God's own country - Kerala continues to amaze. My journey to find some of the prestine, untouched, unpopular destinations in this beautiful state yielded another output. A photographers paradise, perfect paintings by nature, a beach destination with a different perspective, I don't have words to describe it. Join me and I will lead you to a terrific evening tour through this destination.
A lazy sunday afternoon, we are now at Kozhikkode. Intermittent rains ensuring that our laziness levels are at a supreme high. Well, itz time to do something to raise our spirits and according to me the best way is to jump out of house and be amongst the beautiful country side, be it rain, be it cold or be it really hot and humid, this is going to help. Suddenly a place came to my mind. One of my blog friends - Joe, had once asked me about a place in my Kappad blog (Click here to read Kappad blog). The name of place is Parapally. People in Kozhikkode even hadn't heard about this place. Google maps opened up in my front and I could see that the location is just 25 kilometers northwards from where we are now.
Within no time the whole family were sitting together, while the wheels underneath were cruising through the National Highway. As soon as we passed the busy Kozhikkode town, it began to drizzle. The roads are having lot of potholes, thanks to the rain and the breathtaking drives of the private vehicles in the Kozhikkode - Kannur route. The rains does not seem to subside, it was gaining in strength. But no rain can take away the beauty of this bridge.
Heavy downpour ensued and I am enjoying every bit of this rain. This is what I could see in my front, so it was a sedate cruise, enjoying my passion for road trips.
Quilandy town is in sight, which is a historic place by itself. The heavy downpour has ensured that traffic is less.I was enjoying the view of one of successfull new launches by the giant automakes Ford which was in front in me.
Yes it is a figo, doing "go fida" as the ad campign promotes.
A little ahead of Quilandy, we have to take a left turn (towards western side). It is easy to miss the turning. The best way to find this is, a divider in the middle of the road which starts at Quilandy town, ends at this point. Turn left and I can see only a very very narrow road ahead. Tread carefully through this village road, the beach is nowhere in sight, nor is the rain subsiding. Some concerns regarding the purpose of this visit was being raised by the inmates of the vehicle.
All of a sudden we reached a point where some vehicles were parked. Within no time, I jumped out to get a first impression of the place and what an impression that was to be.
This is what I could see from here and I am sold off.
Parapally - the name signfies the presence of a mosque (Pally) on a rock (Para). The rock formations were pretty huge and being on the side of beach, it presents an oppurtunity to have a wide perpespetive of the beach, a la light house effect.
Seeing our enthusiasm, rain gods decide to take a halt and we are climbing up the rocks.
To our surprise the rock are not slippery at all. These rocks reminded us of the Adyan para at Nilambur, which was pretty slippery.
Scope of our vision is now increasing proportionate to the altitude we are gaining. I am stopping every now and then to watch the beauty, the stills creating an impression of a live painting which has life.
The rocks with a coat of water looked exuberant and have a lively appearance. Is it just me or do you feel like, the rocks are flowing down just like a river do, watch this scene and tell.
Look down and the beautiful beach is in sight. Even the darkest of clouds are looking beautiful because of the elite company. My elder son is enjoying his climb uphill and his face seems to have a sense of achievement.
We are now almost at the top of the Rock. The mosque (Parapally) is now just behind us. Time to sit here, relax and enjoy.
The rock formations are a beauty to watch, it is complex by design, but elegant to watch.
My eyes are pondering around and the altitude gained made me spot a long sea bridge in the southern direction.
That seems to be the Quilandy Harbour. The sight of waves hitting the beautiful rocks tranferring all its kinetic energy to the rocks and the reaction causing the force vector to change its course upwards, resulting in the waves soaring high followed by a milky covering on top of rocks.
The beauty of the place and the ignorance of its existence even by people in the nearby town, the tourism potential, the advantages of the place being away from the tourism hotspot etc were being aired amidst the background score the waves hitting the rocks.
These rocks seems to continue further ahead. Let us tread further southwards through these rocks. The rocky terrain has given way for a small beach a little ahead.
But to reach there I have to walk through these dense fauna amidst the rocks.
No one is complaining of the long walk through the undulating terrain, but how can one complain when he is busy watching this sight.
The uniqueness of these rock formations are urging us to march ahead further. More life like statues on display as I see this creation. Can you see a head resting comfortably on those rocks. The eye like thingy of the rock surely gives it a life like structure and it resembles a Gorilla.
We have now reached a small beach between the rocks. The beach seemed to be whitish in color, thanks to the numerous sea shells mixed with the sand.
Time to start a gruelling sea side conference enjoying the sea breeze and the cloud cover.
Though having a very short life, the bubbles formed when the wave reclines, is something which I enjoys, the way in which they end their short lives bursting out has got some pattern and the bursting sound is pretty audible too, coz it happens when the sound of waves stops.
It seems like we have no plans to go back as everyone seems to be busy enjoying this place. But suddenly reality struck as thick and dark clouds began to engulf the area.
We were short of umbrellas and we have a lot of distance to cover to reach back our vehicle. Started our return trek a little faster. But rain started sooner.
The falling water droplets on the water bodies, create rings of different sizes, they propagate outwards once formed, merge with other rings, create new patterns as more and more new ones are created. Does this picture conveys what I enjoyed, something which I have been enjoying from childhood is continuing even now.
Even though the walk was through the same path through which I came, everything was looking different and the I could create new frames mixing up different characters.
Before I start descending the final set of rocks, one final look to see the giant rocks. Those two guys on top clearly gives an idea of the size of rocks protruding into the sea.
This place gave all of us a refreshing new experience. Being on the beach side itself is fun, for it sometimes let us realize how small creatures we all are with respect to the vast sea, a symbolic visualisation, to teach us an important lesson - to be humble. Beauty is everywhere, but we should have the patience to experience it. The nature is a master crafter, every creation seems to have a meaning, and sometimes our imaginative power is more sharpened by just trying to to create different interpretation to natures creations.
Before I start my return journey, I want to thank "Joe" once again for recommending this place to me, a place which I would have never visited otherwise. It surely is a photographers paradise !!! For the time being let me get back to my home and get ready for a refreshing work week ahead, for now I have sharpened my brains for more productive week ahead.
Quick Facts
Name of the place:
Parapally
Location
25 kilometers north of Kozhikkode in the beach side
Accommodation
Lots of hotels/resorts in Kappad or in Kozhikkode
Nearest Airport
Kozhikkode
Nearest Railway Station
Quilandy
Other nearby attractions
1. Kappad Beach - Prestine and Untouched by crowds
2. Kozhikkode Beach
3. Gotheeswaram - A multifaceted beach destination
4. NC Gardens and Beach Resort - Parappanangadi
5. Kannur
