Kerala Holiday: A trip to God’s own country|Blog by Aaryan,9, Bangalore

As we had a long weekend we suddenly planned a trip to Kerala. But we read about the floods in Kerala so we cautiously planned the trip with enough breaks in between and carried all necessary items.  I eagerly packed my notepad and pencils along with my snack supplies. I already wanted to write and share with you all.

The drive from Bangalore was pleasant as it wasn’t too sunny or rainy either. We reached our native- Gobichettipalayam by evening and relaxed as we met some friends and relatives and had our dinner.

The next morning, the much awaited trip began with a lovely sunrise enroute- Oh how I love the colours changing in the sky! How often do we notice sunrise and the colours amidst our routine in cities and skyscrapers? The mountains, the clouds, the many shades of green. It was all fantastic. There was a slight drizzle and it was cool. We went through a tunnel and Amma said, “There’s always light at the end of a tunnel.” But I feel we are the light ourselves wherever we go!

We used Google maps to reach hotel Srivar- which had an amazing ambience and paintings everywhere. We had many friends and family calling us often to check if we were safe amidst floods! We miraculously had a safe travel.

We had lunch, freshened up and had a good nap. By the time I woke up, Amma had done a round of shopping and picked a Kerala style dress for all of us. We had a quick dress up and photoshoot – memories are screenshots of our experience Amma says and clicks tons of pictures always. I used to get irritated, but now when I look at my baby pictures, I realise why it’s important. I even carried my Polaroid camera.

We headed to Guruvayur temple- the experience can’t be expressed in words. So calm and serene! After darshan there was deepa utsav where they light 40,000 diyas around the temple. We all got lucky and got a chance to light them too which was totally unexpected. We prayed, felt grateful for every moment. Now I really understand why Guruvayur is called Bhoo Vaikuntham – heaven on earth.

We also visited Vadukkunathan temple in Trissur-a very large and spacious campus.

We always try to explore and try local foods when we travel- so here in Kerala we enjoyed vellai appam, idiyappam, puttu with kadalai curry and also idli dosa vadai. My thaatha always says on every grain of food our names are pre-written by god. So we got to eat yummy food as destined!

We visited Mamiyur Sivan temple next morning- another amazing temple- my grandparents say there’s a belief that our trip to Guruvayur is incomplete without visiting this temple. I always like stories associated with every place. So much to learn, no?

We headed to the Yaanai thottam next -so many elephants in one place! I saw elephants doing chores, an elephant enjoying eating, another baby elephant dancing happily and another one taking bath! A few were undergoing some sort of training for temple pooja they said. We could feed them too. I loved this place totally.

We visited Bagavathi temple and headed to visit my most awaited part of the trip – The Marine World – India’s largest public aquarium. We reached at 10 am and realised it opens only by 11.30am so took a detour and we all decided to explore Chavakkad beach- blessing in disguise isn’t it? I totally loved the beach for its view, the sound, the sand smell. We spotted fisherman coming back with so much of their catch. We saw they had caught crabs of so many variety. We also spotted a turtle hatchery on the beach. The sky and the sea looked like they met.

Then we went to the aquarium. There are 11 zones of aquarium here.  Each had a different theme.  We could spot almost every type of fish on earth here. There’s also a children’s park and play area, birds park where we can also feed the birds and take pictures. We fed the Koi Karp fish- they just jump into our palms to take feed.

We half-heartedly bid adeu to the aquarium and cleared our room and packed and headed head back to our native Gobichettipalayam. On our way we picked all prasadam (temple offerings), snacks like banana chips, jackfruit chips to give to all friends and relatives.

We reached our native by evening and relaxed while we met friends and relatives and shared our experience with them. We had dinner with them and slept.

Early morning we started back to Bangalore after visiting Pariyur temple. We saw ducks and three peacocks sitting in a row!

Everytime we pass by a village here we can see Muniswarsan idols sitting at the entrance of every village- they are huge with wide scary eyes. They are protectors of the villages like we have security for our apartments. Interesting stories everywhere!

I loved looking at green paddy fields all along.  And hey the Mettur dam was brimming and gushing with water! It was very scary indeed. We stopped and watched in awe. Admiring nature, being grateful for such a life, I happily thanked my family for this lovely trip.

Travel always helps us realise how small we are in this big beautiful earth! And yes- please don’t use plastic! Carry your own bottles everywhere, use all reusable things. Let us reduce pollution and save our earth.