PERSPECTIVES

Velliyankallu: where river, legend, and madness meet 🌿🌊 After Pattambi, I stopped at Velliyankallu, a silent granite outcrop watching over Bharathapuzha. Here, Nila slows down, spreads itself wide, and seems to remember older times—when stories flowed as freely as water. This land is deeply soaked in the legend of Parayi Petta Panthirukulam—the twelve children born to one mother, scattered across these very plains, raised in different homes, becoming ancestors of many communities. Along Bharathapuzha, this story feels alive: one river, many banks; one origin, many identities. It is also the land of Naranathu Bhranthan—the barefoot wanderer who laughed at the world’s logic, pushing stones uphill only to let them roll down again. Standing at Velliyankallu, the rock itself feels like one of his companions, silently asking: Who is truly mad—the one who sees through illusion, or the ones trapped inside it? Velliyankallu has long been a marker and meeting point—for travellers, ...

Western Ghats • Kerala–Tamil Nadu The Palakkad Gap — Where the Mountains Pause A natural corridor that shapes winds, farms, forests, and history across South India. What it is A wide break in the Western Ghats One of the most prominent low passes linking Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Why it matters A climate & culture corridor It funnels winds, supports fertile plains, and enables trade routes and travel. Your anchor points Silent Valley ↔ Palakkad ↔ Pollachi North forests & hills, central plains, and southern ranges align around this opening. The Palakkad Gap (Palghat Gap) is a rare geographic pause in the otherwise continuous wall of the Western Ghats. Instead of steep, rain-soaked ridges, the mountains step aside here — creating a broad passage that ...