Alleppey Houseboat

The first time I heard the word Alleppey was in college. One of my juniors, Mary Abraham, was from Alleppey. She adored me, and I liked her a lot too. She would write me letters during the holidays, and send me cards for birthdays. She was so kind, soft-spoken, and gentle in her demeanor. She was strikingly fair, with long hair and a long nose, and deep, black eyes. Mary from Alleppey- the connection stayed in my mind.

Our college was run by Christian missionaries, and so there were many Malayali Christians studying in the college, doing their graduation course in the morning-to-afternoon classes, and theology in the post-lunch classes. A majority of the students came from Kannur, the northernmost district of Kerala (KL), which was infamous for strikes and protests by communists. Not many were from Alleppey and I guess that is another reason why the name stuck so strongly in my memory. 

And then, there was the aggressive marketing campaign of the state government. Who in India didn't know about God's Own Country? The coconut trees, the elephants, the tea gardens, the backwaters, the houseboats, the Ayurvedic treatments - KL was a famous state and attracted hordes of travelers - both domestic and international.

Sathya & I have traveled the length and breadth of KL but somehow never went to Alleppey in all these years. Most of the early years of our married life were spent exploring the neighboring Southern states of Andhra, KL, and Tamil Nadu. Our last family trip to KL was in 2018, to  Kochi. It has already been four years since we explored KL. 

The state has become rabidly violent and is known for all the wrong reasons. The Covid mess-up, the ISIS recruitment, the targeted killings of RSS workers by the communists, the Muslim street marches that boldly said "Time's up for Hindus & Christians, be ready to die", and so on. The list is endless. Coincidentally, the hate speech incident of a young kid calling for the death of Hindus & Christians happened in May 2022 in Alleppey. The rally was organized by the Popular Front of India, where a mob of over 1000 Muslims called for violence against Hindus & Christians, abused them, & threatened them. Check the videos available online to see the hatred they have for "kafirs"; the venom in their vitriolic speeches. KL will soon be another Kashmir, like West Bengal has already become. Hindu ethnic cleansing pogrom is on the cards. 

The only two places I want to see in this "god's own country - NO MORE", are Jathayu Park in Kollam and the 58-feet tall Shiva Murti in Azhimala. My heart longs for these.

Recently, an unexpected opportunity came our way to visit Alleppey. Sathya's office planned a houseboat trip over the weekend of July 23-24. The train tickets were booked in June. The group had 38 members including spouses & children. This was our first houseboat experience. 

I realized, on this trip, that Alleppey and Alapuzha are one and the same. Like Kochi, Cochin & Ernakulam - all same. 

If you search the internet, you would find November to February to be the best months to visit Alleppey. Our visit was during peak monsoon month. Luckily for us, it didn't rain during our 2-day stay, even though it had been pouring the whole of the previous week. The weather was very pleasant, occasionally cloudy. Perfect for us to enjoy the view.

The red building in the pic below is the Ramada hotel. 

Hundreds of boats were parked on the dock. It looked like Bangalore's Majestic Bus Stand. There were countless houseboats of various capacities (1-bed, 2-bed, etc) in the water. In addition to the houseboats, there were small boats selling ice cream (Uncle John's) and speed boats too (Rs 300 for a ride). Crowded waters! 

The local women fishing in coracles. 

We caught a few fish on our boat too. The children were ecstatic with the fishing experience and took turns holding the fishing rod but caught only leaves and debris.

Breakfast, lunch, evening tea & snacks, and dinner are all provided on the boat. 

The houseboat experience is definitely over-rated. It is marketed really well, though. The photographs in travel magazines and on the internet will beckon you with a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I did not find it that great. I say that considering the amount of time and effort we spent getting to the place. 13 hours of train travel from BLR to Kottayam (8:30 p.m to 9:30 a.m), then 2 hours bus ride to the houseboat location. The return journey of 12 hours from Alleppey to BLR 7:30 p.m to 7:30 a.m.  It is not worth it. 

The trip ended on a sad note for us as my handbag was stolen on the train. I lost my mobile, one Samsung tab, and the house key. Early in the morning, we had to search for key maker shops to get him to break open the house lock.It took more than half an hour to break the Godrej lock open and Rs 700 in labor. And a new lock to be bought and a new phone! Sob sob!

Ours was a group tour, so, fortunately, the economics of it worked out to be a bit reasonable. We had the entire boat for ourselves. And another boat for the sleepover at night. If it was a single family, clubbed with others in a 6-bed boat or 1 family in a 1-bed boat, it would have been miserable. How much can you look at endless, still water and coconut trees, especially if you are already from a coastal district & live in a backwater yourself? Anyways, it was a 1N2D stay, so could be tolerated. 

