Mayura River View Hotel, Srirangapatnam.......the beautiful lung space near Bangalore

   A flock of geese scurried away as I opened the door of the car..I walked into a place under the shade of tall trees.A  river flowing very close grabbed my attention and I did not notice the turkey and the rooster ambling very close to my feet .If by now you have visualised me in a remote village somewhere in Karnataka,you are under the wrong impression.I was at the Mayura River View resort merely a 100 m off the Bangalore Mysore highway.

 

The Mayura River View resort is located in Srirangapatnam,about few kilometers from Mysore.We had visited the cursed town of Talakadu  and the intricately carved Hoysalan templeThe temple at Somnathapura .On our way back we decided to spend the rest of the day and one night here before we returned to Bangalore the next morning.

        Though the temple of Somnathpura was a masterpiece in itself,it could not get the kids interested as always. They were exhausted after the long drive and with the sun blazing over us all the morning.this resort came as a welcome retreat in more ways than one.

We had booked a river facing cottage with an awesome view of the branch of the Cauvery flowing by. Since we had about half of the day to ourselves we did not confine ourselves to the room.The most exciting amusement was obvious,a coracle ride on the river.The boatman who took us for the ride stopped at one of the rocks in the middle of the water.The view from there was something I shall not forget for a long time.

We sat there with our feet dipped in water watching the birds busy fishing.
As a matter of fact we were completely overwhelmed by the silence of the place,more so as it came at the least expected place,only a kilometre away from the busy highway.

The picture below shows the open dining area where we did not miss an opportunity to have lunch and breakfast ,with the beautiful river flowing by. I personally liked the taste of the food,which ranged from typically south Indian to Indo Chinese and service was prompt.My only complain was to the people who had very irresponsibly thrown liquor bottles at places on the  river bank.

The picture below shows the dining area where we had dinner.It is a semi circular place partially hanging over the water.

We could spend hours there simply sitting and lazing on the steps to the water,and of course clicking more than we had clicked since morning at the two historical places.

 

The finest part of this stay was that the kids never complained through the entire stay. They were too busy chasing geese ,watching turkeys and most interestingly ,feeding rabbits in the open. And for once we did not complain about them digging in to mobile phones..At times I find myself pushed to a corner as I wonder whether our kids are to blame or we are falling short of options for them.

The dining space

The open dining area by the riverside

So in a nutshell it was a day well spent amidst raw nature,a sense of fulfillment which no malls, swimming pools,  amusement parks or multiplexes can outdo.We were back on the highway after a quick visit to the nearby Colonel Bailey's Dungeon.Read here

Srirangapatnam was once Tipu Sultan's capital city.  So a lot of monuments pertaining to his life and activities are strewn all over the place.Like  -       Tipu's Summer Palace,
                                                                              Ranganathittu Bird Santuary ,
                                                                             Dariya Daulat Bagh,
                                                                            Scott's Bungalow,
                                                                          Tipu's death place,
                                                                            Ruins of Tipu's Palace ,
                                                                             Sangam and many more.

 Moreover this place being at a short distance (15 kms )from Mysore can be used for a good night stay when visiting Mysore, if one wishes to avoid the crowd at Mysore.There is good parking space for cars and booking can be done online here Hotel Mayura River View.

Theyyam by the river Valapattanam

    If I was waiting to visit Kannur, it was to experience Theyyam. I had  heard so much about it from our homestay owners who  recommended it highly .I had also  read a lot about it ,which mentioned that Kannur was the Land of Theyyams. .The rest of it ,the beaches ,the  forts ,the beautiful walkways and the sunsets came as a bonus .

You might also like reading-The Chera Beach

The drive to Kannur

St Angelos Fort

Amban homestay

Image courtesy junglekey.in

So what is Theyyam ?

     Its a ritual art form of north Kerala (not to be confused with the kathakali dance of the state ),which is held in the  months of December to April .It is held in almost all places of northern Kerala

  except the Parassini Kadavu temple in Kannur ,where it is held everyday .The thyyam is held in        front of the village shrines , with devotees surrounding the performers . It is performed in many ways in praise of various gods ,by the lower caste people of this region.for the well being of family and society. This has been a ritual for this area for several thousands of years .

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The road to the Parassini Kadavu  Temple is a long winding one  with lush greenery and beautiful mansions all around .Just before reaching the temple we crossed a bridge over a river and the road culminated to a surprisingly crowded place .The place was lined with shops selling all possible things required for the visit to the temple and souvenirs to take back home ,leaving no doubt in our minds that we were at right place.

