Fringed coconuts,
calming shores and Krishna’s butterball – welcome to Malappuram!
Malappuram
in southern Kerala, is a relaxing place to enjoy for a couple of days.
Classified as a city but I would say small town. There is not heaps to do there
but beautiful none the less. I learnt a lot whilst staying there and really got
in touch with my creative side. There are outstanding, colourful guesthouses,
restaurants and shops for your eyes to feast upon.
You can
enjoy sunny walks around the temples and relax in the park. I thought the park
was breath taking – it was huge! Plus, Krishna’s butterball is there, said to
be a granite boulder, that rests on a short incline. It is crazy due to the
size of it and the placement and of course I had to have the generic photo
trying to lift it like everyone else. Legend has it that a governor at one
point tried moving it with seven elephants with no success! If that is the size
of one of Krishna’s balls, I would hate to see the rest (crude, funny joke
input). The park is a delight to walk around though, and can take up to a day,
the monkeys will most likely join you too.
There are
lots of temples and artefacts to wander around and enjoy; I loved the carvings
of the stone animals (I know they probably represent someone or something).
The beach
is not a sunbathing type of beach but I found it very scenic and serene. I
often enjoyed relaxing, sitting in Bob Marley’s café and enjoyed looking at the
fishing boats, with a cup of chai tea.
Luckily we
were there for the Kollam; which I have talked about on the blog previously. Kollam
is a colour art expressing and marking celebration. It is done with dye, horse
dung and rice flower and some of the designs were gorgeous.
My
favourite experience in Malappuram was getting to learn and create my own stone
carving. One afternoon I was walking down the streets and just went up to a
gentleman with his own stall selling marble and graphite carvings and asked him
if he would teach me how to do one for money. He was a bit taken back, but
thankfully he agreed and I spent a whole day sat on the street making my own
little turtle. I started out with a block of graphite, a lot of filing later
and my turtle was taking shape. I set the colour in black wax for four hours,
and engraved the detailing on once dry. It took a long time but it was the best
day. You certainly appreciate the time, effort and cost that goes into some of
their creations.
Top 5 things to do in Malappuram
· Enjoy the cafes/restaurants on the
seafront
· Krishna’s butterball
· Park
· Temples
· Bob Marley’s café – for good tunes
and tea.
