Before I begin, I wanted to inform my readers that the below photos are from a visit I made to this temple back in 2020. I waited to post this after I was done with my Vietnam series… but then I forgot.
Anyway, I had heard about Sree Thrikkaikkunnu Mahadeva Temple from a relative who told me about how big it was. There weren’t too many blogs, articles or vlogs about the temple. I mean, it’s not a tourist attraction or a popular pilgrimage site, but despite its age and size, it doesn’t see as many visitors as Peralassery temple does — which I guess is mostly due to its famous step well which people of all faiths can see.
Sree Thrikkaikkunnu Mahadeva Temple is located in the town of Koothuparambu and is 23 kms from Kannur Railway station. The locality the temple is in is called Kottayam (not to be confused by the city of the same name in central Kerala).
This is the entrance one sees when getting on to the road off the main Koothuparambu highway
The grounds of the temple spans over 2 acres
The temple has two sreekovils (inner sanctum) and is dedicated to Lord Shiva. You can read about the mythology surrounding the temple on this website.
The temple is hundreds of years old, but even the temple staff I spoke to couldn’t give me an approximate era
Since this temple became a popular spot, they have rates for photography and filming
You have to pay Rs. 100 for photography and Rs. 300 for videography. But like with most temples, I was told I could not photograph inside the inner sanctums.
So I just stayed outside to be safe
I had come to the temple with my cousin sister, her husband, their daughter and a friend. They wanted to shoot some classical dance sequences for their daughter and my cousin’s husband, who is a music teacher, wanted to film a music video for his flute performance here.
The temple is constructed using local red stones, which have gotten some modern upkeep over time
From the back
I know these photos may not give you a good indication of the size of the temple
So I decided to step out of the temple grounds to take out my drone.
These steps lead you to the adjoining lake
It’s a pretty big man-made lake
I took a drone shot of the lake
This was around 5pm
An old tree at the footsteps of the lake
My cousin’s husband continued taking videos for their daughter’s dance
(Unfortunately, for reasons cited below, my cousin’s family was unable to obtain enough good shots to complete the dance performance)
This is a tighter crop
I was told I could not fly the drone above the temple and so I assured them I would limit the flight to just outside the gate.
If you want to see what the complete structure looks like (cropped in)
My cousin sister’s daughter and friend are the two green and red specks you see on the left side.
I took one parting shot before leaving
We had to end filming because some local guy who was sitting by the temple entrance objected to me flying the drone near the temple, just as I was done taking the final shot. He created a ruckus and accused all of us who had come for filming saying we were not allowed to film like this. Mind you, the actual temple staff member who we paid the filming fees to, had left the temple by now (it was a Sunday).
My cousin’s husband tried reasoning with the guy, but my cousin sister said he could be drunk. None of us wanted to create a scene on temple grounds, and my cousin’s young daughter also got scared. So we all left the temple rather upset after having our evening ruined.
So just be careful about such people if you are planning to visit this temple for photography or vlogging. If you get a receipt from the temple office after paying the fee, hold on to it until you leave the temple site.
If you want some more footage, Kerala Tourism has some glimpses of the temple exterior in their video:
My cousin sister’s husband managed to record his flute performance which uses most of the drone footage I could take (watch it in HD):
This is a blog post accompanying a video I edited (linked at the bottom) chronicling my experience travelling during the coronavirus pandemic. I went to Bangalore (local name: Bengaluru) back in late February and initially planned to return to Kannur (my hometown in the state of Kerala). But then India, like much of the world, went into lockdown. April went by, then May and by June, despite rising cases, I figured I had to return to my parents who were by themselves.
The Indian government allowed for domestic flights to resume in June. So in early July, when direct flights resumed to Kannur, I booked my flight on IndiGo (₹2400/$32/€27) departing on July 10.
As the flight date nears, IndiGo will email you a self health declaration form. You must do a web check-in, and you are asked to print that along with the luggage tag.