The Amaze World park and the two beaches we visited were a delight for the kids and Instagram reel makers of the group. 

The highlight was the unexpected darshan of Lord Shiv in the Mararikulam Devasthanam. It is at least 700 years old and is the only temple in KL where Mahadev and Parvat sit facing each other. Shivji is in the Marari roop in the temple and Parvathi in the Swayamvar roop. Marari means the Kaam hating roop of Shiv or cupid killer. Remember the story of Shiv & Sati in the post on Maa Kamakhya temple? Shivji was sad after the demise of Sati and went to the Himalayas for meditation. Meanwhile, in the devlok, the power of the Gods was overthrown and the solution was for Shiv to beget a child. Parvati was sent in the swayamvar roop to woo Shiv. To break his dhyan, Kaamdev was sent. Shivji was angry on Kaamdev for disturbing his yog sadhana, opened his third eye, and burnt him. The Umananda temple is where Kamdev was destroyed. 

What a beautiful temple! The staff requested us to wait for a few minutes and take the prasadam. We happily obliged. It was our pleasure and a blessing that we happened to be there during the last aarthi (12 o'clock) and could partake in the prasada seva. 

May the Sanatana Dharma thrive in this land that was once truly God's Own Country.

At the temple, saw this beautiful flower. The staff said it is sahasra kamala. 

Such broad leaves.

Stage 1: The seeds. Looks like a shower head.

Stage 2Stage 3: The budStage 4: The gorgeous flower

Assam Diaries Part 2

Sualkuchi was not on my tour itinerary. It was a backup. It was not on my list of places that I MUST see. It was more of an "if we had time to spare, we could go there" option.

Haflong, 350 km from Guwahati, was on the list, it was where I wanted to go. Assam, a plainland, has only one hill station and that is Haflong. Unfortunately, we couldn't go to Haflong. That entire week, Assam was ravaged by rain and floods in many districts. The railway station in Haflong was damaged and all the trains were canceled. 

Majuli Islands was on my list, it was another place I really wanted to see. It is supposedly the largest river island. However, there is a warning that the island will disappear in 20 years! As it is, large parts of the island is submerged in water for months. Assam is the state that has the rare distinction of having both the largest and smallest (Umananda Island) river islands. For Majuli Islands, we had to go to  Jorhat and from there, drive for 10-15 kms to a jetty and take the boat to Majuli. The boat leaves at 1:00 p.m every day. But due to the rise in the water of the river and the rains, the jetty was not an option. Also, there were no hotel facilities in Majuli and homestay was the only stay option available. Those too were limited and the ones we checked online, didn't look feasible or there was no contact number of the owner for us to call and enquire/book. We had to drop the plans of both Haflong and Majuli.

So we decided to see Sualkuchi, Hajo and Dipor Beel instead. Sualkuchi and Hajo both are in Kamrup district. Since we had the hired car, it was easy to cover all three in one day. 

Sual Kuchi is called the Manchester of Assam because it has a large number of handloom units. Some say around 2000 units! It is 35 km from Guwahati. It is a weaving village specializing in silk - Eri, Muga and Paat. 

Weaving is done here on the backstrap loom at home. 

We visited one of those looms. It was so dingy, barely lit, and no fan. The constant sound of the loom was overpowering. It seemed like a LOT of hard work. It is a pity the demand for handwoven silk textiles is dying in India, and mostly in demand outside the country. The handloom owner showed us the different materials packed neatly, with a proper seal that it is genuine silk, and placed in cupboards - all for export. At the time we went, there was an exporter lady who had come to place an order and check the quality. The skill of weaving is handed down generations. In his case, his father taught him but his only daughter may or may not take this up as her profession.  

The new approach to the village - beautified and welcoming. Apparently, a lot of foreigners visit the village, looking for genuine muga and eri silk textiles. 

Hajo Hayagriva Temple

Hajo means hill. It is said to be the meeting point of Buddhists, Hindus, and Muslims. The temple was constructed in 1583 by King Raghu Narayan. It has an image of hayagriva madhav. Budhists believe that Gautam Budha attained nirvana in the Hayagriva Madhava temple and it was here that he died. 

Hayagriva means horse-necked one. It is the horse-headed avatar of Vishnu. The purpose of the incarnation was to slay a demon who had the neck of a horse and the body of a human and hence was called hayagriva. 

Hayagriva is a special prasadam (the offering made to God) or sweet made in my native village Udupi. It is made from jaggery, coconut, and bengal gram. 

We had been there in the afternoon. There were very few devotees at the time and the place was serene. It was so calm and peaceful. It felt like we were lost, trying to find ourselves, in some far-away place. It was the perfect spot to just "be." Time had stood still and we were in no hurry to find our way back. 

