There's nothing that compares to the rustic charm and beauty of a forest, they were preordained to be so! The light filtering through the tall forest leaves, the various shades of green, the way stones and pebbles are laid on the riverbanks, and how the shadows make patterns on the forest bed. Everything from a tiny wildflower to a mighty tree are resplendent with beauty.
The Kuruvadweep (Kuruva Islands) comprise of three densely wooded uninhabited islands and a
few submergible satellite islands covering an area of 950 acres in the middle
of the Kabini River.
A ferry ride takes you to the main island from where, if you wish, you can go into the forests. A forest guard is available for escort to wade you across the Kabini River into the interiors of some submergible satellite islands. An earnest screening for plastic limits plastic littering in the forest.
We loved wading through the rivers and walking on the bed of forest leaves, it couldn't get us more in touch with nature than that.
We met a bunch of women of the legendary Kuruchiya Tribe who were clad in crisp white robes and bandana. They offered us complete strangers a share of their late afternoon refreshment - a tasty and delicately balanced concoction of coffee and jaggery.
They were diligently planting their organic paddy crop. It was also my first experience-planting paddy, one I’ll remember for at least a decade to come.
Their living quarters wore a mystical, pastoral charm and was kept absolutely spic and span.
Their 100 year-old community temple was quaint and rustic. The diminutive temple structures surrounded by mammoth, towering trees preempted a spiritual atmosphere.
The Gods looked so much at home in all that simplicity and nature's grandeur.
