A few years back I had the pleasure of taking my parents to a trip to Bekal, Kerala. We stayed at the The Lalit in Bekal. It was a beautiful experience. Though it was off season, we were treated well. There was great variety of food, and we vegetarians enjoyed good food. They even made special red rice for my parents. The resort is very beautiful. It is wooded and birds like peacocks roam around freely. The resort is infused with natural stones, Kerala style furniture and seating areas. There is a man made stream flowing inside the resort, which gives it a Kerala backwaters feel. Adjoining to the resort there is a river with Kerala backwaters. This borders on a sandbar and then there is the beach. You can literally walk through the backwaters and sand to the beach. Also the resort offered swimming pool, gym and sauna facilities. There was also boating in backwaters.
We also visited the Bekal fort overlooking the Arabian Sea. Wonderful experience. Before visiting the fort you can visit the Mukhyaprana temple, which has colorful carvings of the entire Ramayana. This temple though small is what I call a hidden gem.
I also visited the Bhagavathy Amman Temple, Kerala. Very unique thing about the temple is that there are no idols in the temple. The Sanctum only has a burning lamp. I found that very unique.
We visited the Madhoor Ganapathy temple which was under renovation, and enjoyed the Madhoor Appam.
Post this we visited the Ananthapura Lake temple. This temple is situated in the middle of the lake. In order to go towards the sanctum, we walked through the hallways. The water from the lake overflows slightly onto it, so you walk through the lake water. Fishes literally kiss your feet. The main idol fo Vishnu was originally made of various types of herbs. There was a crocodile in the lake – Babiya, which would diligently come to the priest afternoon and evenings asking for prasadam rice to eat. There is also mention of a hidden passage under the lake that connects to Shree Padmanabhaswamy temple, Tiruvanthapuram. We also had a wonderful Saatvik banana leaf lunch before we left.
On the way back we tried some banana fritters and then bought a Kerala style hanging lamp! Looking forward to visiting Gods own country again!
