji flowers once in every 12 years.
After leaving from Kurinji temple I stopped by this small garden. It's a well maintained area and a vast color combination of different flowers was quite eye catching.
Though this park is not so big but the unique pattern of gardening is something exceptional. I stepped down through the garden and started exploring the unknown flowers and cacti of different colors and species. Slowly the grey clouds started showering into oval droplets and made me to pause my journey for a while. I found a pretty, colourful corner and took shelter under a huge pink bougainvillea tree.
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After an hour or so the afternoon rain stopped and I made my way towards Kodai Lake. This blissfulness, star shaped lake is peacefully nestled at the centre of the town. The calmness and allure of this lake can easily weather away all your stresses and anxieties.
Don't miss a boating trip on Kodai Lake. A very well arranged and systematic boating service is catered here. Either you can hire a paddle boat or a rowing boat along with a boatman. I have got my personal inclination towards rowing boat. Rowing a boat always comes with an old school charm.
Broken masses of blue sky and golden sun slowly replaced the grey clouds. My boat gently passed by the floating water lilies and purple hyacinths. A group of little black cormorants constantly accompanied my boat from a safe distance. Occasionally dipping their heads under the water and again floating up to the surface. Kodai town smeared with monsoon mist in the surrounding looked like a oil painted frame. Tiny ripples on emerald green water lovingly carried the reflection of the town.
The boating service at Kodaikanal lake is open from 6.00 am to 5.00 pm everyday. The ticket price may vary with season and timing of your boat trip. You can opt to take cycling trip as well to enjoy the mesmerising backdrop of Kodai lake. Horse riding facilities are also available but it's my humble request to not to go for any animal riding service at any tourist spot. Because such animal riding activities do not support animal welfare policy by any mean.
Credit: Saheli Bera
Bryant Park is one of the elements that add feathers on the crown of princess of hills. This park is bejewelled with various species of plants and shrubs. One portion of the park is dedicated to rose garden that boastfully displays some unique and rare species of rose. Specially the green rose attracts tourists from entire country. There is also a greenhouse that hosts plant from all around the globe.
Though I'm an extremely loyal flower lover but I'm not a fan of such artificially designed botanical parks. I think flowers look best in their organic and natural habitats. So finally decided not to spend too much time there and headed back towards my hotel. The sun went down behind the misty mountains of Kodai . My health needed ample amount of rest and sleep. Because next day one of the treacherous treks was waiting for me.
It was my last day in Kodai and I reserved the Dolphin Nose trek for today. Because I knew this trek would make me exhausted and it would be very difficult to go for some other sightseeing destination after this physically challenging activity. Now the only thing I had to do after this trek is to catch my return bus to Bangalore and peacefully sleep on my upper bunk sleeper seat. I checked out from hotel around 9'o clock after breakfast and headed towards Dolphin nose. This place is very popular trekking trail of Kodai and from the highest point one can get a panoramic bird eye view of lush green mountains in the surrounding. One exceptional fact with this trek is first you have to climb down the hill to go to the view point. While coming back you have to ascend all the way up.
The initial 500 meters of the road had well built broad staircases. But after that the trail became extremely uneven and steep. There was a large portion where there was absolutely no road at all. I stepped on big boulders, roots of trees, small rocks and pebbles. At some place the soil was very loose and sandy and somewhere it was slippery and muddy. This trek like any other trek needs a very focused and calm mind.
Occasionally I stopped to take pictures. At some point of my journey a handsome German spitz accompanied me for next 1 to 2 kms.
As I continued along the road I walked through changing landscapes; from dense forest to wide oped grassland to dry barren area full of big rocks and boulders.
Finally I reached the view point. Two horizontal flat rocks elevated at 6600 feet jutted out from the mountain overlooking the deep cliff below. This set up exactly looks like a Dolphin's pointed nose. I sat on the edge of one rock, my gaze fixed at the mountains in the surrounding. The stretches of mountain slops blanketed themselves with thick layer of green and descended down step by step. At one point they all disappeared into the infinite ocean of mist, just like we all merge our existence into ash and soil one day.
During hiking I befriended one local guy. His name was Sanjay. He was kind enough to accompany me throughout my journey and tolerate my dare devil photography demands. We jumped from one rock to other and he encouraged me enough to conquer the most dangerous slopes and alleys in the mountains.
After coming to Kodai I came to know from local people that not only Kerala but Kodai mountains also get covered with purple blanket during Neelakurinji blossom, every once in 12 years. The last blossom season was in 2018. While lying our backs on the rock we had a lovely chit chat with each other. I confessed to Sanjay that I still feel disheartened to miss the Neelakurinji blossom. I was almost about to finalise my trip to Munnar but had to cancel it because of the flood. I had absolutely no idea that Kodaikanal could have been an amazing alternate option for witnessing Kurinji blossom. Sanjay informed me that the entire trekking path of Dolphin nose got saturated with Neelakurinji shrub last year.
Then all of a sudden he said, 'Hey, let's get up and search through the forest. We might find out some leftover blossom from last season'. Then we again went for a small hike into the forest and hands down to my luck, we literally found one shrub that still had few purple flowers of Neelakurinji.
After successfully accomplishing our Neelakurinji mission it was time to climb up the way. Believe me it was extremely challenging. After ascending up the steep trail for almost two hours I was finally done with this long cherished Dolphin Nose trek. I have to admit things might have got harder while climbing up if Sanjay was not with me.
When my car drove through the hairpin bends of Kodai the afternoon clouds again gathered overhead and started showering in a lazy manner. The forest, the steep mountains that I left behind got all covered with mist and cloud. In evening I sat on my upper bunk bus seat. The bus gently bid a goodbye to the princess of hills and continued its journey ahead. The little rain drops settled against my window screen. My mind constantly reflected the colourful wild moments from Kodai like a mirror. And these thousand tiny moments in wild always reminded me to live this life amidst everything horrifying and despairing. An unedited, unfiltered life. A raw life free of social validation and worldly competition. I chased the wild flowers, gazed at the clouds flocking in grey and white masses, witnessed some most magical crimson sunrise and sunset, had enough monkeying through the steepest mountain slopes and listened to the soul calming silence that reigned over the entire forest. These thousand tiny wild moments of rugged hair, sun burnt nose and dirty shoes crumbled down my self made, illusionary sketch of perfect life. Wild taught me one big lesson; 'Our Life is too smart to obey our plans and just like the wild, life has its own ways to show up with surprises'. While finding peace in everything wild, I realised, I became one in the process.
In wild everything makes sense, everything falls into place. Because this is where Homo Sapiens originally belonged to. Because going into wild is going back to our root.
'Dear Kodai, I met you when my life was very much like walking through fire. Thanks for healing my burns and scars at least for a while. Maybe meeting you was a pure serendipity or maybe it was a meticulous plan made by the Universe'.
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