Onam Festival

Onazaam is the biggest and the most important festival of the state of Kerala. It is a harvest festival and is celebrated with joy and enthusiasm all over the state by people of all communities. According to a popular legend, the festival is celebrated to welcome King Mahabali, whose spirit is said to visit Kerala at the time of Onam. Onam is celebrated in the beginning of the month of Chingam, the first month of Malayalam Calendar (Kollavarsham). This corresponds with the month of August-September according to Gregorian Calendar. Carnival of Onam lasts from four to ten days. First day, Atham and tenth day, Thiruonam are most important of all. Popularity and presentation of rich culture of the state during the carnival made Onam the National Festival of Kerala in 1961. Elaborate feasts, folk songs, elegant dances, energetic games, elephants, boats and flowers all are a part of the dynamic festival called Onam. Government of India has taken due notice of this vibrant and colorful festival. It promotes Onam internationally in a big way and celebrates 'Tourist Week' for Kerala during Onam celebrations. Thousands of domestic and foreign tourists visit Kerala to be a part of Onam. The Legend Story goes that during the reign of mighty asura (demon) king, Mahabali, Kerala witnessed its golden era. Every body in the state was happy and prosperous and king was highly regarded by his subjects. Apart from all his virtues, Mahabali had one shortcoming. He was egoistic. This weakness in Mahabali's character was utilized by Gods to bring an end to his reign as they felt challenged by Mahabali's growing popularity. However, for all the good deed done by Mahabali, God granted him a boon that he could annually visit his people with whom he was so attached.

It is this visit of Mahabali that is celebrated as Onam every year. People make all efforts to celebrate the festival in a grand way and impress upon their dear King that they are happy and wish him well.

According to the Hindu mythology, Mahabali was the great great grandson of a Brahmin sage named Kashyapa, the great grandson of demonic dictator Hiranyakashipu, and the grandson of Vishnu devotee Prahlada. This links the festival to the Puranic mythology of Prahlada of Holika fame in Hinduism, who is the son of demon dictator Hiranyakashyap. Prahlada, despite being born to a demonic Asura father who hated Vishnu, rebelled against his father's persecution of people and worshipped Vishnu. Hiranyakashyap tries to kill his son Prahlada, but is slained by Vishnu in his Narasimha avatar, Prahlada is saved.

The Vamana grew and covered everything Mahabali ruled over in just two paces. For the third pace, Mahabali offered himself, an act which Vishnu accepted as evidence of Mahabali's devotion. Vishnu granted him a boon, by which Mahabali could visit again, once every year, the lands and people he previously ruled. This revisit marks the festival of Onam, as a reminder of the virtuous rule and his humility in keeping his promise before Vishnu. The last day of Mahabali's stay is remembered with a nine-course vegetarian Onasadya feast.Prahlada's grandson Mahabali came to power by defeating the gods (Devas) and taking over the three worlds. According to Vaishnavism mythology, the defeated Devas approached Vishnu for help in their battle with Mahabali. Vishnu refused to join the gods in violence against Mahabali, because Mahabali was a good ruler and his own devotee. He, instead, decided to test Mahabali's devotion at an opportune moment. Mahabali, after his victory over the gods, declared that he will perform Yajna (homa sacrifices) and grant anyone any request during the Yajna. Vishnu took the avatar of a dwarf boy called Vamanaand approached Mahabali. The king offered anything to the boy – gold, cows, elephants, villages, food, whatever he wished. The boy said that one must not seek more than one needs, and all he needs is the property right over a piece of land that measures "three paces". Mahabali agreed.

According to Nanditha Krishna, a simpler form of this legend, one without Mahabali, is found in the Rigveda and the Vedic text Shatapatha Brahmana where a solar deity is described with powers of Vishnu. This story likely grew over time, and is in part allegorical, where Bali is a metaphor for thanksgiving offering after a bounty of rice harvest during monsoon, and Vishnu is the metaphor of the Kerala sun and summer that precedes the Onam. According to Roshen Dalal, the story of Mahabali is important to Onam in Kerala, but similar Mahabali legends are significant in the region of Balia in Uttar Pradesh, Bawan also in the same state, Bharuch in Gujarat, and Mahabaleshwar in Maharashtra. The story is significant not because Mahabali's rule ended, but it emphasizes the Hindu belief in cyclical nature of events, that no individual, no ruler and nothing lasts forever, except the virtues and self-understanding that overcomes all sorrow.

