Article by Jiju Sajan Abraham

I am travelling on a private bus and it feels so weird when innocent smiles come onto my lips unknowingly during the travel. The reason being, I am on my way to hometown after a gap of six months. Cool breeze were rattling through my skin and occasionally few rain drops was falling onto my hands.

I was highly excited and determined as I have got three days leave from my hectic software life in Bangalore. Halleleujah!!, my hometown still looks the same other than the additional vehicles added to the road. My mother greeted me with her traditional tears and luckily her food tastes the same, the taste I was craving for the past six months. To make it a memorable trip, I decided to explore the unknown places in Trivandrum in these three leaves which I got credited.

So here I am, on a trip through some beautiful places to treasure myself with experiences and to make you aware of the places to visit if you land up in my hometown. Time: 11.00 am, stuffing a set of old jeans and a t-shirt into my bag, I started my bike to know Trivandrum rather Thiruvananthapuram. After a long thought, I finally decided to go to the museum situated right in the heart of the city. The reason for this being a simple guilty feeling. Right throughout my college days, my friends and me spent every evening in the beautiful lawns and premises outside the museum but never ever I could remember entering the museum. Fondly called Napier Museum, it had every explanations of time machine to make oneself travel through the ages. To my surprise, the museum had a repository of fine arts, wooden crafts, antique jewelleries and a huge collection of different models of temples. The chief attraction is the 300-year old temple car made for Lord Vishnu, artistically designed and ornamented. The historian in me loved the complete ambience and it was truly a knowledgeable trip within the building. Lying within the museum compound itself is the Sri Chitra Art Gallery, an ideal place for all kinds of art lovers. The collections over here were so unique that one could find a plethora of paintings. A separate section is devoted for Raja Ravi Varma’s paintings, an Indian painter who is considered as a complete artist by many eminents in this field. It was such a visual treat that one would struggle to come back to reality. My watch showed 3.00 pm, a little harsh reminder to take my lunch. So, after having my lunch from the nearby restaurant, I started my journey to a beautiful location, Ponmudi.

Ponmudi, translated as Golden Peak is a hill station situated almost 60 kms from the city and is considered as a paradise for both hiker’s and trekker’s. The journey was filled with adventure as the route had sharp turning hair pins and rapids flowing over the roads. On my way, I could see misty peaks thronged by an exotic vegetation, a true testimony for Kerala being nicknamed as ‘God’s own Country’. The mountain peaks, pine trees, big round clouds on top of our head and water logged streams made the picture perfect and skip a heart beat too. As the light faded, it became difficult for me to drive as even a 5-metre distant vision was also not possible. Trusting my partner’s dim lights, I carried on through the fog to reach a KTDC Hotel by 7.00 pm. A gentleman in the reception welcomed me with a big smile and handed over the room keys to me. My tired eyes didn’t allow me to spend more time and a lovely bed in the room made me fast asleep.
After having a sound sleep, I woke up by 7.00 am with a fresh urge to start off my day.  The breeze was so chilled that I had to put on my extra shirt to avoid being in discomfort. By 9.00 am, I embarked my journey for further exploration. Interacting with the locals, I came to know the peak is at an altitude of 650 metres and forms a part of the Western Ghats mountain ranges. I reached a lovely green meadow on top of a peak from where the scenery was a true out of the world experience. The place was so peaceful and calm that I could hear the music of winds harmony of nature. The cool breeze had so much innocence in it that one would get lost in beautiful thoughts of his own. I would say, this is the most ideal place to spend your weekends away from the city lights to refresh one’s mind and to escape from daily work pressures. After spending over 2 hours and clicking some camera snaps, I started to climb down the hill in search of greener pastures.
My next stop is Poovar beach, a beach famous for virgin white sands, beauty and calmness. By 2.00 pm, I reached the less travelled Poovar beach and frankly I was taken aback by the beautiful scenery that this place offered. The water was so calm and bluish that anyone would be in double minds whether it is a lake or a sea.  To my surprise, I saw a bunch of people shooting for a music album on the shores. My attention naturally got diverted to the boys and girls who were dancing to a peppy song. The director’s choice of location was so apt since romance floated along with the winds over here.   Bidding bye to the film unit I started towards my final destination for the day, a dam known as Aruvikkara Dam.
This picturesque picnic spot is on the banks of the Karamana river and has a famous Devi Kshetram (Durga Temple) situated near the dam. Myself being a Christian, I had no idea about the consequences I had to face after entering a temple. So to make it safe, I had a silent prayer from outside the temple. There is a general feeling among the people that anything sought in this temple with true heart will be done by God. Near the temple there is a stream full of fish that fearlessly come close to the shore to be fed by the visitors. It is a general myth that the fishes over there are considered to be holy and is believed that feeding them would curve one’s diseases.
My heart was thumping for more adventure as my hometown Trivandrum offered more of it. But unfortunately, the dread devil named TIME didn’t allow me to travel more. My boss would be busy waiting for me and the idea of an expedition won’t impress him either. The tour package was incomplete since I had missed out places like Kovalam, Neyyar wild life sanctuary, Veli Lake and the sacred Padmanabhaswamy Temple for which Trivandrum was famous for. I couldn’t complain too since the places I had visited provided me an enchanting experience and also were one of the few roads less travelled. My words may not justify the pleasure I had but my happiness surely will.