Ever heard anybody go on a weekend leisure trip from Bangalore to Kozhikode? At least I never did. If you’re someone like me, ‘God’s Own Country’, Kerala, means a Munnar, a Kovalam, a Varkala, an Alleppey, and the like. Kozhikode doesn’t feature in that list.
[Note: Kozhikode is correctly spelt as Kōḻikōḍ and pronounced as ‘Ko-yi-kode’.]
Well, Kozhikode wasn’t much of a planned trip for us, rather it happened to us. You can read more on how we landed at Kozhikode here – When Strangers are Friends that Haven’t Met Yet.
Here’s a summary of what we did at Kozhikode.
The Food We Ate…
Biryani: Before I left for Kozhikode, a Malayali friend had told me that I was going to the food capital of Kerala and that it was her favourite food destination in the whole world. She gave me a list of must-try food items. Being the non-foodie that I am, I didn’t pay much attention to it. My ‘nature-person’ was more interested in the beach and the sea.
It was not until I tasted the biryani at Paragon (a famous restaurant) that I understood what she had meant. I had never tasted such delicious biryani in my whole life. The biryani in this part of the country may look pale but the mix of subtle spices, the aroma, and the rich taste is beyond comparison. Thereafter it was biryani for breakfast, biryani for lunch, and biryani for dinner for the rest of of our stay. My friends tried the flaky Malabar Parotta too.
Besides biryani, something else caught my interest. The red-coloured lukewarm water they served at the restaurant, locally known as Karingali. I had never seen something like that before. The colour is derived from the organic herbs mixed with the water.
Besides Paragon, we also tried the food at Rahmath Hotel and Adaminde Chayakkada.
Milk Sharbat: Just opposite to Paragon, is the famous Nannari Sharbat stall. The famous sharbat stall looked like a make-shift tent. There is no signage and it was overflowing with people. The shop sells Plain Sharbat, Soda Sharbat, Masala Sharbat, and Milk Sharbat. The roots of Sarsaparilla, locally known as Nannari is used to prepare the drink. We tried the Milk Sharbat, which is prepared by mixing half a cup of Nannari syrup with two cups of chilled milk. The huge rush of people at the stall was a tell-tale sign of its popularity. Two of my fellow travel friends pushed their way through the crowd to get the drink for us. They thought the unique manner in which the drink was prepared was something worth watching and we had missed it.
Halwa: A walk through SM Street and we stopped at a halwa shop. SM or Sweet Meat street is apparently named after the famous halwa of Kozhikode. Full with the biryani and sharbat, we just satiated our eyes with the colourful halwa that decked up the shop.
The Place We Stayed…
We stayed at a lovely and cozy Airbnb cottage just beside the sea and behind a fishing village. The place is called Shellhouse and we couldn’t ignore the warm and cozy feeling it exuded. Located away from the hustle and bustle of the city, yet very close to the city, it was just perfect. The late night leisure walk in the empty streets of the neighbourhood, chattering endlessly about everything under the sun is something I shall fondly remember.
The Temples We Visited…
Though none of us are overtly religious, we had to visit the Tali Shiva Temple after it was recommended by someone. Built in the 14th century, it is the oldest temple in Kozhikode. It’s an orthodox temple and they have a strict dress code. Women need to be traditionally dressed and men need to be clad in a mundu dhoti (A traditional South Indian garment that is wrapped around the waist, usually in shades of white).
Two of my fellow travel friends bought the mundu dhoti from SM Street just for the purpose of the temple. I was in my capris and did not have anything traditional with me. As I had no intention of buying something just for entry to the temple, I decided to wrap a stole around my waist. That partially covered my pants. I was quite sure that I would be stopped at the entrance and was all set to go back. Surprisingly that didn’t happen. I entered the temple, paid my obeisance to Lord Shiva and marveled at the unique wooden architecture, the amazing murals, and roof carvings. Photography is prohibited inside the temple and hence we couldn’t click any pictures.
The Beaches We Visited…
Kozhikode Beach: We first went to Kozhikode beach and it was a time around afternoon when the Sun was right over our heads. It was so hot that we decided to sit at a quaint little café and watch the waves till the sun moved towards west. After several rounds of mocktails, lemon teas, cold coffees and what not, we took a walk towards the far end of the beach where we could see a rocky promenade. The beach was crowded but the rocky area wasn’t. An interesting thing we saw at this beach was the remnants of the ancient port of Calicut.
Beypore Beach: We had planned to watch sunset at this beach. After whiling away a lot of time at Kozhikode Beach, we were really late to reach Beypore Beach. The sun was at it’s last stage of sliding down into the water when we reached there.
We also had plans of going to Kappad, or Kappakadavu beach because of its associated historical significance – it is said that in the year 1498, Vasco da Gama had landed here. We gave it a miss however, considering the hot weather and preferring to spend a little more time at our cute little cottage before bidding goodbye to Kozihikode.
Seasons of Life! 