It was on Sunday 4th September we visited Perumbalam, an island north of Pallippuram Desom. Secluded, serene and beautiful Perumbalam often witnesses nature enthusiasts from all over the world. In my college days, we used to visit this place for unadulterated toddy, which was in abundance. We enjoyed the product direct from the source!
From Panavally boat jetty on the mainland it is a ten minutes ferry to Perumbalam. The journey is enjoyable for the shortness and lake scenes.
We reached Panavally early morning and the jetty was nearly empty. Our plan was for a short visit to Perumbalam island, so we did not take our car to the island though there was a
Junkar service available. We parked our car near the open space at the jetty.
The beautiful Pnavally boat jetty
The life scenes on the lake was always a fascination for me.
A fisherman
Perumbalam Jetty
When we reached Perumbalam, we enquired an auto-rickshaw driver of places of interest. He took us to the north end of the island where a beautiful temple was located. The temple premises were calm and one could spend the day there in meditation. The auto driver gave us his mobile number so that we could call him when we were through our sight seeing. There are no other transportation available on the island.
The Devi temple
We roamed around the place quite some time and saw some of the most beautiful backwater scenes in the island.
From North of Perumbalam
Perumbalam has most of its paddy fields uncultivated for years. They all are now grazing fields for cattle. We found this cow very friendly. She responded positively when I offered her some grass. She resembled the cow we had forty years ago. My mother called her Nandini.
The fields were full of 'potta chelli' weeds. Though cows like the weed, it caused them to go on a loose motion spree. I remember having difficult times cleaning the cattle shed in the morning after Nandini was fed on this weed the day before.
We saw an abandoned flex board congratulating the heroics of a local boy named Arjun Santosh who crossed the lake by swimming to his school on the mainland and back home every day.
This was in protest against the government's negligence on the island about the lack of a bridge connecting it to the mainland. He continued his protest for seven days with media supporting him till authorities intervened and the ruling party promised a budget allocation for the bridge. Hopefully the bridge materializes and the transportation woes are resolved. Sadly a bridge would cause this place losing its serenity though.
The south end of the village has some resorts and there too beautiful scenery delights you. We saw a resort occupying an entire island off Perumbalam. We learned that the court had ordered that this resort be demolished as it was illegal.
We returned to Panavally and the jetty was crowded. To our horror we found another car parked behind ours, blocking our exit. We checked with the shopkeeper nearby who said this had happened many times in the past. The car owner might have gone to the island. It was even worse that there were many weddings taking place on Perumbalam island on that day. She (the shopkeeper) was not sure when the blocking car's owner would return from the island or who the owner was.
To our relief we found a slip on the windshield of the blocking car regretting any inconvenience caused by his act and his mobile number. We called him on the mobile and was informed that he would be back in half hour. We waited an hour with no sign of his return, then fortunately the car next to us took off and we were saved. In the meanwhile we roamed around the jetty taking some more photos.
The Junkar Service
Prankful waiting at the jetty.