The steps leading to the temple:

If you are in Guwahati, definitely make time and visit this temple. The journey and the destination - both are worth it.

The view of the temple lake below which has a very large tortoise in it:

Dipor Beel

Below is the image from the internet. I was fascinated by it. 

Dipor Beel is a place more for the locals to spend a quiet evening than for tourists to take the trouble to go all the way there. Yet, it is one of the places that frequently crops up when you search for places to see in Guwahati. I say, pass this one. Mostly, young lovers frequent this place, and occasionally, families looking for a drive away from the city. It is a great place for bird-spotting but bird watching takes time and patience, both of which are in short supply for a tourist.

Maa Kamakhya Temple

When I first heard about this temple, I was intrigued. It is a temple where there is no Murti of the Goddess. The yoni or womb is worshipped and the deity is known to menstruate. 

Menstruation is a symbol of a woman's creativity and her power to give birth. The temple celebrates this Shakti or power within every woman. In fact, the deity's period is celebrated as a festival, the Ambubachi Mela, once a year, and lakhs of pilgrims pay a visit.  

The temple is one of the 51 Shakthi Peethas and is in the Nilachal hills, also called Nilakuta, Nilgiri, and Kamagiri Hills, in the ancient texts and scriptures. It is around 600 feet above the plains. The  Brahmaputra river flows from these hills. 

The scriptures tell us Lord Shiva had asked Sati not to go to the Yagna organized by her father, Prajapati Daksha, as they were not invited. But Sati went. At the Yagna, Daksha insulted Lord Shiva. Sati could not bear the humiliation and took her own life. Lord Shiva was enraged and broke into a Tandav (dance of destruction) with her corpse on his shoulders. Lord Vishnu tried consoling him but in vain. He then dismembered Sati's body into 51 pieces with his Sudarshan Chakra. The place where each part fell is known as the Shakti Peetha. 

Kamakhya or Kubiika Pitha is the place where the Yoni (female genitalia or the Vulva) fell. Even today, in the month of June (Ashaada), the temple is closed for 3 days as it is believed the deity menstruates and the Brahmaputra river turns red. 

Kama or Kamdev, the God of Love, built the temple. The place is named Kamrup because Kamdev, who was cursed by Brahma, regained his beauty (rupa) after worshipping in this temple and the deity is Kamakhya, meaning one worshipped by Kama. Kamakhya stands for Goddess of Desire. 

When the mighty Ahoms came to power in the 17th Century, they took a keen interest in the upkeep of the temple. 

 

Offerings to the goddess include animal sacrifices. 

 

I wanted to start the Northeast tour of Assam and Meghalaya with the blessings of Maa Kamakhya. The temple was the first place I wanted to visit and it was clearly etched out in my tour itinerary too.

It didn't happen. Our first night in the city was in a hotel on Mirza Road, in Kamrup, 8 km from the airport but 25 km from the main city of Guwahati.  

Finally, on a Wednesday, four days after we landed in Guwahati, we left our hotel early in the morning at 7:00 a.m. Almost everyone we spoke to, had warned us about the humongous crowd at the temple, and had asked us to leave early. 

The temple was just 2 km from our hotel, 10 mins drive. We booked an Ola taxi. Fare shown was Rs 170. But the driver demanded Rs 250! Nowhere does an Ola driver demand more than the fare shown on the app. That fare by itself is high as it includes Ola's commission. In other cities, they ask to be paid in cash but they don't ask for extra. Here, they openly demand more. 

The distance and fare ratio is unimaginably exorbitant in Assam (AS). For a distance of less than 2 km, autos routinely ask for Rs 100 and Ola drivers Rs 250! In Bangalore, for Rs 200, I can travel 15 km in Ola auto or mini. 

We canceled the Ola and boarded a local bus. One good thing in AS is that the buses have destinations written in English. It is very easy for outsiders to use the local transport. In Chennai, it was a nightmare.  Everything was in Tamil. Oh! What a pain it was.  

The bus ride cost us just Rs 10 each. And we reached in 15 mins. From Rs 250 of Ola to Rs 10 of the bus for about the same time for travel, not bad we thought. Maa Kamakhya was making it easy for us to come to her. 

The bus conductor gave us Rs 10 and asked us to offer it at the temple. We were touched by his gesture. He helped us by pointing to a lady passenger and told us to follow her as she was also going to the temple. 

We got down at the main gate. The lady passenger smiled at us and very sweetly, pointed to the line of Maruti Vans. Having experienced the brusqueness of the Khasi women of Meghalaya, she seemed like she was dipped in honey!

