A Trek to Edakkal Caves

A distant view of the hill and an inner view of Edakkal Cave

Even though I belong to Wayanad, I had not visited Edakkal Caves. I decided that not to miss it any more and set out towards Edakkal Caves in bike along with Mr. George Panattu. (“Baby Chettan”) We reached Edakkal Caves which is very near to Ambalavayal around 2:30pm.

Inside the caves formed in-between the rocks ancient petroglyphs which dates back 4000-5000 years back are visible. The name Edakkal means in-between in Malayalam. Yes, the caves are formed by the “in-between” space of those gigantic rocks. Those alphabets and symbols seen on the cave walls are identified to be part of the Neolithic age. (4000Bc to 1700bc)

The alphabets sculptured on the inner walls of the cave

From the parking lots provided for tourist vehicles, a height of 300 feet need to be trekked up to reach the caves. The road which takes the tourists to the caves is well built but the slope is too much. There are commutation facilities provided in Mahindra Jeep by the locale people. We decided to walk up and enjoy the surroundings. On the way we sited many cottages and hotels mainly aimed at tourists.

A tree on the hill side which is very small but will age very old, trees grows like bonsai in hill top.

Once we reached the ticket counter, the path towards the caves situated at some more height of the hill seems turned to be difficult to climb up. We had to go through small passages though the rocks, which almost looked like a cave. Finally we reached the caves which had the inner space of a big auditorium. We took some pictures of the cave as a whole as well as the ancient alphabets on the rock walls.

Another tree in hill slope

There was a telescope provided by the tourism department where each visitor needs to pay 3 rupees to look through it. A very close view of Ambalavayal and Sulthan Bathery can be enjoyed through the device since it is situated in such a high altitude. We got the information that the peak of the hill is a 1000 feet still higher.

Some more pictures from the slope of the hill

We decided to climb further up to get a picturesque view of Wayanad. The height of the hill when compared to Chembra Peak was very less, but the risk involved in climbing was very high. If we had miss-stepped on leg at any point, it would be fatal. We reached the top of the peak by climbing up one hour, and we took photos in between. A big rain cloud formed over the top of the hill and we were afraid of being caught in the rain, storm and thunder but it did not happen.

The telescope fixed near the caves

Climbing down the hill turned to be a little bit scarier, but we reached back near the caves within another 45 minutes. All over, Edakkal caves trek was an interesting journey. It is a very good tourist location. The view of Wayanad from the top of the hill along with the soothing effect of the wind from the valley seemed to be more interesting than the caves itself.

A picture from the top of the hill and me refreshing after climbing up the hill