WHY LEONARDO DI’CAPRIO FELL IN LOVE WITH THIS PLACE?

THE CONNECTION WITH DiCAPRIO

Any relation between Titanic fame Oscar award winner Hollywood actor DiCaprio and Ramakkalmedu. A small hill town in Idukki district in the state of Kerala, India. “Yes” is the answer as he has been mesmerized by the natural beauty of this place. For him this place was like “If there is a paradise on earth, it is here”. The tag he given to this beautiful picturesque place while on a short holiday he spent here.

WHERE IS RAMAKKALMEDU

A place is in State of Kerala, India, close to the border with Tamilnadu. A destination which is not very popular but very much attractive with its geographical terrain and bright landscape all around. This is part of Idukki district’s Kattappana, Kerala, the southernmost state of India. A state with the tag of God’s own country. One of the rare location in south Kerala that has been still noticeable for its natural beauty than man made multi storied buildings and shopping complexes that looks like concrete jungles. Within a short distance from town there are many places to explore that are associated with the Asia’s largest arch Dam known as Idukki Dam.

THE MYTH WITH EPIC RAMAYANA

For those who are fond of myths this place is linked with Lord Rama of Ramayana as the name implies, Rama –Kal-Medu which literally means Land of Rama’s Stone. It is a windy place also that there are many wind mills installed in many parts across this small area. 

The journey till the location does not looked so exciting. We parked our car and started moving towards the entrance where there were two roads. One going to a not so difficult hilly terrain. And the other towards a strata of rocks with a slight steep to be climbed. If anyone interested this could feel little difficult too. We chose the second one first and even then I was having no clue what this trip is all about.

THE PATH IS NARROW WHEN YOU STARTS

As we climbed little by little sometimes through very narrow space spending enough time for photos and selfies, the view from every point was changing to different landscapes. Many couples and groups were also seen keenly enjoying this trekking if it can be called so.

After few minutes we were in an area that was of plains from where we could see Tamil Nadu on the other side. And still the rocks to be climbed stood tall at a fair distance with few people atop. We decided to move further towards with the hope of climbing the peak through few cleared pathway among the plain-

THERE WAS SURPRISE ON THE WAY

It was not always like only those mesmerizing beauty that makes a trip a memorable one. But the geographical profile of the nature in such uninhabited place also plays a part in enjoying rare sights. As we walked towards the rocky mountain such a scene was what everyone seemed to be wondered with. On the right side a huge gigantic sized rock and breath taking deep valley leaving so little space to the left of it. The narrow space was sufficient only for one person to walk at a time. Some villages or town far away in the valley spread across on a vast area was visible on a closer look. Two of my friends tried walking in that available narrow space to see how far they can go and to see what surprise there on the other side, but nothing special though.

THE RESULT OF EFFORT IS PRICELESS

Wind started blowing in a heavy pace as we climbed. And it doesn’t took us much time to reach the top leaving only one set of huge rocks. With just enough width for one human being to move across the next step found to be little difficult. Few visitors were already on top. And I have to defy my age to overcome the slight fear to force myself start climbing up as a matter of fact.  But the spectacular geography of the nature all around looking from the peak was another marvelous sight to be cherished for a long time. 

THROW A STONE, IT WILL REACH ANOTHER STATE

As it mentioned, on one side it was Tamil Nadu looking far down covering an area that human eyes could reach. Since the distance might had been too high nothing substantial was notable from there though . I found a survey mark or more technically a station point fixed as permanent mark embedded in concrete. This really surprised me. As a civil Engineer it was so easy to identify its importance. It is used as a base mark based on which other points are located to profile the boundaries of plans in simple terms. Here it is kept for the profiling of state boundaries. This made me to ponder too how states were marking the borders. This was too critical  as I was standing in Idukki district of Kerala and if drop a stone on to the left it would fall in Tamil Nadu.

Wind was blowing strongly with sun God at its peak that drained our energy and as we were walking back an old man was selling butter milk mixed with green chilly and ginger along with some other stuff which brought a much needed relief for every one.

SYMBOL OF HISTORY IN THE OPPOSITE LOCATION

The trip remains incomplete without a walk to the other nearby location. This may be more important due to the man made structure situated there. This location is still same to enjoy the natural beauty of this hilly place like the former one. Gigantic statues of a man and women is installed here. The statues known as Kuravan and Kurathi. This is ideally placed in another eye catching location. Legend is that their’s were the brain behind to help the then authorities to identify the location of Idukki dam. 

It made absolutely sense when I think about why DiCaprio fell in love with this place. And it did not surprised me  too.  This tiny village in Idukki District along the border of Tamil Nadu with Kerala is highly recommended for a day trip. This location is around 13 Kms from Kattappana or 32 km from Nedumkandam or Kumily.

What is the fair number of pictures in a travel blog. I am confused. Hence to share some more beautiful pictures please visit this page “A Paradise in God’s Own Country“

Ref: 1. Click here “https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramakkalmedu/ for wikipedia link

2. Click here https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/sabus-ramakkalmedus-diaries/article19861635.ece/” for news paper article