                                            Inside the temple complex we were amazed to see a voluminous river flowing alongside .The river was the Valapattanam.The Theyyam was yet to start since it does not start before sunset .So a boat ride on the river Valapattanam at sunset was the next evident option  . 

 It was a day of many amazement and surprises I guess, as nature put up a beautiful show for us.We were the only ones on the river that evening when the sun bathed the sky and the river with its last rays for the day.The golden hues of sunset lent an ambiance of  serenity with the Parassini Kadavu Temple gleaming at the edge of the river at a distance.

Peace and simplicity had a close relation,I wondered.

   The Parassini Kadavu Temple is also known as the Muthappan Temple,named after lord Muthappan. Legend has a very interesting tale about how Muthappan emerged as the Lord of the region but that is a different story .

    For the time being I can only think of our bewilderment as we entered the temple complex. The place had an unusual number of dogs roaming everywhere.It did not take us long to notice that there were two large bronze statues of dogs at the entrance of the temple and many more smaller ones near the shrine.It was palpable that our canine cohabitants had a very vital role in this temple.We later learnt that they were the bodyguards of Lord Mutthappan, and it is so believed that once when the temple authorities removed them the theyyam performers were unable to put up a performance.

The Parassini Kadavu temple from the boat

   With the setting sun the crowd which was till now dispersed all over the temple complex slowly gathered to the shrine.All lights were switched off in the hall which houses the shrine .Many oil lamps were lit up at the shrine in the dark hall, providing an enchanting atmosphere.

   All eyes were now fixed at it ,so as to not to miss a moment of what would come up next.What came up next did not disappoint us , the attire with the headgear, the drummers and other folk musical instruments being played ,together lent an atmosphere of awe. The ensuing performance was the story of Lord Muthappan,through folk dance and music.The performers are believed to take the form of the Lord during the performance  .The devotees touched their feet to seek blessings after the performance.

        The temple was unique in its own way.The devotees offered fish and liquor to the lord here and prasad is first served to the dogs here and then to the people.

   Be it the Muthappaan Temple or Theyyam at the village shrines,this age old form of art had its lasting  impact on me. I visualised how astounding it would be to watch the brightly coloured dressed Theyyam performers perform in a warm winter afternoon,in a picturesque Malabar village.

Image courtesy junglekey.in

       As the car crossed the dimly lit bridge once again as I returned to Kannur,I reflected at the strange relation man shares with nature. I wondered if it is the Maker who draws faith ,or merely faith which makes a man the Master. These and many more such thoughts jostled for space in my perplexed mind ,while the car drove past the now dark scenery of palm lined roads and glimmering mansions.
     
         The Parassinikadavu Temple is located at Anthoor,16 kms from Kannur city .If you are driving from Kannur.it is best to start in the afternoon and reach there by sunset,to witness theyyam .The temple has provision of serving tea and refreshments to all devotees .There are many shops outside the temple where snacks are available for the visitors.

Amban Heritage(Home stay)...a cosy nest in Kannur

   Home stays are the preferred option when travelling with kids. Most of the times they allow us to stay close to nature and is probably the best way to understand the local people or soak in the local flavours.We came to know about  the home stay Amban Heritage in Kannur from  "Trip Advisor".

The Kerala style cottage own us over,with the tiled roofs and pillared veranda in the first glance.Amban Heritage is actually an old renovated double storey house.The owners stay in a portion of the house,while the rest of the house is used by the visitors.Amban has a living room and one bedroom with attached bath in the ground floor.The kitchen and the dining is also in the ground floor. The other three bedrooms are in the first floor of the house.

   

      Sitting in an open area sipping tea has now become a luxury for many of us,though it must have been a daily affair for the occupants of this house many years ago. Our host told us that this house was nearly a hundred years old.It was built by her great grandmother and passed down the family chain.

The best part of it is, the seating has  a big garden area in front of it .One can sit here and chat while the children can play in the open space in front of it.The kids wanted to spend the maximum time in the homestay as they could be in the open ,something they completely lack in our apartment style living.

The house is maintained clean and tidy and has retained the old world charm along with all modern facilities.

These copper vessels  probably used by their forefathers,now add to the aesthetics of the house.

The first thing that comes to our mind about Amban is the food.They pampered us with the food. Of the three days we stayed there, every breakfast and dinner had a different menu. We started getting into the habit of discussing and guessing what would be served in the next meal. We had lunch outside when we visited the different places in and around Kannur. You can also read  St. Angelo's Fort,  The drive to Kannur,    The Chera Beach.  

