KERALA

Kerala is widely known as GOD's OWN COUNTRY. A visit to Kerala will re instate the same in anyone's mind. It's greenary attracts everyone. Thundering beauty of Waterfalls, Prestine Beaches, Calm Backwaters all are facts of attraction. It's the state with highest literacy rate in India.

Edakkal Caves

Edakkal Caves is a series of three caves located 1000m above above sea level in the Ambukuthi mala of Wayanad district of Kerala. The caves have the rock paintings which are believed to be drawn by people from neolithic age (roughly 8000 BC). The cave paintings decipt the tribal chiefs, animals, the tribal queen etc. Edakkal in Malayalam refers to the stone in between. This name comes from the fact that these caves are actually a fissure formed in the rocks. Over this fissure another big rock has fallen forming a roof. From the caves one can also trek to the top of Ambukuthi mala. The view from the peak is fantastic.

Arch Dam - Idukki

In the heart of Idukki District lies the 'IDUKKI DAM' - Asia's biggest Arch Damof 555 feet height proudly standing between the two mountains - 'Kuravanmala' (839 meters) and 'Kurathimala' (925 meters ). Its underground Power House is located at Moolamattom. Commercial operation of the Power Station was Commissioned on 12
February 1976.

 This photo was taken before the Arch Dam was filled with water - in 1974 Mar 17 >>>>

 

Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple

The origin of the Temple of Sree Padmanabhaswamy is lost in antiquity. It is not possible to determine with any exactitude, from any reliable historical documents or other sources as to when and by whom the original idol of Sree Padmanabhaswamy was consecrated. The Temple has references in Epics and Puranas. Srimad Bhagavatha says that Balarama visited this Temple, bathed in Padmatheertham and made several offerings. Nammalwar, 9th century poet and one among the 12 Vaishnavite saints of the Alvar tradition, has composed ten hymns in praise of Lord Padmanabha. Some well known scholars, writers and historians, like the late Dr. L.A.Ravi Varma of Travancore, have expressed the view that this Temple was established on the first day of Kali Yuga (which is over 5000 years ago). The legends of the Temple are handed down through the centuries. One such legend which finds a place in the old palm leaf records of the Temple, as also in the famous grantha entitled “Ananthasayana Mahatmya”, mentions that it was consecrated by a Tulu Brahmin hermit named Divakara Muni. On the 950th year of Kali Yuga a reinstallation of the idol was done. In the 960th Kali year King Kotha Marthandan built the Abhisravana Mandapam.

The intricate craftsmanship of gem-studded jewels has dazzled the Supreme Court-appointed experts who have been documenting the treasures of Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple in Thiruvananthapuram.

Evaluating and recording the details of the jewels is consuming more time than they thought. Fearing that this may delay the completion of inventory, the committee of experts is planning to seek the help of the National Geographic Society (NGS), a non-profit institution known for its magazine and television programmes on archaeology and environment, to speed up the process.

In its seventh interim report, submitted to the court last month, the committee said investigating the gem-studded objects was time-consuming and it was able to document only three or four objects a day. Of the l.05 lakh items documented so far (till mid-March, 2013), about 500 were embedded with gems. Except a few, all of them had a minimum of 100 precious stones each. One single locket alone contained 997 gems. Together, these jewels accounted for 60,000 gems.

The gem-testing procedure was taking time and unless the committee identified new technologies to evaluate these articles, it could not complete the inventory within the time limit set by the court, the report said.

It has been decided to study the procedures used in the United States, France and England and update the methods adopted in the temple. The committee has decided to extend a special invitation to the NGS to demonstrate the technology it uses for studying artefacts.

Following a court directive in 2011, the committee was set up to study and record the treasures found in the six kallaras (underground vaults) of the temple. Of the six, ‘A’to ‘F,’ ‘kallara B’ is yet to be opened. The committee has completed the documentation of the articles found in four kallaras, while the enumeration of those in ‘kallara A,’ which contains the maximum number of objects, is on. So far, it has found 1.03 lakh articles in ‘kallara A.’

Along with jewels, plenty of ancient coins have been found. Of them, Venetian and late Roman coins are of extensive academic interest. Archaeologists assign mid-fourth century C.E to the late Roman period and the 14th century C.E to the Venetian period.

S. Suresh, archaeologist and specialist in Roman trade in South India, said: “It is not surprising that the Padmanabhaswamy temple has Roman coins. The Kerala coast was a hub of Roman trade for long, and Roman coins were in circulation. Some of them would have found their way to the royal treasury and then to the temple.”

He reckons that a careful study of these coins will help to know more about Kerala’s history in general and the temple in particular. “What would be of interest is to find out whether these coins have any connection with the famous Kottayam hoard that yielded more than 50,000 Roman coins — the largest in South Asia. Most of these coins, which were discovered in the 1850s, have disappeared. We have very little information about them.”

The bulk of the coins found in the kallaras are Raasippanams (small gold coins). About 1,95,000 of Raasippanams, weighing more than 600 kg, have been documented. Along with the coins, 14,000 Arka flowers — gold-covered objects used as votive offerings —have been found in the kallaras. Anyhow, one thing is certain : It’s the temple with largest treasure ever found in the world.