Malampuzha Dam: A place one can't miss

 

The Malampuzha dam is the longest dam in Kerala. The dam is a combination of Masonry & earth making it an engineering marvel along the Malampuzha River in Palakkad. The dam along with the garden forms a beautiful landscape which has been welcoming guests for over 50 years. The garden is the only rock cut gardens of south India & it was made with discarded items like broken bangles, tins, plastic bottles, waste materials etc which makes it a place where one emphasises the importance of creative ways to use recycled waste. The tourists here get to see many additions apart from the dam, the garden itself, the aquarium, the rock garden, the most thrilling ropeway ride & of course the ever controversial statue of Yakshi.

The construction of the dam was commissioned in 1949 by the then Madras Presidency as Palakkad after independence was part of Madras State. The dam was completed in record time & was inaugurated by the Chief Minister of Madras State Mr Kamraj. It was only after the linguistic reorganisation of states that Palakkad & the dam became part of the Kerala state in 1956. Though the dam is now part of the Kerala State, its need was realised by the Madras state after many years of thought. The dam was essential to irrigate the farm lands around & the reservoir created by the dam would also fulfil the water supply of people in Palakkad. Today the Municipality of Palakkad & neighbouring panchayats are supplied with water from the reservoir. The shutters of the dams are lifted in case there is a shortage of water & the canal carries the water to the areas downstream. The reservoir also is a place for tourists to enjoy boating.

The Malampuzha garden one sees today is a later addition & was made to attract more tourists. The gardens are large & wide which helps tourists of all types to enjoy a day here. The dam also allows tourists to take a walk along its length which is a sight one should never miss. Earlier vehicles were allowed to cross over the road but now only official vehicles can travel. It is also an ideal place to arrange a movie shoot & many movies have used the dam as a perfect site for their storyline. There are two hanging bridges over the canal which runs in the centre of the park & the view from them is also one to see. Another later addition to the park was the rope-way which was the first of its kind in South India. The rope way was inaugurated in 1991 & is over 2km long which takes the tourists on a journey along the whole length of the dam. The views from the cable car as it glides along are not for one with a light heart. The cable cars are different from other rope ways around as it is open from the bottom & holds two members. It is an adventure ride for most who can find their legs dangling down the cable car as it travels over the dam & garden. Though the ride is an adventure, all tourists must make it a point to take the journey & if possible click a grand panoramic photo of this beautiful place.

The dam & gardens of Malampuzha are incomplete without the mention of the most beautiful sculpture in Kerala – The Yakshi. Sculpted by the most celebrated Kanayi Kunhiraman, this statue made of cement has had its own share of problems. When the irrigation department finished its plan of adding the garden, there was a need to attract more visitors to the park & so an idea of a grand statue in the garden was proposed. At the time, no open statue was sculpted by anyone in Kerala & most of the statues one saw were in temples. The irrigation department with the help of the Tourism department approached the Madras college of Fine arts to propose a person who could undertake this mission & the principal suggested the name of Kanayi, who was a young student with knowledge attained in fine arts from abroad. Kanayi Kunhiraman came to Malampuzha & was immediately attracted by the hills & he came up with the idea of sculpting a woman in her most sensual form. He had heard about the myths of a Yakshi or demon who hunted on her prey by seducing them & so decided to use that thought in the sculpture. The Irrigation department gave Kanayi the plot & asked 6 of its staff to assist him in the construction like cleaning the place, mixing the materials & pasting them on the primary structure. As the sculpture took form word spread around that the statue being made would depict a naked woman. This enraged the local people as they felt embarrassed by such a depiction, women took out a protest to stop the construction, prominent members of the place filed police cases, went to courts to stop the construction. They also threatened the staff who were allotted by the department with dire consequences. Kanayi gave a deaf ear to all what was happening around & continued working on the sculpture. One evening as he was travelling back to Palakkad in a bus, some goons stopped him & beat him for having ignored their protests. After this incident the irrigation department stepped in & asked Kanayi to stop his work. Deeply dejected by the events, Kanayi left Palakkad with an incomplete structure as he was only able to complete the bust. After a while all the protests waned off & the Tourism department again asked Kanayi to complete the sculpture. He was told that no money would be given as his contract had expired & would only be paid the daily wages like others till he completed the sculpture. Kanayi was not interested in the money but the work; he worked hard & completed the head of the sculpture to the best of his ability within a short period. The sculpture of Yakshi was inaugurated in 1971. Even after the sculpture was opened for viewing, people complained that Kanayi had employed a woman to model for the Yakshi & pointed fingers at the two women he was given for assistance. Kanayi was upset & is said to have denied all such rumours. He also challenged any person to show a subject & he would make the exact sculpture without a model. So good were the proportions of the Yakshi that most people did think there was a model. As per Kanayi he imagined the face of the lady & designed the body accordingly & his eyes were interested in bringing out the sensuality of the posture & not the sexuality. The Yakshi posture with stretched legs depicts the sensuousness of a lady waking up from her morning sleep and caressing her hair as she opens her eyes. The sculpture did bring more tourists as expected & still does. The statue was reconstructed due to long years of poor upkeep by the sculptor himself and today is painted black to make it look better & keep it standing for many more years. The sculptor did want the statue to be covered in bronze to protect it from any damage but that wish is still not granted

The Malampuzha dam is the most visited sight in Palakkad & possibly one amongst the most visited sites in Kerala but what has made the place so unique is the history of it and how the place has changed over the years keeping its original charm intact.