The lady who cooked for us( sorry to forget the name) was an excellent cook. Even evening snacks were not made in a hurry.We got to taste Ela Ada (riceflour pancakes with sweet coconut filling) for the first time. We did not have much idea about Malabar cuisine but loved every bit of it.  Our host had got  a clear idea that we were sea food loving people. So we were served mackerels,squids crabs and more.We could not stop ourselves from taking second and third helpings.

            The lady who cooked for us offered to prepare Maggi for the kids (in case they are not comfortable with the food). But it was not required ,as the food was prepared moderately spiced keeping the children in view,and our children enjoyed the food as much as we did.They liked it to the extent that they even disagreed to have dinner outside Amban once we were getting late from the Parassini Kaduva Temple.

Food was prepared hot and served warm.But the most warm aspect of Amban was not the food.Though food was kept ready at the table and we were too happy to serve ourselves ,our hosts would graciously be present in the dining room during meals,engaged in conversation with us about the food. After all it is Indian hospitality you see...

   

   Though the flooring and much of the interiors have been changed to keep pace with modern lifestyle ,these old wooden windows still stand strong to give us a glimpse of olden architecture.

Here is another piece  to remind us of the good old days.

The stairs connecting the ground floor to the first floor

The living room

I just love the looks of that simple cot.

 A view from upstairs of the driveway and the garden area .

 Our hosts took  the children  and me around to show the different plants in their garden.Let me take you around for the same .

Can you spot the cocoa pods hanging from the cocoa plant?

  The pepper climbers...

  Betel nuts...

                                                     

  A mace plant in the garden.

This is how they bring those coconuts down!The kids were amused to see the man climb the coconut tree hired by the home stay owners, to get the coconuts.

We were seven people in all including kids.So the whole house was actually left to us.The bedrooms ,though a bit small ,did not pose much of a problem for us.After all ,we retreated to the bedrooms only to fall asleep.The two cars could be well parked in the driveway.There was television connections but we had little time for it .We spent most of our time chatting and relaxing in the open area outside.There are no WiFi connections there,but then I would suggest that for a digital detox.

Our host were charming people with a good idea of the place.He provided necessary information for many of our visits to the different places around Kannur.
The place is a little away (about 7 to 8 kilometers on the average)from the beaches,but since we had our own vehicle we did not mind.Rather we enjoyed the drive through the town.
The food, although not included in the tariff was surprisingly nominal.

  We stayed there for three nights,but could have extended our stay,if Amban did not have other bookings.It was  a short and sweet visit to a place,a retreat from our maddening lives.If you are the type of person who drives pleasure from simple things in life ,Amban Heritage is the place for you.


  Amban Heritage is in the Kannur district of Kerala ,In the place called Mathanur.The Kannur district in north Kerala is about 310 kms. from Bangalore.It takes roughly 7 to 8 hours for a leisurely drive to the place(considering the Makkoottam Churan Ghat that comes on the way).
The route-Bangalore-Mysore-Virajpeta road-Makkoottam Churan Ghat-Koottupuzha bridge-Irrity-Kannur
  One can find many hotels and refreshments at Irrity,ATMs and hoispital facility is also available there.There are not many eateries after one takes the deviation from the Mysore road to the Virajpeat road.
The railway station at Kannur is also well connected to all parts of India.The nearest airports are at Calicut and Mangalore,while the new airport coming up at Kannur is expected to begin commercial operations in mid 2017.Kannur is on national highway 66 between Kozhikode and Mangalore.

St Angelos Fort ..Kannur

    The bastions were there ,so were the cannons,the barracks ,dungeons ,prisons ,ammunition rooms , secret tunnels,cellars  and of course the many tales.It was all there,the stage was set,so I could now let my imagination run wild,of scenes that would have happened here few centuries ago.Fleets of ships waiting to be loaded with spices from the mainland,soldiers marching in their boots inside the fort to keep themselves ready for any sudden attack,horses being cleaned and fed in the stables,change of the guards at the fort gates and the bastions.The days must have been eventful inside the huge laterite walls of this very important fort in the Malabar.

