Kerala State Level Philatelic Exhibition KERAPEX 2012

Kerala State Level Philatelic Exhibition KERAPEX 2012

12th Kerala State Level Philatelic Exhibition – KERAPEX 2012, conducted at Calicut from 14th to 17th February 2012. Four Special Covers were released.

Edakkal Caves are two natural Caves located 1000 metres high on Ambukuthi Mala, 25 km from Kalpetta in the Wayanad District of Kerala in the Western Ghats. They lie on an ancient route connecting the high mountains of Mysore to the Malabar Coast. Inside the caves are pictorial writings believed to be from the Neolithic period which give evidence of the existence of a prehistoric civilization in this region.

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Revathy Pattathanam is an annual festival held at the grounds of the Tali Temple under the patronage of the Zamorins of Kozhikode, since the 14th Century, to honour scholars. Traditionally the competitions were conducted for seven days, beginning from the day of Revathy till Thiruvathira in the month of Tulam(Malayam month), under the watchful eyes of judges chosen from the recipients of the title in the previous years and Raja himself. The Raja would honour the winner with the title “Bhatta” and a “Panakishi” (bag of gold coins) and also distributed kizhis (purses0 to 101 scholars proficient in the smrithis. This festival is now held only for a single day and its present aim is to conserve Sanskrit and the arts. The word ‘Pattathanam’ is derived from the phrase “Bhatta dhanam” which literally means “awarding Bhatta”.

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Thalassery Fort was constructed in 1708 AD when the British East India Company established its settlement on the Malabar Coast and built a sea port at Thalassery for exporting a variety of spices such as ‘pepper and cardamom’. This Fort was built by the British as a Military Centre to protect and control the spice trade through Thalassery port. The square Fort, with its massive walls, war room, prison, secret tunnels to the sea, cannon holes, light house and intricately carved doors. is an imposing structure. Once the nucleus of Thalassery’s development, it is now a historical monument.

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Kerala’s only drive-in beach, Muzhappilangad in Kannur which stretches across four kilometers of sand, has been chosen by the BBC as one of the top six drive-in beaches in the world. Muzhappilangad is the only Asian beach featured in the list along with Corolla, North Carolina and Padre Island (Texas) beaches in the US, Fraser Coast beach in Australia, Natal to Fortaleza stretch in Brazil and Sólheimasandur beach in Iceland.

According to the report published in the BBC Auto, Muzhappilangad is termed as one of the most beautiful beaches in India in crescent shape protected by giant black rocks that keep the surf gentle.

Muzhappilangad beach, which is 12 km from Thalassery, is also known for adventure sports like paragliding, parasailing and microlite flights. Other attractions include water sports, power boating or a simple catamaran ride.