Palakkad village

I am always have a fascination for Villages, the serne and laid back life in villages. During my recent visit to Palakkad, I could click couple of villages around Palakkad. Palakkad lies at the foot of the gigantic Western ghats , on the border of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. This district with its mountains, forests and fertile valleys, rivers and mountain streams, are rich in flora and fona.

The  Kalpathy river, a tributary of the Bharathapuzha is flowing through Palakkad. Many famous villages are located in Palakkad, one of them is  Kalpathy village, which is acclaimed as the oldest agraharam or Brahmin settlement in the heart of Palakkad.

One can observe  houses in rows with wooden shutters and metal grills in each lane leading to a temple. I could find some of the villages as heritage village. Kalpathi is one of the heritage village.

I think this is to Preserve our culture: Realising that old village houses were fast giving way to modern architecture by a younger generation, the state government of Kerala declared Kalpathy a Heritage Village to conserve its unique culture, tradition and lifestyle. The agraharams are now recognised as heritage sites and major architectural changes or rebuilding are banned.

Kalpathy agraharam, a Brahmin settlement, consists of five villages – Chathapuram, Old Kalpathy, New Kalpathy, Govindarajapuram and Vaidhyanathapuram. It was founded in the 12th century by migrant Brahmins from Thanjavur. A rich amalgamation of Tamil and Keralite culture is palpable.

The streets, with houses abutting on both sides and a temple for each settlement, are a typical feature of agraharams. some snaps of villages around.

Car festival is one of the important celebration in the villages for which people come and enthusiastically participate. Thousands of devotees drag the huge, intricately carved, bulbous domed chariots bedecked with flowers and flags through the streets to the sound of Vedic recitals and chants. Nellicherry village also celebrate Car festival and I attended and witness last year the car event. Some more snaps from Nellicherry village.

 Nellicherry Sri Venkatachalapathy Temple- Car festival is the highlight and there is a beautiful tank at the back of the temple. New Car for this year festival is under progress.

Nellicherry village from the entrance view.. the big pipal tree - arasa maram is one of the landmark in this village.

A PANARAMIC VIEW OF THE NELLICHERRY VILLAGE- from my nokia mobile...

on the way to Palakkad

 Bountiful nature in the Gods own Country. A Picture from Palakkad - Palghat ghats.

Picture clicked from the train.. near Valayar...good forest section before reaching Palakkad

After Combatore - for about an hour - pristine forest, valleys, greenary, water flow, river bed, fertile lands.. treat to nature lovers

Western Ghats, with coconut trees, palm trees, indicates reaching Kerala !!!

 On the way to Chittalencherry.. in between Trissur...greenary and granary...

Fertile paddy fields all along the route to Chittalencherry...

 The holy Chittalencherry Bhagwathy temple- Chernathuri Bhagwathi temple.. entrance...our family deity..

tribute

When I was a young boy, I admire Gundappa Viswanath... I like his batting style. I used to practice his square cuts and late cuts. I ask my friends to through balls out-side the off stump and practice Square cuts relentlessly... at the end, among my friends, I am the only one who could play the Square / late cuts well.

Still I consider, Square-cut and Late-cuts are the jewels in Cricketing shots..  Today is Vishy's birthday. 12 Feb.. Vishy is liked by all, as he is considered one of the Gentlemen in Cricket and wish him many more happy returns of the day..

the sky clouds and rain ...

This picture was clicked on 9th Feb 2015, clear skies, cool and breezy Bangalore. No rain for the past few months. All the nearby water holes, lakes, and ponds are completely empty and dried-out. The winter is getting over, and the Summer is gently settling in. Cool morning and hot afternoon and breezy evening. The Sky is spotless clear and without any cloud. Would like to add on the sky pics to compare the cloud formations from the same spot!!!

Friday, 13th Feb 2015, Picture clicked at around 1.45pm in the afternoon. Bright Sunshine, clear blue skies, Bangalore is getting warmer.. Mornings are chill, as the day goes, bright Sunshine and gentle Summer kind of heat is setting in. Of course, today, I could find few patches of clouds.. see the right hand side of the picture... 

Clicked on 26th Feb 2015.. afternoon... clear skies, days are hot and nights are cool...

27th Feb 2015, afternoon.. formation of clouds in the evening.. for the first time of this season....

Due to UAC & Bay circulations, there has been unseasonal rainfall for the past two days at Bangalore.. however the outer Bangalore such as Hosur, Sarjapur, experiences only slight drizzles. The Old Bangalore had received showers. This picture clicked on 02nd March 2015 @ around 4.00pm. There was some formation of thunderclouds in the western horizons.. it has been spilled over in the eastern side also.. if you notice, for the first time, this eastern portion could see some clouds for this year 2015!!!

Clicked on Tuesday, March 03, 2015, 11.45am., Overcast skies, with slight drizzle, Good showers in the morning in some parts of Bangalore...It's fabulous weather today at Bangalore, cool, cloudy, with breeze.. typical Bangalore monsoonish weather -on March...It appears heading for a rainy day.. 

March 24th 2015, Picture clicked around 2.00pm.. Bright sunshine, hot and humid., Scorching Summer is here at Bangalore. It has been more than 20 days, without rain...not even cloud formations in the evening., quite unsual of Bangalore weather so far this year. Days begin with clear skies, afternoon Spotless, cloudless skies, high temperature, humid and no cloud formations. Hoping looking forward to have Summer Showers to cool the earth !!!!

This picture was clicked on 10th April 2015, Friday, we could spot few puffy clouds,, there was heavy evening showers on 11, 12, 13th April 2015.., In fact yesterday the temperature dropped and gave a feel as if it is winter.. Soo good Bangalore weather so far this Summer...

Clicked around 11.45am on 15th May 2015., the sky is full of puffy clouds and Bangalore is getting drizzles for the past few days.. However there is no heavy rain in the last week. Though there is a low pressure system associated rains battering Tamil Nadu and Kerala coast. It is reported that SW Monsoon will hit on 30th May 2015 at Kerala., You could see today sky picture contains bright sunshine with puffy clouds...