[1]The Kerala tourism department which had set out to explore a handful of virgin destinations is blessed with a bounty. In Idukki and Kottayam districts alone, it has hit upon 218 hitherto unseen locales.
A fresh water stream where mythical Panchali took bath, a bubbling pond where elephants come to drink water every day without fail at 5pm., a sprawling rocky plain with a huge natural rock formation resembling Tagore’s beard and an impossibly high rocky point from where four districts can be seen are among the 218 virgin destinations the team has discovered.
Kottayam Baburaj, the man who had created the state's first encyclopaedia of routes and locations, was the tourism department’s Christopher Colombus.
Baburaj has submitted a voluminous report, complete with 800-plus photographs of the 218 destinations, to the department.
He has mapped each area with routes leading to the place, the nearest bus and rail stations, the nearest towns and villages, and the other facilities available.
He also has a separate section on how to scale up each area into a tourist spot.
“Once the department gives its approval, I will start work on the next two districts, probably Palakkad and Pathanamthitta,” Baburaj said.
Panchalimedu, which lies along the Mundakkayam-Kumily road, is one. It has two hills, one with a church at the top and the other a temple.
In the valley in between, there is a small stream where, according to local lore, Panchali has taken bath.
‘Aanakkulam’, along the Adimali-Munnar route, is a shallow pond which borders a thick forest on the farther side.
Everyday, at exactly 5pm, an elephant herd arrives to drink water from the pond, the centre of which simmers with bubbles as if the area is boiling.
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