Mango Meadows is world’s first agricultural theme park in Kottayam district of Kerala. With more than 4800 species of plants, including 1900 species of medicinal plants, 700 species of trees, and 900 species of flowering plants, it is one of the most biodiverse places on earth.
The main attractions in the park are
the Eden Garden, Nakshatra Vriksha junction, valentine garden, domestic animal
farm, tea garden, telescope tower, Meenoottu palam and vegetable farm. The park
also houses the world's tallest statue of Parashurama, measuring about 35 ft,
as well as the biggest Bible statue, with a measurement of 25 ft by 25 ft. The
park is owned by N. K. Kurian, a Gulf-returnee. Work on the park began in 2004
and it was opened to the public in December 2016. Mango Meadows has found a
place in URF World records and Limca Book of Records, for developing the
maximum number of plant species in a minimum area of 30 acres. Other awards
include UP WORDS Achievers Award 2019, and 'Ente Samrambham' God's Own Brand
and Emerging Entrepreneur Awards 2018.
OUR TRIP
DIFFERENT AIMS, ONE SPIRIT
We were a team of students from
different options, studying different subjects, but teamed up to explore the
mystic beauty of the meadow which was welcoming us. The first ever thing some
of us noticed, being the students of English, was the extraordinary beauty in
all those elements that made up the place. It was undoubtedly an aesthetic
experience and it made us feel like we were back to the nature from which somehow,
we detached when we transformed to our modern life and time passing with the
speed of a new Wi-Fi connection. We could immerse ourselves in the cool breeze
of our own culture and traditions like the art of pottery and the belief of
‘meenoottal’. We went back to our childhood with the sweet music of flute playing
in the background and the image of a beautiful field dancing in front of us.
As prospective English teachers, we
are supposed to understand and appreciate the beauty in everything around us
and to help transfer our culture, diversity, and history to the coming
generations. This field trip definitely helped us to soak in our heritage more
into our minds.
Observations
We were provided with a host to
guide us through all the attractions of Mango Meadows and descriptions about
them. With the help of the guide, we saw many medicinal plants and could
understand their uses. After a trip to almost half of the meadow, the guide
elaborated about all the activities and services available there. We were all
intrigued at this point to check out the boating, ‘kuttavanchi’, pottery, pool
and so on. Some of us tried cycling while some enjoyed the shade of a mushroom
shaped resting place. All those things that we saw there were mind blowing,
among which my favourite was the Eden Garden with the statue. We also saw many
other fabulous statues such as the Director’s hand, Valentine Garden, Nakshatra
Vriksha junction, Tea Garden and Telescope tower. As world’s first agricultural
theme park, Mango Meadows has a large vegetable farm as well as an animal farm
with many varieties of birds and animals.
We were starving around 1 o’ clock
and we gathered in the restaurant there for lunch. We all had the delicious
‘sadya’ with many side dishes, which were all made from the products from the
meadows itself. It was like a gift from the nature. Later we participated in
many of the activities which made us energetic and woke up the adventure inside
us.
AU REVOIR
Around 3.30 or 4pm, it was time to
say goodbye to the place but carry a bundle of happy memories with us. On our
way back, we had dinner and were trying hard to linger to the moments. It is an
irreplaceable experience that we created that day. Looking back, we can say
that the trip was a success, and we could learn many things from it. It helped
as to reconnect with our past, our culture, traditions, and heritage. The
experiences we got from the trip is beneficial for us in different ways.
