ERAVIKULAM NATIONAL PARK

In 2006, I witnessed it, one of Nature's breath-taking phenomenona.

Elephas maximus indicus, Asian elephant, Annamalai range. — at Annamalai National Park.

I was at Eravikulam National Park, near Munnar. It is home to a rare, endangered species, the Nilgiri tahr. When I went there, an additional surprise was in store. A rare treat, reserved for the fortunate few.


We arrived at about ten o'clock, parked our car and walked through the gate, after buying our entry tickets. There was a fairly large crowd, but entry is restricted to what was once a private game reserve.

Rhesus macaque, Udumalpet.

We climbed several hundred metres up the rocks, until we reached the tree-line.


A magnificent view presented itself. The rain-dappled Nilgiris, their gentle slopes shimmering in rainbow-draped

Spathodea campanulata, 'Nandi Flame'.

skies. The shola forests, in different shades of green. The view was breath-taking.


Then we saw them. Grazing in groups, further up, behind the barriers, to keep tourists away from them. Kids with ewes. Rams, with their chocolate-brown hair, resting on rocky overhangs.

The Nilgiri tahr is a rare, endangered species. It is the state animal of Tamil Nadu, but fewer than 2,500 survive. Most of them are in Eravikulam. They are not actually related to tahrs, but a kind of sheep. Their closest genetic cousins are to be found in the mountains of Chile.

Nilgiri Tahr, Eravikulam. — at Eravikulam National Park.

We walked further up a path and were met with another breath-taking sight. A meadow carpeted by blooming neelakurinji shrubs. The violet-blue blossoms had covered the entire vista, far into the distance. The Nilgiris had truly turned blue. It was a sight to behold.


The neelakurinji shrubs flower once in 12 years, in a process called masting, in which all the flowers in a group of plants seed at the same time, and then die. Once, the neelakurinji used to carpet whole areas of the western and eastern ghats. Nowadays, the growth in human population has put an end to that.
The next flowering of the neelakurinji will be in 2018.

Strobilanthes kunthiana

Neelakurinji

Text and photos by Shankar A. Narayan

DEVIKULAM - SITA'S BATHING POOL - AND THE HIGHEST TEA GARDEN IN THE WORLD - KOLUKKUMALAI

CAMP AT SURYANELLI
There is a gentle knock on the door. "May I come in, Sir?" Mohan Babu, my Jeeves, glides in with chhota haazri. Bed-coffee and a newspaper. I sit up on the four-poster bed, as he opens the curtains. A silvery haze streams in through the French windows. It's misty outside, the dew still fresh on the green lawns. I am at Suryanelli, in a colonial bungalow, that once housed a planter and perhaps his family. The Scottish planters are long gone, but their customs linger on. Hence, the bed coffee. My friend and I have the bungalow all to ourselves. It is typical English cottage, built in stone, with a sloping tin roof. Fire-places, rattan furniture and ebony tables. Straight out of a Merchant-Ivory movie. We have Mohan Babu, a cook, a charlady, and a gardener, who keeps himself busy, tending to the emerald-green lawn and the flower-beds outside. There have been some changes though. The grates in the fireplaces are no longer warm. On the walls are reproductions of Ravi Varma's masterpieces, and faux art on the mantelpieces. There is a television set in the living room. But the mahagony floors and the egg-white walls give it all away. This place was once the Manager's bungalow.


Munnar lies 200 metres below and about 24 kilometres away. We drove there first from Cochin, a long drive. The scenary really started to reveal itself when we crossed Adimalai and the climb began, up through the Western Ghats. As we climbed higher and higher, the vistas began to open themselves. Sheer drops and vast acres of tea bushes. Rolling patches of mist and short, sharp bursts of rain. Tea flourishes best in the higher elevations, the higher the better. The Kannan Devan Hills are perfectly suited to plantations of all kinds. Brtitish Reaident Munro realised that when he visited the area in the 1870s. It was then virgin forest and royal land. He talked to the Maharaja and got the whole tract on lease for 3000 rupees a year. The hills were set to be transformed.

KOLUKKUMALAI -THE HIGHEST TEA GARDEN IN THE WORLD
Kolukkumalai is reached via a steep climb, partly on a dirt track in a Jeep. At the top of the mountain, one gets a spectacular view of the plains which once used to be in Madras Presidency. Today, it is in Theni district of Tamil Nadu. Yes, we have crossed the border. From our viewing point, we can see the sun rising reluctantly into the sky. It's about eight o'clock, but the air is cool and bracing. The mist is rolling in through the eucalyptus trees and we watch the sky gradually appear out of the clouds. On a clear day, one can see the hills of Kodaikanal from where we are, but not today.

We turn back and arrive at the gates of the tea factory at a little after nine a.m. Kolukkumalai Tea Factory is the highest orthodox tea factory in the world. It makes organic teas in GOP and FGOP grades and is at about 2100 metres above sea level. The production of orthodox tea is a complex, delicate process, involving several steps, using both manual labour and machines. We get a tour of the factory and are allowed to watch the taster at work.


