TEAM DOLBY WAYANAD TRIP

Posted by: Binoy Anto on: March 12, 2009

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It was on 25 JAN 09. The TEAM DOLBY was ready to Rock off to WAYANAD.

We 17 Boys where on a Trip which was scheduled for Two Nights and One Day, due to some constraints of time we have to make it short. We were only able to see some of the nice places at WAYANAD.

First we went to the Edakkal Caves, and in the Evening we were enjoying at Soochippaara Water Falls. When we were at Pookode Lake it was closing time and we could n’t go for the ride. Later in the Evening we enjoyed the FLOWER SHOW at Kalpetta and a Greta CAMP FIRE at the Base. Late Night We returned with the hope of coming back to WAYANAD once again to catch the all other beauties….. of Land.

A MAN CARRYING WATER IN THE METAL TINS Old( Style).

He was walking so fast that i have to adjust the Camera two times to take the shot.

We reached at Lakkidi around 5:30 AM still too early, I started search for getting rooms for us to get fresh, but as it was 3days off week, in which the Republic Day was part, all Hotels and Inns where full. Finally after getting down around 8-9 places we reached Kalpetta. We were able to check in at a Small Inn for getting fresh. They gave us 2 hrs time, which was ok for us to get a good start. Around 7:50 we were out to some Coffee shop nearby.

I took this at Kalpetta, after getting fresh, all were ready for the first spot.

KALPETTA TOWN, WAYANAD

Off we got to the Land of Beauty.

Fr. Roy (Prayer)

We reached the Edakkal Caves, around 9:30 AM and as we have n’t taken any breakfast, we started the preparation for the same.

We have carried the Gas stove and the pots for preperation and also the good cooks where always with US :)

Saji was on Anchor, while Shinto is asking when it will be ready..

All were helping the TEAM and was hungry as it was already 9:00 AM and we have to start the Ride up.

The big water storage.

While all were busy cooking some have side business, one Bunch of Banana was finished while talking and Freejo Carries the rest.

Talks in the middle of cooking. Majo.

“Breakfast ready aakumbozhekkum kurachu vellam kudikkam”

In thoughts….

As soon as we finished breakfast we started to move to the Entrance of the Edakkal caves.

Guys we have a long way to walk…….

“ee thoppi kollaamallo… “

EDAKKAL HERMITAGE – Navigation sign

EDAKKAL CAVES WAYANAD KERALA INDIA

Edakkal caves lies 12km from SulthanBathery Two caves are located at a height of 1000 m on Ambukutty Mala near Ambalavayal.The New Stone Age pictorical writings on the walls of these natural caves at Edakkal are evidence of the civilisation that existed in these regions in prehistorical times. The caves can be accessed only by a 1 km trekking trial from Edakkal.Morning hours are the best time to visit the caves.Entry is permitted only up to 1700 hrs.

“Edakkal” literally means “a stone in between”, and this describes how the cave is formed by a heavy boulder straddling a fissure in the rock. Inside the cave is on two levels, the lower chamber measures about 18 feet long by 12 feet wide and 10 feet high and can be entered through an opening of 5 x 4 feet .’Edakkal Caves’at Ambukuthy near Ambalavayal is belived to be the abode of Neolithic man. The Edakkal cave site is on an ancient route connecting the high rangs of Mysore to the ports of Malabar. A passage opposite the entrance leads upward to a small aperture in the roof through which one climbs up to the next storey whose interior is about 96 feet long, 22 feet wide, and 18 feet high. Light enters the cave through a big gap at the right-hand corner of the roof where the boulder does not touch the facing wall.

The writings and carving on the walls of Edakkal rocks are very rare and historians testify that it is the only one in its kind in all south india where there was the presence of stone age man.

Source : http://www.naturemagics.com/kerala-art-tour/edakkal-caves-kerala.shtm

It was too crowded as on the 26 JAN 09 and we have to struggle to get to the top of the Caves. There are two sections in this route, First one people goes till the Caves where the stone age man lived and the carvings exists and the other one is beyond that upto a Mountain of height 5000Ft. which only can be climbed in good conditions and with great difficulty. Anyways we where determined to go to the Edges, and we went all the way up to 5000Ft.

While on climb – towards Edakkal Caves.

We have reached here ahead…

Boys for a pose.

Walking the 1.5 Km to the Caves Entrace

Edakkal Caves

EDAKKAL CAVES HISTORY  (from  http://www.edakkal.com/ )



Welcome to the neolithic cavesite of Edakkal









The fascinating prehistoric rock etchings found on the walls of these
caves have drawn the serious attention of archeologists and historians
worldwide.

With at least three distinct sets of petroglyphs, the earliest
thought to date back over 5000 years, it is assumed that the Edakkal
caves had been inhabited at various stages in history.

The name “Edakkal”
literally means “a stone in between”, and this describes how the cave is
formed by a heavy boulder straddling a fissure in the rock. Inside the
cave is on two levels, the lower chamber measures about 18 feet long by
12 feet wide and 10 feet high and can be entered through an opening of 5
x 4 feet. A passage opposite the entrance leads upward to a small
aperture in the roof through which one climbs up to the next storey whose
interior is about 96 feet long, 22 feet wide, and 18 feet high. Light
enters the cave through a big gap at the right-hand corner of the roof
where the boulder does not touch the facing wall.

Legends of the Caves

The name Ambukuthimala is ascribed to the local legend which has it that
the caves were formed by arrows fired by Lava and Kusha, the sons of Sri
Rama, legendary hero of the Ramayana.Even today there are many who
believe that Lord Rama killed Surpanakha, the sister of Ravana, in the
narrow fissure at the southern end of Edakkal cave.

A local legend
associates Kutti Chatan (the little devil of Malabar) with the goddess
Mudiampilli, and until recently local people undertook an annual
pilgrimage to the peak of the hill to perform a puja (ritual offering) in
her honour.

The Colonial Discovery of the Caves

On a
hunting trip to Wayanad in 1890, Fred- Fawcett, the
then superintendent of police of the Malabar District,
happened to see a Neolithic Celt (stone axe or chisel)
recovered from the coffee estate of Colin Mackenzie.
An enthusiast in prehistory, Fawcett made local
enquiries and went round exploring the Wayanad high
ranges. In the course of his rambles he was shown the
Edakkal rock-shelter situated on the western side of
Edakkalmala. He identified the site as a habitat of
Neolithic (i.e. late Stone Age, c4000BC to c1700BC)
people on the basis of the nature of representations
on the cave walls, which appeared to him as engravings
made of Neolithic Celts. It was an exciting discovery,
as these were the first specimens of abraded drawings found in India.

Tribal Peoples & the Caves

Fawcett suggested the
possibility that the carvings might have been the
handiwork of Kurumbars (a tribal people of the
Wayanad). He writes, "The curious reluctance of
the Kurumbars to approach the Cave, combined with
the simultaneous want of reverence for it both on
the part of the Paniyas and the local Hindus, who
are very small in numbers and not Iong resident
in the Wayanad, might tempt one to hazard the
theory as to the carvings being the handiwork of
Kurumbars of a bygone day". Nevertheless he
utters a word of caution as follows. "It should,
however, be remembered that the Paniya is a
particularly fearless individual while the
Kurumbar is the reverse. The mere existence of
the mysterious carvings in the silent, unfrequented cave would suffice to
inspire the Kurumbar with a kind of awe and make him terrified to have
anything to do with it” .