The  main entrance to the fort

                                                   

The main door of the fort(note the spikes)

The history of Saint Angelo's Fort
     After the Chera dynasty ,the Malabar region got divided into many territories ,amongst whom the Kolatharis were strong in the north and the Zamorins were established in the south.  .The Kolathiris were the ones who first entered into an alliance with the Portuguese,in order to become more wealthy and powerful.They had done this as the Zamorins (their rivals )had established themselves with the help of the Arabs.The king of Portugal sent Don Francisco De Almeida as the first Portuguese viceroy in India,who built the St Angelo's Fort.The fort was planned to be used as  a garrison for the navy and to help in the spice trade.But the Portuguese soon started making their settlement there and did not merely continue their spice trade.Much to the annoyance of local rulers they started forcibly converting  the locals to their religion.The Kolathiris and the Zamorins joined hands against the PortugueseThe Zamorins attacked the fort but were defeated.After the naval battle of Diu the portugeese  started losing their foothold and lost the fort to the Dutch.The fort remained in the hands of the Dutch for more than  a century .They renovated the fort mostly like how it is now.but later sold it to the Arakkal king Ali Raja,from whom the fort was finally taken over by the British.

The moat at the entrance from the bridge

The moat at the entrance of the fort provided a protective mechanism to the fort,it connected the Arabian sea in the east to the Mapilla bay in the west.

Cannon lined up in the well laid out gardens inside the fort

The prison seen from the walls of the fort

The chapel still remains ,built by the Portuguese and the oil lamp lighthouse used during those days can be seen behind the chapel

               The chapels and the prisons,remains of which can be seen today were built by the Portugeese. Much of the Portuguese structure were brought down by the Dutch.They built bastions named Hollandia,Zeelandia and Frieshlandia,as is obvious from the names.The ammunition rooms were made by the Dutch.And then the British,who made the stables ,the dungeons ,the cellars and the armory.Once seized from the Dutch the British used it as their chief military station in the Malabar till Independence.

 

The pictures above show the cannon balls kept out in the sun to dry probably after some chemical treatment,when we were visiting the place.An employee from the archaeological department was also seen cleaning the cannon balls .Approximately 12000 of them,these cannon balls,many of which were solid and quite a few even hollow, in different sizes were unearthed in 2015 when workers were digging the place to lay cables for a light and sound show recently set up in the fort premises.The cannon balls were found just one feet below the surface which suggests ,according to the 

archaeological department ,that they were discarded.

The stairs leading up to the fort walls

The stables and the barracks down  from the fort walls

The picture above is a view of the Mapilla bay from top of the fort .It owes its name to the Arab influence in the place ,with whom the local rulers were engaged in the spice trade.On one side of this Bay is the fort and on the other side is the Arakkal Palace ,the palace of the only Muslim rulers of the Malabar.The king of the Arrakal rulers ,Ali Raja and his queen held a place of prominence in the political scenario of erstwhile Cannanore,but that is  a different story altogether.As of now,I could not stop clicking the picturesque Mapilla bay,following are what my lens could capture for you.

A cannon directed towards the sea in one of the bastions  in the fort wall

The death stone of one of the dutch commandments wife and two children

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The Arabian sea gulfs in along the wall of the fort,creating a beautiful scenery.The cliff end of the Fort as seen from the top of the stables.A 360 degree view of the sea and the Mapilla Bay on the other side is simply amazing.

Inside view of the stables

An entrance to the fort  through a moat straight from the Arabian sea, can now be seen blocked.

The picture above suggests that small boats probably meant for loading ships stranded in the sea ,were loaded from these places inside the fort.

The cliff end of the fort

A lot of time can be spent at the cliff end of the fort.There are some vendors here as well as in front of the chapel,selling snacks and icecreams. Apart from being an ideal destination for historians  and nature lovers ,this place is a photographers delight.

A secret exit or entrance from the fort can be seen at the distance and the watch tower can be seen above it

The spacious inside o f the Fort

                                  

    The St Angelos Fort fort is about 3 kms from Kannur.It is visited by the tourists and the locals alike.I guess the locals treat this fort as a park ,as there is a lot of greenery in and around the place.The gardens and lawns inside are very well maintained by the archaeological department.One can easily spend 3 to 4 hours here.The archaeological department has  an office inside the fort which can be approached for further guidance .The fort is open to visitors from 8 in the morning to 6 in the evening ,but a visit during broad daylight is recommended for the best views around the place.A light and sound show is held here in the evening.There is no entry fees but a nominal parking fees are charged.There are no charges for cameras too .History buffs or not ,this place is a must visit for all who visit Kannur.
               The railway station at Kannur is also well connected to all parts of India.The nearest airports are at Calicut and Mangalore,while the new airport coming up at Kannur is expected to begin commercial operations in mid 2017.Kannur is on national highway 66 between Kozhikode and Mangalore.
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