INTRODUCTION

The Study Tour as per the curriculum was an exposure trip to a place of educational or

historical importance. A Report of tour has to be prepared by all student-teachers. The tour programme

of BNV College of Teacher Education was planned for a day. It was a journey from Thiruvananthapuram

to Kanyakumari. We covered Thripparappu water falls and Padmanabhapuram Palace in between.

OBJECTIVES

The expected outcome includes providing situations for the student-teachers to learn and get

acquainted with the process of organizing /conducting a study tour/field work and understanding the

environment around.

TOUR REPORT

We gathered in our campus at around 5:30 am. Started from the college at 6:10 am with

the guidance and company of our Principal Dr Valsala, other teachers Mrs Reshmi and Mrs Lekshmi Binu

along with our all in all Unnikrishnan Sir and Sabu chetan. We reached our first destination,

Thripparappu Waterfalls at about 8:15 am.

Thripparappu Waterfalls

Thirparappu is famous for its waterfalls and is located in Kanyakumari District of TamilNadu in the

southern part of India. Thirparappu Falls is located 42 km from Nagercoil (headquarters of Kanyakumari

District), 55 km from Thiruvananthapuram (capital of Kerala) and a distance of 5 km from Kulasekaram

(nearest town panchayat). This famous falls is in the Kodayar (Kothai River).The Kodayar makes its

descend at Thirparappu and the water fall at this place is about 13 km. from Pechiparai dam.

Thirparappu waterfalls is 300 feet long and consists of a rocky riverbed. The water falls from a height of

nearly 50 feet and the water flows for about seven months in a year. The whole bed above the falls is

one rocky mass which extends up to a distance of about quarter of a kilometer upstream where the

famous Thirparappu weir has been constructed for supplying water to the paddy fields.

On either side of the river, on the left bank of the river in between the water falls and the weir, there is

a temple dedicated to Siva enclosed by strong fortification. The District Administration has recently

constructed a swimming pool which is very popular among the children.

A Mahadever kovil located near this fall, is the third one of the twelve Sivalaya's. The lord after

destroying the yagam of dhaxan as virabhadra murthi has taken abode over here. This lord, who is very

sweet for the sincere worshippers, is in a fierce form. There are many old inscriptions in this temple

including the one of the pandiya king dated ninth century. This temple is built around A.D. 9th Century.

This is famous for its Kerala Architecture.

We had our packed breakfast from there. And re-started our voyage at 9:30 am.

Padmanabhapuram Palace

Padmanabhapuram Palace was our second destination. We reached there at 10:15 am. The Palace is

located in at Padmanabhapuram Fort, in Padmanabhapuram, Kanyakumari District, Tamil Nadu, India.

Padmanabhapuram is the former capital city of the erstwhile kingdom of Travancore. It i s about 20km

from Nagercoil, and about 50km from Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. The palace complex is inside an old

granite fortress around four kilometers long. The palace is located at the foot of the Veli Hills, which

form a part of the Western Ghats. The river Valli flows nearby.

The palace was constructed around 1601 AD by Iravi Varma Kulasekhara Perumal who ruled Venad

between 1592 and 1609. It is believed that the Thai Kottaram was built in 1550. The founder of modern

Travancore, King Anizham Thirunal Marthanda Varma (1706–1758) who ruled Travancore from 1729 to

1758, rebuilt the palace in around 1750. King Marthaanda Varma dedicated the kingdom to his family

deity Sree Padmanabha, a form of Lord Vishnu and ruled the kingdom as Padmanabha dasa or servant of

Lord Padmanabha. Hence the name Padmanabhapuram or City of Lord Padmanabha. In the late 18th

century, precisely in 1795 the capital of Travancore was shifted from here to Thiruvananthapuram, and

the place lost its former glory. However, the palace complex continues to be one of the best examples of

traditional Kerala architecture, and some portions of the sprawling complex are also the hallmark of

traditional Kerala style architecture.

Structures

The Padmanabhapuram Palace complex consists of several structures:

Mantrasala: the King's Council Chamber

Thai Kottaram: the Queen Mother's Palace, constructed before 1550

Natakasala: the Performance Hall

Central mansion: A four-storeyed mansion at the centre of the complex

Thekee Kottaram: the Southern Palace

Other features

The Padamnabhapuram Palace complex has several other interesting features:

The palace is located in Kanyakumari district of TamilNadu state but administered by the

Government of Kerala state.