The teas are first withered in large troughs, for 15-20 hours. Then they are rolles and cut by machine. In earlier times, these machines were hand operated. This relases their oils and aromas. Next, they are oxidized in rooms where the temperature and humidity is carefully controlled. The leaves turn dark, trapping their aromas within. They are then sent through a furnace, on a belt, to remove excess moisture. Further processes take place to remove fibre and sort them through sieves, before they are packed. Orthodox teas are prized for their aroma and distinctive flavours. The soil and climate of each garden makes its tea special. Kolukkumalai has been processing tea for 85 years.


DEVIKULAM -SITA'S BATHING POND
The Kannan Devan Hills are full of places of beauty. Reserve forests dot the areas around Munnar. Kerala's first hydo-electric dam was built in the area. There are breath-taking waterfalls and hiking trails. A couple of days after we visited Kolukkumalai, we drove back a few kilometres in the direction of Devikulam.
Legend has it, that Sita bathed in this pristine lake. Its cool, crystal-clear waters are said to have medicinal properties. The area around it is covered by trees and picnic spots. A truly serene place, and a link to our mythical past.

Text: Shankar A. Narayan Photos:National Geographic (Sunrise over Kolukkumalai), 4Photos and Tea Garden Hotel.

TOY TOWN - CHANNAPATNA - GOMBEGALA OORU - INDIA CLOSE UP

It is a small place. More a village than a town. The streets are neat and lined by small, colourfully painted houses with thatched roofs. Outside one, an elderly lady is busy applying lacquer to a small wooden bird. She has already finished a whole flock and has a few more to finish. Lalithamma is 63 and has been making making toys since she married and moved to her husband's home as a young girl. Her father-in-law made toys. So do her sons. 

We are in Channapatna, 60 kms. from Bengaluru, on the road to Mysore. If you ever had a hand-made, lacquered, wooden toy as a child, chances are it was from Channapatna.Toy trains. Colourful birds and animals. Game sets. Your childhood abacus. The chettiar couple your mother takes out for her bommakolu each navaratri. The ultra-chic candle-stands you just picked up from FabIndia. They are all from Channapatna.

Michelle Obama picked up Channapatna's signature wares during her trip to India. Karnataka's Republic Day float on Rajpath was themed on the artists of Gombegala Ooru - Toy town.


No one knows how exactly this village took to making toys. One story goes that Tipu Sultan brought carvers from Persia, who passed on their skills to the locals. They haven't looked back since.
Some say, wrongly, that the carvers of Channapatna use ivory wood to make their toys. Ivory wood is a species of palm that grows in latin America. Another claim is that the toys are made out of the wood of a species called wrightia tinctoria. This is a shrub, with blue flowers belonging to the indigo family. What is true, is that the artisans of Chennapatna use soft, white wood to make their toys.


The wood is shaped using hand-held lathes and files, then smoothened into different shapes. The work is done mostly in small workshops, employing a handful of artisans. In recent years, larger units, with
mechanical lathes have been set up, but the work is still labour-intensive.


Hundreds of men and women are engaged in lacquering the toys by hand. Natural gum is first applied, followed by pain-staking painting using lacquer mixed with natural dyes. The toys from Channapatna are guaranteed to be non-toxic and safe for children. They are the only ones in India to be registered with the WTO with a Geographical Indication. Along with Darjeeling Tea.



Text by Shankar A. Narayan Photos: Ministry of HRD, Government of India

MORADABAD - HOME OF BRASSWARE - INDIA CLOSE UP

A cycle-rickshaw ride from Katghar station iies the town of Moradabad, named after prince Murad Baksh. He was Mumtaz Mahal's youngest son. He didn't live to see Moradabad flourish. He was executed by his brother Alamgir in Gwalior. 




The artisans of Moradabad though, continued to smelt, pour, mould, hammer and shape away. Their exquisite paandaans and taantis began to gain fame in noble households as well as well as among the common man.. Their work began to reach the outside world, as Arab traders carried their wares to Oman, and beyond, as far as the Red Sea and to Egypt. Moradabadi brassware became synonymous with graceful lines and intricately engraved designs.

An entire caste, the dhaliyas, are engaged in casting the metal. In thousands of workshops, sheet-metal is turned into beautifully shaped and artfully engraved objects. A wooden mallet and pointed chisel are used to engrave designs from memory, a process called kalamkari.







The town churns out crores of brass objects each year, and 40% of our metal handicrafts are exported from this region.


The man who founded the town, Rustam Khan, before it became Moradabad, has given it its Jama

Masjid, a fine example of medieval architecture.




Text: Shankar A. Narayan Photos: Robin Wyatt Vision and An Enclycopaedia of Indian Handicrafts