The taxi, with 8 other passengers, took us to the top of the hill, to the temple, for Rs 30 each. 

The drive up to the hill is similar to the drive to Sri Chamundeshwari Temple in Mysore, only less scenic, and less enjoyable. The way everything is organized and maintained in Chamundi Hills is awesome. You will absolutely cherish the drive for a long time and want to keep going back. 

At 8:45 a.m, we reached the temple. And believe it or not, at 9:30 a.m, we were out of the temple and sitting in a bus to take us back to the main gate. Yes, in flat 45 mins we had finished the "darshan" despite the rumored "swelling crowd". 

How is that possible? We were surprised and felt something was wrong somewhere. Everyone had told us we had to keep an entire day aside for darshan at the sacred Maa Kamakhya Devalaya. It would take us a minimum of 5-6 hours in the queue. Yet, here we were, done and dusted in 45 mins. 

This is what transpired at the temple. 

When we entered the temple, there were some people waiting in the queue and some around the temple. We did not find any 'crowd.' A South Indian knows what an actual temple crowd looks like. Across temples in Karnataka, Andhra, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu, we are accustomed to it. Lakhs of people visit Sri Venkateshwara Temple - Tirupati, in Chittor, Andhra, thousands visit Sri Meenakshi Amman Temple in Madurai, Tamil Nadu and hundreds visit Sri Manjunatha & Kukke Subramanya Temple in Dharmasthala, Karnataka and Sri Guruvayoor in Kerala. 

Compared to that, here, it looked like the kind of crowd we see every day in our neighborhood temple. In spite of that, we were ready to pay for special darshan because we wanted to save whatever time we could and get back to the hotel as soon as possible. Our kids were still sleeping. Since we had left so early, we didn't wake them up. 

The special darshan counter was closed. We enquired at the information center. The lady said regular darshan will take more than 4 hours. We couldn’t afford that time. 

By the way, the special darshan tickets are priced at Rs 500 per person. Yes, Rs 500! The highest I have ever come across in any temple in any part of India that I have visited so far. Even in Tirupati, which is literally the Father of Temple Crowds, it is Rs 300. There, people are locked up in huge rooms that easily accommodate 100+ people. Water and food are provided to the devotees as they wait, sometimes the whole day, for the rooms to open and be allowed to go for the darshan.

Anyways, here, since the special darshan counter was closed, we were clueless. We couldn't spend 4-5 hours in the queue. We were looking around wondering what to do. 

One person, a priest, or Panda as they call them here in AS, approached us. Clearly, our faces showed we were looking for a special darshan and we were not locals. He said, "Special darshan Rs 500 closed. I will take you for darshan, give the same Rs 500 to me. Plus what you are planning to give for hundi, you give it to me. How much are you planning to give for hundi? You will get the darshan but you cannot 'touch'. If you want to touch, pay the money I said and wait minimum 2-3 hours in the queue." 

We agreed. We were okay with just the darshan and did not want to touch or wait in the queue for 2 hours.

The darshan was over in less than 10 mins. He left. We walked around.

And that is when we got the shock of our lives. 

We realized he had taken all that money to take us to a place that was already open to all! It was an open place, from all sides, anyone could enter from any side and leave from any side! We did it and no one stopped us. We went back to the same place he had taken us. Many were doing the same. For free!!!!

My heart sank! I saw that the panda was already 'trapping' another family. I wanted to scream and shout at him. But my mouth was dry. I could barely hear my own voice. My eyes had started welling up. I could not believe we were duped in such a sacred place. This temple had such a history and lineage and significance and power! And the temple staff was looting devotees like this! Cheating - Openly and nonchalantly!

I thought of how much I had longed for the darshan of Maa Kamakhya and, how much I revered the temple. The trip was planned in April and I had been longing to see the temple since then. The devotion was replaced by despair, a sinking feeling. It felt like a stone was placed on my chest, the weight of which I was not able to bear. 

Even in Dwarkadeesh in Gujarat, the situation is somewhat similar. Priests wait for gullible devotees at the footwear stand. They scan you,  approach you, and smooth talk you into making donations at the thulabhara complex. But there, at least, he did not demand any particular amount. He said give whatever you feel like. And he showed the complete temple and explained the importance and history of each part of the temple. And he really helped us beat the crowd. 

Later, I read the Google reviews of the Maa Kamakhya temple. Many people had written of similar experiences. The temple management creates a fake atmosphere of panic forcing devotees to be alarmed at the manipulated crowd length and charging them Rs 500 and again making them wait in the queue for an hour or more. The line is kept waiting to make the oncoming devotees feel there is a big crowd.

And then some priests walk around trapping poor devotees promising them a darshan where they actually just take them to the open room. 

Sigh!