Trivandrum Zoo

Zoological Garden,Aquarium and  Museum Thiruvananthapuram
           The Thiruvananthapuram Zoo is the oldest zoo in India continuing to exist in its original location in the heart of the temple city Thiruvananthapuram. Similarly the Museum and Botanical Gardens are also the oldest of their kind in the country. Swathi Thirunal Maharaja (1816-1846), illustrious King and Music composer who had ruled Travancore during 1830-1846 is said to be the visionary behind the establishment of the Thiruvananthapuram Museum and Zoo. He had a good collection of animals including elephants in his horse breeding centre. To the Trivandrum stables he incorporated a menagerie and kept tigers, panthers cheetahs, deer, bears and a lioness there. It was however left to his brother Uthram Thirunal Marthanda Varma and the then British Resident General Cullen which resulted in the establishment of Museum and Zoo in Thiruvananthapuram. A committee was formed in 1855 with the Maharaja of Travancore as Patron, General Cullen as President, The Elaya Raja as Vice President and Mr. Allen Brown as Secretary of the Committee and the Director of Museum. The Museum was thrown open to the Public in September 1857. But the Museum by itself could not attract the people much, and therefore a Zoo and a park were started in 1859.

This Zoological garden is unique in India for its breathtaking landscapes and luxuriant growth of vegetation. Royal look of lofty trees, towering bamboos, lush green landscapes give it a rare distinction of being one of the most beautiful zoos in South East Asia. Spread over 36 acres of land and located in the heart of the city it provides a respite for the people of Thiruvananthapuram as much it offers tourism and recreation for visitors reaching from outside Kerala and overseas.

Objectives

Wildlife conservation with special emphasis to the species endemic &   endangered in the Western Ghats.
Education and Nature awareness
Wildlife Research
Eco Tourism
Animal collection and Display

Zoos were considered as picnic spots in the past. Now, they are managed as conservation and education centres where captive breeding of rare and endangered animals and birds is undertaken. More and more information on Wildlife Conservation and Management is generated through scientific research.

Accordingly, there is shift in policy of animal, collection in the Zoo from 'unlimited animals and limited facilities' to 'limited animals and adequate facilities'. This is aimed at putting up natural display of animals and birds similar to their occurrence in wild to enable them to live naturally and to pass on the right message to visitors.

The Mudumalai National Park or Wildlife Sanctuary

The Mudumalai National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary  is home to several species of wild relatives of cultivated plants including wild rice, wild ginger, turmeric, cinnamon, solanum, guava, mango and pepper that act as a reserve gene pool for the cultivated plants. In places mixed vegetation types are present. The deciduous trees shed their green leaves during the summer, and adopt a floral garb while the arrival of the monsoons hails fruits and tender greens.

The Mudumalai National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary also a declared tiger reserve, lies on the northwestern side of the Nilgiri Hills (Blue Mountains), in Nilgiri District, about 150 kilometres (93 mi) north-west of Coimbatore city in Tamil Nadu. It shares its boundaries with the states of Karnataka and Kerala. The sanctuary is divided into five ranges – Masinagudi, Thepakadu, Mudumalai, Kargudi and Nellakota.

The protected area is home to several endangered and vulnerable species including Indian elephant, Bengal tiger, gaur and Indian leopard. There are at least 266 species of birds in the sanctuary, including critically endangered Indian white-rumped vulture and long-billed vulture.

The Western Ghats Nilgiri Sub-Cluster of 6,000 square kilometres (2,300 sq mi), including all of Mudumalai National Park, is under consideration by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee for selection as a World Heritage Site.

There are three main types of forest in the sanctuary: tropical moist deciduous occur in the western Benne Block, where rainfall is higher than in the other blocks. Tropical dry deciduous forest occurs in the middle and southern tropical dry thorn forests are in the east.

In addition there are patches of tropical semi-evergreen forest in the southwest and western part of Mudumalai. The annual rainfall there exceeds 2,000 mm (79 in). Tree species in this habitat include Casseria ovoides, Litsea mysorensis, Cinnamomum malabatrum and Olea dioca. Climbers including sneeze wort (Dregea volubilis), Gnetum ula and Entada scandens are also found in these semi-evergreen forests.

Moist bamboo brakes are found amidst dry deciduous, moist deciduous and semi-evergreen forests and along the fringes of riparian forests and swamps. There are two species of bamboo found in Mudumalai, the giant clumping bamboos: Bambusa (arundinacea) and Dendrocalamus strictus. Elephants and gaur eat both species of bamboo. In all types of forest, a green strip of riparian forest is seen along the shore of dry seasonal and perennial streams. This type of forest remains green in all seasons. The plant species found here includes: Mangifera indica, Pongamia glabra, Terminalia arjuna, Syzygium cumini, Indian rosewood Dalbergia latifolia and the bamboos. Larger mammals such as elephant, gaur, sambar and tiger use riparian forest patches for feeding and resting.

