A Historic Shrine and a breezy road trip

 

It is always true that those unplanned trips are the best as most of the times the planned trips wont make the cut. Me and my few school friends embarked on a road trip journey towards the historical shrine that is the “Jatayupara”. This place is situated in Kollam district of Kerala, which is about 5 – 6 hours journey from Cochin.

This place has long lost history which makes it so much special. In the great epic Ramayana Jatayu is characterized as a noble bird of divine origin. One day he happened to hear a plainative cry of a lady and it was Sitha. Sitha was being abducted by the demon king of lanka “Raavana”. Jatayu put on a battle with him but unfortunately Raavana attacked him by cutting off his left wings. Jatayu fell on a rock on the top of a hill and hence this place got its name “Jatayupara”.

History

Now, this bird sculpture is built on the same hilltop where Jatayu fell after being attacked by Raavana. This is one of the largest bird sculptures around the world. This is the first BOT tourism project in Kerala. This inspiring creation has been built in coordination with the Kerala Tourism Department and many other private equities.

This sculpture has been created to define a destination that offers all sorts of tourism activities and also gives every tourist to experience that Gods own country feels. It took them hardly 10 years to built this full bird sculpture on top of the Hill.

The sculpture is equipped with an Audio Visual museum inside it which showcases the complete history of the sculpture and the place. It also has a mini theatre inside for entertainment. There is a cable car facility which will take the tourists to the top of the hill.

I and my school friends came together to go on a road trip to visit this destination and I would like to say that we were not all disappointed. We started our journey from Cochin and it took around 5 to 6 hours to reach the place. We didn’t expect this kind of hospitality as the place is so welcoming as it had all the elements which will attract every single traveler.

There are different hills around where these adventure activities are being organized. These include Rappelling, River Crossing, Rock Climbing, Archery, Commando Net. There is also a paintball station facilitated which spreads across the hill. There is a kind of freshness that awakes every tourist once they reach the top of the shrine. Its is a picturesque destination and there will be a piece of live music put on which creates such a soothing effect on every single tourist.

“Great things never come from comfort zones”

These kinds of projects are made to make the current generation aware of the various historic places and their importance. This destination is well planned and organized. But as a traveler, I would suggest that this is not that kind of a place which suites a budget traveler, as this project is mainly targeting those adventurists traveler who loves to go beyond their comfort zones.

Helipad for the Helicopter service which gives a complete panoramic view of the sculpture from the top.

The other destination which was in our plan was the ever famous “Varkala Cliff”, this place is a heaven for every single traveler who loves beaches and food. Here we can find many foreign tourist as they come here to enjoy some fresh breezy outings with their loved ones. The cliff is famous for its breathtaking view from the top, as a traveler i feel that this place is the best in Kerala to sit, relax and watch the ever beautiful sunset.

This is also a place where people comes from various other places to just feel the freshness of the air and thus can take beautiful pictures. We got to witness that there were various wedding photoshoots being carried out on the cliff as well as near the shore. The views are just mesmerizing thus would sit there for long and enjoy a breezy time with friends.

The beach is so clean and well maintained by the “Kerala Tourism department”, one can never find any such wastes or plastics near the shore or rather on the cliff. The cliff is occupied with various small cafe’s or restaurants which serves you good and hygene food. There are places o

n the cliff where during the breezy evening one can enjoy some live music and delicious food.

This was the last destination of our road trip, this was such cruising trip which was totally worth. This was totally a budget trip as most of my friends were foodies our main agenda was exploring the best food joints through out the trip. Hence we got to try out some truly superb restaurants and cafe’s during the trip. But this is not the end it is just the begining.

Jetpack

http://www.jatayuearthscenter.com/