All those entering Kerala from within India must register on the COVID19 Jagratha portal. That will grant you a pass/registration number to enter Kerala. When leaving Karnataka, travellers do not have to register on Karnataka government’s Seva Sindhu portal. Domestic travellers only need to register on Seva Sindhu upon re-entering/returning to Karnataka.
Finally, all passengers must install the Arogya Setu app on their phones prior to arriving at the airport.
I printed out the luggage tag, ticket, Kerala pass, and the self health declaration form. If you don’t have a printer at home, you can check-in using kiosks outside Bengaluru airport terminal and you must at least have your Kerala pass document on your phone
Among all these, the one that ended up being most useless printed document was the luggage tag. Nobody asked for it and you still end up printing out a luggage tag that needs to be stuck to your bags. Even the self health declaration form was checked only by the check-in counter staff and never asked for by anyone else.
On the morning of July 10, I reserved an Uber ride to take me to the airport. All the taxi services have installed plastic sheets dividing the driver and passenger(s) (see the YouTube video below).
Upon arrival at the airport, you have to stand in a queue while maintaining some distance. Staff will check your web check-in pass and you will be asked to present your Arogya Setu app’s ‘Safe’ status.
After which you have to stand in front of a thermal scanner which will measure your temperature. Then security personnel will ask you to place the web check-in ticket for scanning (there will be a bar code on it). Security will also ask you to present an identity card (this can be Aadhaar, passport, driver’s license, voter ID or PAN card).
Once inside, you have to then use another kiosk to print the actual boarding pass and luggage tag(s) — see the video at the end of this blog post for all those visuals. Once you stick the luggage tag, you can now walk to the airline counter to drop off your check-in bag(s). If you don’t have any bags to check-in, just take the escalator or elevator upstairs and proceed towards security.
Before you pass through the security scanner, you have to pick up a tray by yourself, place all electronics into it and the security staff will then press a button which will move the tray through the X-ray machine
All seating inside the airport have been marked to maintain distancing
Around 1.5 hours before flight time, staff will come with PPE and face shields to distribute to passengers
Full body PPE will only be give to passengers sitting in the middle rows or in my flight’s case, the ones in the aisle rows.
I had chosen a window seat for myself and so I just got a face shield. IndiGo throws in a face mask and sachets of alcohol-based hand sanitizers.
Needless to say the shops at the airport are selling PPE and other protective gear
Restaurants, bars and coffee shops are also open but I didn’t see many people inside them. I cannot imagine how these businesses are going to make money at a time when overall passenger traffic is very low and most people are only travelling because they have to and it’s not leisure travel. All airports must offer some waivers on rents because it’s pretty obvious tenants are not making much money.
When it was time for boarding (which began slightly more than an hour before flight time), staff scan your boarding pass and you then proceed on to the IndiGo bus.
Flight 6E974 to Kannur was in an ATR 72-600
While waiting on the tarmac, I could see cargo planes from DHL and Lufthansa Cargo. Seems like they make up more of the current international jumbo jets flying in and out daily.
By the way, boarding takes a bit longer because staff check each passenger’s temperature before boarding.
It’s two seats on either side. Fortunately I had nobody sitting beside me.
BIAL Terminal 2 construction continues
The flight departed on time…well, easy to do nowadays given the airport isn’t very busy
I know I was merely flying home but I still felt good knowing I was flying again
There is more footage from the sky in the video I made but the flight was smooth even though I was in a turbo prop airplane. But it takes slightly longer. One hour flight time versus less than 50 minutes when I first flew to Kannur in a larger Airbus jet.
Upon landing in Kannur, I went straight to the toilet, washed my hands and face with soap and disposed off the face mask and gloves I wore when I left my house in Bangalore.
Here is what follows as you head down to collect your bags.