There is a high diversity of animal life in the sanctuary with about 50 species of fishes, 21 species of amphibians, 34 species of reptiles, 227 species of birds and 55 species of mammals. Mammal diversity is higher in the dry deciduous and dry thorn forests than in the other habitats. Thirteen percent of all mammal species in India are present in Mudumalai wildlife sanctuary.

Of 15 cat species in India, four live in Mudumalai: Bengal tiger, Indian leopard, jungle cat and leopard cat. There are 44 to 80 tigers in the Mudumalai forest. The single largest tiger population in India (Mudumalai – Nagarhole – Wynad) includes the Mudumalai tigers. These tigers are a breeding source for populating the northern and eastern parts of the Western Ghats. This population exists at high density due to the high density of prey species thriving in its deciduous forests.

The Indian leopard (P. pardus fusca) (NT) is most often seen in the Kargudi area. Other carnivores include the dhole (Cuon alpinus) (V), the striped hyena (Hyaena hyaena) (NT), the golden jackal(Canis aureus) and the sloth bear (Melursus ursinus) (V). The population of Indian elephants, Elephas maximus indicus (E), totals several hundred animals. Three primates found here include the gray langur (Semnopithecus priam) and the bonnet macaque (Macaca radiata). Important prey animals for large carnivores here are the ungulates including the gaur (Bos gaurus) (V), the sambar deer (Cervus unicolor) (VU), the chital deer (Axis axis), Indian muntjac (Muntiacus muntjak), the Indian spotted chevrotain, Moschiola indica, and the wild boar (Sus scrofa), all of whom are common here. Rodents include the Indian giant squirrel (Ratufa indica maxima) and the red giant flying squirrel (Petaurista petaurista).

Some reptiles found here are the python, flying lizard, spectacled cobra, krait and Asian pit vipers. The monitor lizard is the most regularly observed species.

Eight percent of bird species in India occur in the Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary. Among the 227 bird species found in Mudumalai, 110 species are insectivores, 62 are carnivores, 23 species are fishivores, 12 species are omnivores and 20 species are granivores. These include the unique near threatened black-and-orange flycatcher. Regional endemics include Malabar trogon and Malabar grey hornbill. Some rare birds of prey like the rufous-bellied eagle can occasionally be seen in this sanctuary. Other predatory birds include crested hawk-eagle, crested serpent eagle, changeable hawk eagle, black eagle, Oriental honey-buzzard, Jerdon's baza, Bonelli's eagle, crested goshawk, besra, mottled wood owl and brown hawk owl, and several minivets.

There are also hornbill, golden oriole, chloropsis, paradise flycatcher, golden-backed woodpecker Malabar great black woodpecker, blue-winged parakeet, fairy bluebird, jungle fowl racket-tailed drongo, peafowl, red spurfowl, grey francolin, painted spurfowl, painted bush quail, white-bellied woodpecker, lesser yellownape, golden woodpecker, streak-throated woodpecker, chestnut-headed bee-eater, emerald dove, green imperial pigeon, grey-fronted green pigeon, grey-bellied cuckoo, Indian cuckoo, alpine swift, black-hooded oriole, greater racket-tailed drongo, black-headed cuckooshrike, grey-headed bulbul, forest wagtail, crimson-backed sunbird and Loten's sunbird. It also holds the isolated southern population of the striped tit-babbler.^[9][10]s

Attractions in Madumalai
Moyar River - running through the dense forest this river is an ideal place to cite animals when they come to drink water along its bank.
Moyar River Gorge - also called the Moyar Canyon, is a dramatic 20 km long gorge dug out by Moyar River that plunges into the gorge below Theppakadu in a roaring water-fall. This fall is popularly known as the Moyar falls.
Elephant Feeding Camp - this is the place where one can interact with elephants and see how they are fed. The captive elephants in the sanctuary are no longer used for timber extraction work, since these areas are managed exclusively as protected areas. The elephants are engaged mainly for Eco-tourism, patrolling for anti poaching operations, to control Man-Elephant conflict outside the sanctuary or other areas and as a conservation and training centre for elephants which can be visited by the public.
Madumalai Museum - lying near the Elephant feeding camp, this museum is the perfect location where some animals (who once lived in the Mudumalai Jungle) are preserved.
Kallatty falls - located 30 km from Theppakadu, is a beautiful falls with a magnificent view for leisure treatments.
Pykara Lake - Located 40 km (25 mi) from Theppakadu is a clean and scenic lake aligned between the hills. It is an inaccessible lake, free from pollution and crowds where the tourists can enjoy boating. An annual summer boat race was introduced to this lake in 2008.