By Susheela Nair - Deccan Herald - Bangalore, IndiaSaturday, May 19, 2007
The air is chilly and mist falls over the plantation town of Peermade in the evenings.
At times nothing can be seen around, except the whiteness of mist and the next moment the mist would vanish unveiling the richness of the land.
Once, the erstwhile summer retreat of Travancore Maharajas and the British planters, its present claim to fame are the tea plantations, the British bungalows and the mausoleum of a Sufi saint.
It is off point the usually trodden tourist track and in the shadow of Munnar. Most tourists pass this town by. This, in some ways, is Peermade’s USP. We dropped anchor here for a truly blissful quiet weekend to explore the rest of the district’s highlights like Thekkady, Vagamon and Idukki.
Peermade engages the senses not just on the strength of its natural beauty but also because of the charming tales spun around its most favoured points.
A short trek up the Peeru Hills took us to the mausoleum dedicated to Peer Mohamed, a Sufi saint who is believed to be the first trader of spices in the region.
Overgrown with weeds and creepers and surrounded by deep, endless gorges and waterfalls, it stands sans any epitaph. This quaint little hill station is also known as Peermedu (‘Peeru medu’ in local parlance means Peer’s valley) after him. When the British made it their summer station in the 1800s, the name was later anglicised to Peermade to suit their tongue.
[picture: Peermade, Kerala: www.hillresortsinindia.com/peermade.html]
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