The clock tower in the palace complex has a 300 year old clock, which still keeps time.

A big hall now bare, which can accommodate around 1000 guests, and where ceremonial feasts

were held, on auspicious occasions.

A secret passage, now blocked, through which the king, his immediate family members, and

their entourage could escape to another palace, located several kilometers away in the event of

any emergency. Name of this palace is Charottu kottaram.

A flight of steps leads to a bathing pond, which has lost its f reshness due to neglect and years of

disuse.

The palace complex also has a section of curios and several interesting objects:

An entire room filled with old Chinese jars, all gifts by Chinese merchants.

A variety of weapons (which were actually used in warfare), including swords and

daggers.

Brass lamps, wood and stone sculpture, a variety of furniture and large mirrors made of

polished metal.

A gallery of paintings depicting incidents from the history of Travancore.

A wooden cot made of up to 64 wooden pieces of a variety of medicinal tree trunks

Polished stone cot, meant for cool effect

Toilet and well

Our expedition through the mansion offered all the sights, sounds and feels of a different world. After

that wonderful experience we started at about 12:15 pm and halted at a nearby restaurant for lunch.

We reached our final terminus at 2:00 pm.

Kanyakumari

The southernmost end of the mainland of Indian subcontinent, Kanyakumari is an indispensable part of

any South India tour. Kanyakumari formerly known as Cape Comorin is a town in Kanyakumari District in

the state of Tamil Nadu, India. Kanyakumari is unique in itself for being amongst the very few places in

the country where you could watch a sunrise and also a sunset sitting in the very same spot. It is also

famous for the Kanyakumari Devi temple!

Kanyakumari Devi Temple

The place takes its name from the goddess Devi Kanya Kumari, considered to be a sister of Krishna.

Women pray to her for marriage. The goddess is believed to be the one who removes the rigidity of our

mind. The temple here is a Shakti Peetha, one of the holiest shrines of the Mother goddess. It is said

that the backbone area of Sati Devi’s corpse fell here. This is one of the rare temples in India where Devi

(Mother Goddess) is worshipped as a child (Baalaambika). Also nearby are eleven sacred theertham.

Vivekananda Rock

Much more than just a tourist attraction in Kanyakumari, Vivekananda rock is more of a sacred

monument dedicated to one of the most revered spiritual leaders - Swami Vivekananda. Also on this

rock, there is a Dhyana mandapam, an area for meditation.

Swami Vivekananda came to Kanyakumari before his departure for Chicago to participate in the World

Religious Conference. He sat on meditation on this rock and became a powerful spiritual leader and

philosopher.

Thiruvalluvar Statue

A statue of Thiruvalluvar is erected near the Vivekananda rock as a memorial to the man who gave Tamil

literature the 'Word that never fails'. The foundation stone for the statue was laid in 1979 and the work

was completed in 1999.

“Thirukkural” is a precious gem among the classics, unique in the deliverance of code of conduct to the

mankind to follow for all time to come. Virtue, Wealth and Love: this treatise encompasses the whole

gamut of human life by Thiruvalluvar.

Ferry services are available to reach the memorial. The ferries transporting tourists from mainland to

the islands can be seen with one returning to the mainland and the other one about to stop at the

Tiruvalluvar statue after carrying over tourists from Vivekananda Rock.

The Gandhi Mandapam

The Gandhi Memorial has been built on the spot where the urn containing the Mahatma's ashes was

kept for public viewing before immersion. Resembling central Indian Hindu temples in form, the

memorial was designed in such a way that on Mahatma Gandhi's birthday, 2 October, the first rays of

the sun fall on the exact place where his ashes were kept.

After some shopping at the end we started our journey back to Thiruvananthapuram at 5:20 pm.

CONCLUSION

The studious attitudes and efforts got completed successfully. Thus, the BNV CTE Study

Tour 2014 has come to a full circle as we touched our College campus at about 8:00 pm. Each one of

were tired but contented for sure. As we slept that night we were all rejuvenated and very much ready

to welcome a clear morning of vivid colours of sky and grass, the wide clear view of the horizons, the

‘small’ city of Thiruvananthapuram, and the open green fields of our College grounds.