Day 1 : Wedding Details & Stepping into Munnar

Day 1 in Kerala : Nov 23 - 2006 (Monday)
Its Umesh's Wedding. My Best Friends Wedding in Guruvayoor. He is marrying Nisha from Delhi, which means one more bachelor down the drain!! The place Guruvayoor, I have been hearing about it for various reasons. I was astonised, how people would still stick to the customs, of no entry for non-hindus, no trousers (only Veshti/Angavasthram) - the traditional attire of Hindus, etc. I dont advocate some of them, but the feeling of visiting one of the most revered god, did bring in some joy and piousness!

But first, it was the wedding itself. It seems that the particular day was very auspicious, and almost close to 170 weddings were planned on the temple dias. It was bit funny to see, how a bride and bridegroom were led to the temple dias (where the auspicious thaali mudithal happens, which signifies the bride and groom are tied for life now), and I almost witnessed 5 weddings in 5 minutes. The priest was very quick to make sure once the pair is united, he asks them to alight the dias and lo, enter the next couple. Even though it was funny, it was a first time experience to witness such mass marriages happen. Ofcourse, as all the brides were being tied up, as a bachelor, you do feel your probability of getting a good bride is decreasing ;)

Then comes the most awaiting moment - wedding feast. The Alan/Kaalan/Payasam/Big Sized Rice, Kerala dishes are funny sometimes, who got used to tamilian way of eating. The rice grains are as big as a marble, and the person who serves out, just empties a full plate onto your banana leaf (plates are not allowed), and it scares you at first sight!!! Because you are supposed to make sure the leaf is empty, and with so many dishes served, it would be scary to think where to begin with!! However, once we get going, I think the taste and the aroma would just make your mouth watery, and I managed to complete all the dishes on time :)

Then we waited in a serpentine queue to witness the lord Guruvayoorappan. In a traditional attire, we waited patiently, and once we got a glimpse of the lord, all the pain that we encountered while waiting just disappeared. The devotion and the atmosphere there, made sure we are happy to get a glimpse of one of the most sought-after in Kerala.

I had arranged a cab who would show me complete Kerala in the next 5-6 days and he was ready to take off. However, the next destination was Munnar - a popular hill station in the border of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, and as we did not have enough time on hand, we had to skip one of the tourist attractions, Athirampally Falls. Anyways, I should leave something to come back again right...so I did not have any worries to make that decision. Already my eyes were as cool as a cucumber, seeing the greenery all around in Kerala. As I come from Hyderabad, which is more known for it's Brownish spread of land (Deccan Plateu), Green was a refreshing site. Morever, should I say, I love the color Green ??? :)