Thirunelli Temple
Thirunelli temple, situated in the Norhtern part of Wayanad, stands always as one of the main attraction of tourits and pilgrims. This is a very ancient temple, I dont know exactly when it was built, but a very old one. From Kartikulam, one of the towns situated near the border of Kerala - Karnataka, a diversion towards left while going towards Mysore will lead us to Thirunelli temple. From kartikulam, there is almost 18 to 20 kms distance through forest towards Thirunelli. We reached there by 5:00 in the evening. It is a MahaVishnu Temple.
Surrounding Hills of Thirunelli Temple
The temple is situated in the midst of forest, but there is a small lodging facility for the pilgirms very near to the temple. We can see here and there, warnings that restricts the entry to the nearby forest, for there are freely roaming elephants, bisons and other animals like deers, foxes and jackal. Tigers and leapords are spotted very rarely in the forest.
Pakshipathalam
Paskhipathalam is an exotic location for trekking and camping in the night. In the picture above, we can see the hill that stands behind the temple. Paskhipathalam is situated some where in that hill, which will be one of my next trekking location. Since we have to travel throuh dense forest, it is not safe to go there without the assistance of a gun man. The entry to the place is restricted with pass by the department of forest. Up above the hill there is a very deep cave, which is named Pakshipathalam, since a lot of birds and bats are there inside the cave, making it difficult to go through and nobody has explored till the other end of the cave.
Pancha Theertham
PanchaTheertham is a sacred pond, which is situated near the path that leeds to Papanasini river from the temple.
Papanasini River
According to the belief, pilgirms who take bath in Papanasini will be getting "Papamoksham" (will be relieved from all the sins) for all the sins in his/her life time. So the name 'Papanasini'.
Ganapathi Statue near Papanasini
On the way back, we stopped at the Junction were one road leads to Kartikulam and the other to Tholpatti. There is a small teashop named Jungle View Tea shop where the only snacks available is "Unniyappam". This tea shop is famous through out India for the "Unniappam" the served there. The sweat taste of "unniappam" available there is unique and many news papers and TV channels has covered articles on this tea shop. The tea shop was there for the past 50 or more years, another wonder.
"Unniappam" Tea shop
