Kizhukaanam
The Kizhukaanam village is bordered by the woods of Idukki Wild Life Sanctuary and water reservoir of Idukki district, in Kerala, the south Indian state of India. The place can be reached through the private bus services from Kattappana, which are not too frequent.
T
he earlier inhabitants of this place were the Oorali and Ulladan tribes, who were relocated during the construction of the Idukki dam. AS time passed by, other migrants from different parts came to this place and settled here. Thus, now the population of this place is a mixture of different races. The chief occupation of the people living at this place is agriculture. The inhabitants of this place are peace loving people and they live in harmony.
The road to Kizhukaanam, after the initial stage consists of mud road, which made us decide to opt for a four wheeler i.e. a jeep. The ride was a bit rough and it ended at the forest station of Kizhukaanam, from where two of the forest guards accompanied us as our guides. After another rough ride of about half an hour, we reached Mulla, from where our trek started.
The initial trekking route consisted of thick vegetation after which we came before the lush green hills. The trek up the hill was steep, all the while the hot sun hovering above our head. We continued our trek, only occasionally resting at shola patches, which were not too frequent. Next, we found ourselves in the centre of lush green meadows, which was a delight to the eyes. We stopped for some while at this spot and captured some photos of this scenic spot as the cool breeze blew through us making us feel rejuvenated after a steep climb.
We proceeded with our trek and climbed up a hillock where we came before the alluring view of the blue storage of Idukki reservoir, in the bottom of the valley. The sight was worth cherishing for every nature enthusiast. Some of the members from our trekking group starting capturing the photos of the enthralling view, while the rest lied down on the green carpet.
As we entered the Kizhakkelaachi sector through the southern end, we planned to cover the entire region on foot and leave through the northern end. As we moved further, we came before a thick shola, which took us about half an hour to cross and found ourselves walking through a ridge, with the centre part of the reservoir beneath us. The undergrowth was thick so we decided to move cautiously along the edge, which steeply falls into the reservoir.
We sat at the edge of the cliff to admire the view around us, after which we got ready for our return. Went back to the track and then started our descent. As we descended further down, the cliffs of ‘Kalyaanathandu’, near Kattappana, could be seen from the track. Coming down was much easier and we finally reached ‘Bheeman Chuvadu’, from where we were to get back on a jeep.
Due to some reason, the driver turned out late to pick us up, which gave us ample time to explore the surroundings. During our exploration, we came before a large print on a rock surface which resembled a footprint and we asked about the print to a local who was just passing by. He replied to our query about the print, saying that it is the footprint of Bheema, who is a character form the epic, Mahabharata. As we were speculating the large footprint, the driver arrived with his jeep to pick us for our return journey.
Ref:
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