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PERIYAR WILD LIFE SANCTUARY, THEKKADY
Apr 16, 2009 11:41 AM 10462 Views

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PERIYAR WILD LIFE SANCTUARY, THEKKADY


Located in the district of Idukki in Central Kerala, Thekkady is a town that has forgotten to move forward. It is a small town with a single main road lined with shops selling art items from Kashmir, Tibet and other places, and spices for which Kerala is famous. It is a tourist spot where you find many foreign tourists in their outlandish outfits, with their numerous cameras moving about with ease hoping to escape notice, but attracting attention all the more because of their friendliness, curiosity and energy.


Thekkady is famous for its wild life Sanctuary. The marvelous artificial lake formed by the Mullaperiyar Dam across the Periyar river runs through it. Periyar is the longest river in Kerala running for about 250 miles in Kerala and 60 miles in Tamilnadu. Periyar is the lifeline of Kerala and has inspired many poets and lyricists to pen songs and poems in its praise. The sight of Periyar brings to mind the celebrated Malayalam song “PERIYARE, PERIYARE” written by Vayalar and sung by A.M. Raja and P. Susheela in the movie BHARYA under the music direction of G. Devarajan. People say that the Periyar is magnificent to view during the monsoons. It must be so, judging from what we saw of it during its lean season.


Visitors to the Sanctuary have the unique experience of viewing wild animals on either sides of the lake at close quarters well protected by the safety of a boat on the lake. Kerala forest Department has made good arrangements for tourists visiting the Reserve forest. Tours on the lake for two hour duration each begin from 7 A.M in the morning. The schedules are as follows:


7 A.M to 9 A.M., 9 A.M. to 11 A.M., 11.30 A.M. to 1.30 P.M., 2 P.M to 4 P.M., 4 P.M to 6 P.M .


At 6 P.M. the forest check post gates are closed to tourists, perhaps because nocturnal animals pose a danger to any wandering tourist. Stories are circulated in Thekkady about some adventurous wanderers being surprised by a stray elephant or a small herd of Sambhar deer. No one knows whether the stories are true; but they sure send up a chill up the spines of listeners. I am sure that ordinary tourists are not keen to verify the veracity of these stories by personal experimentation!


You have to pay Rs. 25 per head to enter the forest area. An additional Rs. 40 to 75 per head is charged according to the boat you prefer to ride on. If you prefer to travel on the upper deck of the big boat you are charged Rs 150. Additionally you have to pay Rs. 25 for your camera and Rs. 200 for your video camera.


The pilots manning the boats are friendly and oblige you by tarrying near the islands and areas where wild animals and birds are sighted to enable you to view them and click pictures. However they do not go too close to the shore or land on it for wild animals are unpredictable. Shy ones like Sambhar deer may retreat into the woods, but bison, elephants and tigers are likely to attack boats.


We were told that if we were lucky we might see some elephants and tigers that come down to the lake to drink water. However when we saw many Sambhar deer and bison in herds, we knew that we would not see any tigers and elephants. Sambhar deer and bison can smell the presence of tigers and elephants and would not venture out to become an easy prey of the former.


The scenery on the lake and around takes your breath away as the pictures I have uploaded in MY PHOTOS will tell you. My wife and I were sorry when our two hour trip down the lake ended for the experience was a rare one. However we knew that our minds and cameras had recorded images and impressions to last a lifetime. Numerous birds alighting on every available perch and branch of defunct trees on the lake bed kept us busy clicking away and it was a virtual race of time between us and our cameras, putting our photographic skills to the test. There were more birds than we could count and more than we could identify. They were all a flurry of flying, perching, swimming and some quietly sitting birds, watching us and the boats go by, wondering what all the excitement was about!


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