Day 1 of Study Tour- Wayanad Part II

Jain Temple at Sultan Bathery

From our hotel we first went to the Jain Temple at Sulthan Bathery. (It was a  rather short and quick stop mostly due to the annoying rain.)The site is a protected monument under the   Archaeological Survey of India since 1921.It was built around the 13th century and thus at least 700 years old. An interesting thing here is that even though this temple is small and lacking in grandeur compared to other temples of Jainism in India,it is still of great significance because this place 'Sultan Bathery' got that name because of this temple. You see during the invasion of Malabar by Tipu Sultan he had used the temple as a battery(to store ammunition) and thus resulting in the town being called Sultan's Battery. This got modified into Sultan Bathery.According to the caretaker at the temple there are atleast 450 Jain families and they gather here once a year to celebrate their religious festivals. Anyway here's a picture of the temple.

My friends at the ticket counter
Photo courtesy of Akhil A

Our next destination was the Edakkal Caves about  12 Km from Sultan Bathery. The road to Edakkal is a really winding one around the mountain with about 9 hairpin turns and really hard to navigate especially if you are travelling in a large 50 seater tourist bus.But it does offer some spectacular scenery of the forests and the mountain ranges stretching far across the horizon.And going uphill you can see the roads laid out below you in a zig-zag fashion embracing the hill slopes.The bus can take you only as far as the base,from where you have to walk around 1-2 kms to the ticket centre and that too up a sloping path.The rain had gone and was replaced by clear skies and warm sunlight.It was a good walk and I, along with Harish and Binu got there without much effort.But back then we had no idea that it was only the ticket centre and to get to the caves you still had to go more.So lets just say that I was a tad bit surprised. We waited like 15 minutes for the others,some of whom came panting and out of breath.

The way up...

So we all took our tickets (you have to pay extra for your camera) and started up the hiking trail which was yet another kilometre,only this time much steeper and you had to go over,under and around rocks(and the girls are gonna have one a hellavu hike if they're wearing high healed footwear). We move towards the top of the mountain through steep paths laid out amongst the rocks.

Pai and MC getting inside the cave
(click to enlarge)

Step by step....

After some more climbing we reach a small opening in the rocks which leads to a large dimly lit cave with the only source of light the aforementioned entry point and and exit. The air inside was cool and refreshing.Getting out of this place is harder than getting inside.But this isn't what we came to see,so we keep moving and as expected there's more rocks and stairs,then some more rocks and stairs.Here's a picture,you can see what i mean ...

The rock which forms the roof 

The cave drawings

Our ordeal was soon over,right after this very long stairway.We had reached our destination.Going down a set of stairs we enter the Edakkal Caves. Now the thing is,its not actually a cave. It is a small space between two large rock faces covered on the top by a large boulder.The word 'Edakkal' in Malayalam means 'a rock in between' .Eddakal Caves have the oldest cave drawings/carvings in all of South India.Such carvings are rare and carvings similar to this are found only in France.Its at an elevation of 1200 meters above sea level. It was discovered by Fred Fawcett, a British police officer in 1890.The carvings,believed to have been made between 6000-2300 BC depict men and women,their various tools and what seems to be wheel .One of them is a  figure with what appears to be a crown on his head and has a dress.There is also a message written in a script which experts think is the Brahmi Script.Now this here is solid proof that we had prehistoric settlements and  highly developed languages.

That was it. All of us climbed back down and went straight for lunch near the parking area.And after lunch we hit the road by 1:30.

View from atop the hill

To be contd......