KOCHI: It is a quaint little village, where time stands still, where mist and showers surprise you with its ethereal charm. The tiny little misty village Agumbe in the Malanadu region of Karnataka, immortalised by the TV series based on R K Narayan’s Malgudi days, was chosen by Kerala based all-women travel group ‘Appooppanthaadi’ as their weekend destination to enjoy monsoon. Peppered with strolls through forestry patches, grasslands, revelling in waterfalls and a trip to historic marvels such as the ancient shrine Vidyashankara Temple at Sringeri and the ruins of the Kavaledurga fort, the trip was a treat to all the senses.
For 30 odd Appooppanthaadis, Agumbe put on an angelic spectacle with its pleasant countrysides and idyllic locales. It was also pure nostalgia for some as they got a slice of ‘Malgudi Days’.“I had never seen anything of that sort. There we were sauntering through endless stretches of grasslands. Just meadows, with the mist and rain adding an otherworldly charm to it. The right way to experience the monsoon,” reminisces 61-year-old Leela Ravindran, a resident of Kollam who joined the trip. Agumbe offered a smorgasbord of exciting activities for the enthusiastic travellers.
Lying dramatically secluded, almost marooned in lush green forests is a historic marvel, the ruins of a mysterious past- the Kavaledurga fort. The centuries-old fort and the ruins of the palace site remains a major architectural wonder even now. Here, one just walks into a chapter of history and like a jigsaw puzzle, the ruins lie. Like a sentinel, it still exists, or what remains of it, catapulting one to the glorious times it may have been witness to.
The fort and the ruins aren’t accessible easily,” says Praveena V, a CA student who led the group who led the team. “You can see the terrain changing here. At one time you will be walking amidst paddy fields and then you just waltz into a stone-laden trail through the forest which leads you to the imposing fort and ruins.” There are two temples here, with one perched atop a rock. One can amble up the gnarled hillock to the temple and a panoramic view of ruins awaits one at the summit.
“The Kavaledurga fort was a thrilling experience. The ruins continue to amaze us with its magnificence,” says Leela. The two-day trip saw the team trek to Kundadri hills. “It was a long winding trail through the forest and at the summit, one just walks into creamy mist. The view from the hills was astounding. There even was a small pond resting comfortably amidst the rocks,” says Bhadra S, an avid traveller. The ‘Malanadu’ food ravished the travellers with its eclectic mix of flavours. “The best part was the ‘Kashaya’, the Agumbe equivalent of coffee or any beverage,” Bhadra adds. A melting pot of flavours, the Kashaya is an integral part of Agumbe life which the locals partake for energy. A visit was also arranged to the Sirimane waterfalls.
The Appooppanthaadi also visited Dodda Mane which has made its imprint on those who watched Shankar Nag’s TV series ‘Malgudi Days’. “For most of us who grew up watching Malgudi Days, Agumbe is synonymous with the TV series. All I wanted to visit was the Dodda Mane and it looked just as we saw it years back onscreen. The place exudes a vintage charm,” adds Bhadra.
“The dream is to equip women to travel alone,” says Sajna Ali who founded Appooppanthaadi two years ago. A whopping 980 women have travelled till now. “It is unexplored destinations that we travel to. When I visit places, I often feel like letting other travellers also experience the charm of that place. This is an attempt at that,” she says.
“Sometimes the places that flit past in movies and those that you stumble upon while reading strikes you. They remained in bucketlist until I started travelling to those places. And with Appooppanthaadi, I get to take the fellow women travellers around. There are many who are travelling for the first time and some have started undertaking solo trips after joining. And that is exactly what I want.”