The first queue is for arrival passengers to get their temperature checked
You will also be given a self reporting form which you have to fill up with your personal details
Once you get the self reporting form stamped, you can then proceed to collect your bags. Then head to the pre-paid taxi counter to book your ride. When I arrived, I was told pick-ups by friends and family weren’t being allowed at the moment.
This is the fixed rates passengers have to pay for taxis. To go to Kannur town, it costs ₹1200. Click here for a larger image so you can see all the tariffs for the other destinations.
Then the next line is at the National Informatics Centre (NIC) desk where officials will enter all the details from the self reporting form into their database. This information will be shared with local police and health officials in your home area.
NIC officials told me I would have to observe 14 days home quarantine. International arrivals would have to spend 28 days in home quarantine.
After that, you can go to the doffing room — an area where you can take off and dump the face shields into plastic bags. You must dispose off airline-provided PPE and face shields at the doffing room.
Fortunately it did not rain throughout my journey
Once out of the terminal, I was again stopped at another desk who asked for my contact details. Probably the biggest inconvenience was trying to understand what various staff at both airports tell you because their voices are muffled behind their masks.
I then boarded my taxi, which too had plastic sheets dividing the passenger and the driver. Due to road traffic being very low, I reached home quickly.
Once I got home, I went straight upstairs after greeting my parents from a safe distance (no touching). I immediately took a bath, sprayed disinfectant all over my bags and clothes. My mother came upstairs with my meals which she placed at a desk near the steps. I would do my dishes and wash my own clothes until my quarantine ended. I had brought a stock of snacks and chocolates to keep me occupied too
Every day for the next 14 days, local Kerala police personnel (come rain or shine) would come by my house to check if I was indoors. I would show my face through the upstairs window and basically give my ‘attendance’
Over the weekend, a policeman would even make a visit wearing plain clothes. None wore full body PPE but all would wear masks. As long as they are safe going from house to house.
In between, I received calls twice from health officials to check if I had any symptoms and how my mental health was during this time. All in all, a good system with only a few hiccups. I was asked by Kerala Police to install an app for monitoring my location but after installing, it never worked properly (registration wouldn’t even work).
On the 14th day of home quarantine, the visiting police officer asked me to call a number of local health official. Upon speaking to the health official, she told me since I had two elderly parents at home, it is better that I stay upstairs for 14 more days and only go downstairs when needed. But I was still not allowed outside my house and was asked to avoid physical contact with anyone for another two weeks. She said there have been cases where international arrivals showed symptoms on the 14th day so it’s better to be safe.
After 28 days, I will be issued a certificate stating I’m in the clear and I can step out again. I will update this blog post with whatever additional information I have as I go through this quarantine experience.
I decided to film and write about all this in case others were nervous or wondering about whether it was safe to be travelling by flight at this time. I hope others find this information useful. If you did, feel free to like and share my blog post or just share the below video I made about my journey:
UPDATE: 7th August 2020
I got my Quarantine Release Certificate
I was told to collect my certificate from this Urban Primary Health Centre before 1PM
I had been longing to visit Paithalmala, the highest peak in Kannur, for quite some time. But one of my cousins told me that there is another hilltop destination that is worth visiting. Palakkayam Thattu is 50 kms from Kannur city center and actually along the same route one would take to get to Paithalmala. Elevated at 3500 feet above sea level, I figured that is high enough to get some great shots using my newly acquired drone.
We were a group of 8 and we hired a van to take us to Palakkayam Thattu and back
We left from our homes at around 7:30am
Palakkayam Thattu is open from 5AM to 9PM so it’s a popular choice to come watch the sunrise and during sunset. But none of us in the group wanted to wake up that early and for me, if the hills got too foggy, then I would not have been to able to capture the height of the hills.
It took us around 40 to 45 minutes to get to the parking area near Palakkayam Thattu. Use this location on Google Maps to find your way to the parking area. The van parked and from there, we had to hire a jeep to take us to the top. Jeeps cost Rs. 700 and can accommodate 7 adults or 8 to 9 children.
