Tour
to Kodaikanal The Kodai Club gives the impression
of stepping back into colonial India. The lounge
with its period fireplace, the piano, the Leigh
Hunt prints, the library stocked with books by
Evelyn Waugh, Anthony Trollope, and the bar with
stuffed heads of bison, tigers, deer-horns, and
a picture of the Laughing Cavalier by Franz Hals,
the restaurant with old English plates, a glowing
hearth-fire, and landscape prints, are all British
legacies. Cinnereras and primulus add to the English
atmosphere, and again one is struck by the predominance
of the lilac-purple theme. The dinner consisting
of steaming mulligatawny soup, roast chicken and
potatoes, and apple pie, is a further British
legacy.
As
one relaxes in the comfortable chamber of the
Kodaikanal Club, a cheerful log fire dances a
tableau of flame and shadow on the hearth, keeping
out the chill of the night.
One
wakes up with an air of expectancy refreshed after
a good night's sleep. The tree-fringed lake greets
one in the crisp early morning. One realizes that
the lake is the cool heart of Kodaikanal. It is
the legacy of the then Collector, Sir Vere Livinge,
who formed it by damming the valley where three
streams flowed. It spreads over an area of 60
acres and is skirted by a three-mile tarred road.
There is a Boat Club and a public ferry.
Just
across the Kodaikanal Club is the Kodaikanal
School-an imposing campus of verdant manicured
lawns, dignified trees and solid stone buildings.
This coeducational, English medium boarding school
offering a pre-university curriculum in 12 grades,
prepares students for entrance to Indian and worldwide
colleges and universities through the Kodaikanal
School Diploma. Selected students are prepared
to write the external exams of the International
Baccalaureate, based in Geneva. More than 30 nationalities
are represented in the school community of students
and staff. On the wall of the principal's outer
office is a plaque emblazoned with an appropriate
quotation from the French philosopher Teihard
de Chardin: "Joy is the infallible sign of
the presence of god."
Almost
cheek by jowl with the Kodaikanal School is the
Lutheran Church-a Gothic stone building with stained
glass windows and modern paintings and batiks
portraying scenes from the life of Christ. Nearby
is an even more famous church-Christ the King
Church-again, a very Gothic and solemn granite
structure with stained glass windows.
The
names of the buildings in Kodaikanal are very
evocative: 'Loch End' and 'Mansarovar'-these two
houses by the lakeside bridge the time span from
colonial times to the present; Hillbrook, Furzbank,
Wood-cote, Whispering Pines, and Rock Cottage-all
conjure up the beauty and spirit of their natural
ambience.
Jacaranda
trees burst out in purple profusion, as though
singing hosannas to the skies. Magnolia trees
guard their 'escaping' fragrance, while cherry
trees sweep in graceful pink arcs.
Tour
to Kodaikanal On the east side of the lake is
Bryant's Park, named after the forest officer
who planned its layout around the turn of the
century. Beautiful pine and eucalyptus trees
grow here. There is one ancient eucalyptus
tree dating back to 1846, which is 250 feet high
and 10 feet wide. The well-laid out gardens contain
many annuals and perennials like azaleas, watsonias,
dahlias, stock, primulas, fusschias, asters, etc.
Many exotic varieties of orchids are housed in
the Orchid House. Walking along the lotus pond,
the memory of a verse learnt in childhood comes
to mind:
Four
ducks on a pond,
A grass bank beyond,
White clouds on the wing;
What a little thing
To remember for years,
To remember with tears.
About
a kilometer from the lake is Coaker's Walk,named after St. Coaker of the Royal Engineers,
offering a fantastic view of the plains and the
distant hills. There is a rugged pristine beauty
about these vistas, and the mist rising in veils
from the valley below, gives the place an unreal
quality.
Driving
along the cool green darkness with the trees making
a canopy overhead, one reaches Green Valley View.
Gnarled cypress roots make a natural crazy path
to the sheer drop of 1,000 feet that overlooks
the Vaigai Dam. Clouds are banked like snow, and
violet haze envelopes the distant hills. Here
too, the mist rises from the valley, imparting
a solemn, out-of-this-world beauty to the scene.
The exclusive Kodai Golf Club is very near Green
Valley View.
Past
the Golf Club is the 114-acre Golf Links,
another colonial legacy-an undulating green velvet
carpet. Thick woods line the road leading to the
Pillar Rocks. These are three vertical pillars
standing shoulder to shoulder measuring 112 m.
The ground drops sheer below them, creating a
dramatic impact and affording a stupendous view
of the valley below. Soon mists wrap up the pillars
in mystery and one wonders whether they are real,
or whether they were a figment of one's imagination.
Then the sun melts the mists away and the rocks
rise, solemn and majestic, dappled in sun and
shadow: the effect is ethereal and awe-inspiring.
The
abundance of pear orchards is a striking feature
of the Kodaikanal landscape. Here and there,
a solitary snowy blossom seems to peep out tentatively
to reconnoiter the weather conditions, and one
has a hint of the profusion of pear blossoms to
follow, when the branches would be heavy with
their own blooms, leaving scant room for leaves.
A
sheer lacy curtain of water, so aptly named 'Fairy
Falls,' is nearby. About five and a half km
from the lake is the Shenbaganur Museum,
maintained by the Sacred Heart College, a Theological
Seminary founded in 1895. The stuffed-birds
and the butterfly collection are remarkable. The
archeological collection is meticulously documented.
One can see the implements and the burial urns
of the Paliyans here. One of the best orchidariums
in the country, with more than 300 species of
orchids, is also located on the premises of Sacred
Heart College.
