Badagara( Vadakara ) is a large
city located about 50km north of Calicut. This city is a real sight seeing spot
and has much adventure to offer. Now! Let’s cut the crap and get to business of
knowing what’s to do and not to do in badagara. The city located along the
highway, is very accessible by road and rail. To start of a day in badagara
start off at Lokanarkavu Temple, Run to Sargalaya : The crafts village, skip
Kunjali Maraikar Memorial and get to Kappad beach for the sun set.
Lokanarkavu Temple
I have a special attachment to
this temple and the reasons are cheeky, Lokanarkavu is the family temple of my
college sweet heart and I have reasons to like the temple. But I can tell you
this on a normal day this is what a temple should be like, immersed in
spiritual tranquility this place offers that inner peace that the most famous
of temples can’t offer on any day. If you do want to see the temple with lots
of people with it then visit during the temple festival which falls during the
month of ----. This temple is greatly tangled with the rich past of the
‘chekavar’ and appears as a central character in many folklores of this great
warrior race of northern kerala. The
temple is a complex of three small temples namely a devi temple, a shiva temple
and a vishnu temple each with its own principal deities and I you can chat up
the temple priests then you are sure to catch a few stories of this great
warrior race.
Sargalaya: The Crafts Village in Iringal
This is the place you must visit
if you are in Badagara; the crafts village offers an insight into the much
acclaimed handicrafts of Kerala. Here they give such a close insight to the
ways and methods of making these priceless art pieces. I personally got a close
up on the working of how the tradition handloom sarees are woven and they give
out their products for sail their. This place is a wonderful bounty of art
pieces and they are on show and for purchase. Don’t worry the best is yet to
come. This place has something for everyone.
At about hundred rupees per head
you can get a boat ride in the adjacent lagoon, thought the first few stretches
of the boast travel is rather bad almost boring but as you reach near the sea
you will the sand banks where the sea meets the river. You could be also able
to see a distant Isle in the see at 600 per head and a good amount of persuasion
and compelling the guard you may get to go there but occasionally they do offer
to that place, I am not sure when those days will. The place is exclusive. Oh!
By the way, if you really are feeling a childlike do spent a few moments in the
children’s part before the security shows you the way out. Enjoy the lake and
the rocks in the old quarry and if you are three in the right time they will
have many cultural events.
Kunjali Maraikar
Memorial
This is a place you must not go
to unless you are a die hard fan of India’s Maritime past. This place is
located several minutes inward of Sargalaya and offers brief insight into the
history of the naval chiefs of Zamorin’s. The miniature museum only has a
couple of swords, a dozen cannon balls and even tinnier house. Trust me it’s
neither worth the time nor the money spent. But the other ting that could
interest you would be the Olive Ridley Turtle farm where they incubate and
protect the Turtle eggs and ensures the return of the hatchlings to the sea.
Visit here only during the migratory season otherwise there is nothing much to
see either.
Kappad Beach
Kappad beach is where you can get
to go at the end of the day, enjoy a quiet sunset spent time resting at the
shores, but don’t dare go into the ocean. It’s a bit dark and muddy and I don’t
prefer you go in and I don’t suppose you would either. One more thing don’t
expect any tides the seas this side is rather quiet.