Pookot Lake

1. CREATIVE WORK –A MEMORABLE TRIP TO WAYANAD
Pookot Lake
The Pookot Lake is a fairly large water body, surrounded by rich greenery adding to the
scenic beauty. Boating is very popular, with boats of a variety of types available for
hire. We hired a row boat large enough for the six of us and spent most of the evening
on the lake, enjoying the soothing experience on the calm waters. We also visited a
rather poorly maintained small aquarium within the lake complex, with the fish definitely
more interesting than their neighborhood which was indeed an insult to the natural
beauty of the lake and its surroundings. There was also a small park for the children to
play before dusk set in and we had to leave the place.
Here are two pictures of the lake and its surroundings. The first is a panoramic view of
most of the lake, with the boarding area for the boats in the foreground. In the second
picture I rather unintentionally captured a more serious fellow photographer at work on
one of the banks of the lake.
Banasura Reservoir
Not far from Kalpeta is the Banasusra Sagar, a large reservoir formed by the largest
earthen dam in India. With enchanting scenery all around and located far from the
madding crowd, it is an excellent picnic spot. At the protected entrance to the site we
had to buy a group ticket for a jeep to drive us through a devious path to the picnic
spot. The reservoir was nearly full, the sky gloriously blue, the weather quite windy and
the waters far from calm. They all seemed to add to the beauty of the place.
Speed boating on the lake is a major attraction. But with only two boats plying at that
time there was a considerable wait for our turn; we were in no hurry whatsoever. The

2. children were a bit apprehensive while boarding their boat but returned from the fifteen
minute trip with an excitement and thrill only they are capable of experiencing. After this
they had a long stint in the nearby park while I went around exploring the place with my
camera. Here are two pictures from my collection, both showing the lake in all its
splendor.
Edakkal Caves
We had an early breakfast, checked out of our hotel and headed for the
famousEdakkal Caves nearby about which we had heard a great deal in advance.
Edakkal consists of two caves, the larger one straddling on top of the much smaller one,
both formed out of very large boulders just below a steep hilltop. To reach the lower
cave one has to walk along a man-made pathway, sloping up rather steeply most of the
way, a distance of about one and a half kilometers from the parking lot. It is relatively
easy to reach, but the way to the upper cave, which can be reached only through the
lower one, is very steep, rough and rocky and would have been even dangerous had it
not been for the erection of staircases with iron railings and wooden steps in strategic
locations leading up to each of the caves. They have been identified as a habitat of the
prehistoric Neolithic people (of the late Stone Age dating back six to eight thousand
years) on the basis of the hieroglyphic like carvings on the cave walls that have survived
to this day. This was a historic discovery made by an English archaeologist around
1890.
While climbing up through the first cave with quite a crowd around me, I irretrievably lost
one of my slippers which slipped away between two of the wooden steps. I had been
utterly careless about proper footwear for at least this part of my trip and had to put up
with considerable discomfort thereafter until I was back in the bus. It was not without
difficulty that I managed to reach the top, climb down a flight of steps and step inside

3. the upper cave, with a feeling of accomplishment not unlike the one I had experienced
on the Great Wall of China. Here is proof that I had indeed made it to the enthralling
Edakkal Caves.