Kalpeni
Kalpeni has three uninhabited satellite islands, all surrounded by an
immense lagoon of spectacular beauty. Sunlight on the water causes it to
sparkle and flash like a million aquamarines. Koomel, the gently curving
bay where the tourist facilities are located, directly over- looks Pitti
and Thilakkm, two of the islands. Here you can swim, reef walk, snorkel
or use water sports equipment like kayaks, and sail boats. Now the
tourist facilities have been augmented and tourists can stay on the
island in privately managed huts, depending on the package. This lagoon
is specially rich in coral life.
Kadmath
A particularly fine lagoon, of even depth and an endless shoreline,
perfect for swimming, makes Kadmath a haven of solitude. The tourist
huts are situated some distance away from habitation, with only the
splash of the waves to break the silence. During the day, when the heat
of the overhead sun becomes too strong, the feathery network of coconut
palms provides a canopy throughout the island, through which light dimly
filters, green and cool. It is the only island with lagoons on both
eastern and western sides. A Water Sports Institute providing water
sports facilities has been set up in Kadmath. Accommodation consists of
AC and non AC tourist huts aesthetically situated in the coconut palm
groves on the beaches. The island is becoming increasingly popular for
honeymooners. As a testimony to its Water Sports potential, a Scuba
Diving Centre has been set up there. With the Water Sports Institute,
Scuba Diving Centre and the proposed augmentation of accommodation, the
island is sure to become the focal point of tourist activities in
Lakshwadeep.
Kavaratti
The administrative capital, Kavaratti is the most developed of the
islands with the highest percentage of non-islanders as residents. Fifty
two mosques are spread out over the island, the most beautiful being the
Ujra mosque. A well, within its precincts, is believed to contain water
of curative powers. The Ujra mosque has an ornately carved ceiling, said
to have been carved from a piece of driftwood. Kavaratti also has an
aquarium with several colourful species of fish. There is a glass bottom
boat for viewing marine life and an array of remarkable coral formations
that pro- vides a background to the lagoons and the islands: within
them. Some Water Sports like kayaking canoeing and snorkeling are
available for tourists.
Bangaram
There is something indescribably romantic about the very notion of an
uninhabited island and Bangaram justifies that feeling. Tear-drop
shaped, it is encircled by a continuous halo of creamy sand. Like all
the other islands of Lakshadweep, luxuriant plantations of coconut
provide coolness even during the hottest part of the day. There are
three uninhabited islands in the same atoll consisting of Tinnakara,
Parali-l, Parali-ll, perfect for a day's outing. All the islands share
the same lagoon, an enormous bowl of turquoise blue. At twilight, the
setting sun, a ball of crimson in a flaming sky, casts its reflection on
the water, and with the ever present coconut palms as a black
silhouette, Bangaram is at the height of its allure. That is the hour
when every visitor promises himself another visit someday.
If one were to cut the poetry, eulogising
the
beauty of the island of Bangaram, then one would still be left with the
essential fact that it is a breathtakingly beautiful island quite out of
this world. Surrounded by one of the largest and safest lagoons with its
calm, unimaginable blue- green waters, lie the white coral sands and the
half-a-square kilometer rise of Bangaram.
And yet the lagoon is born out of a long coral reef that rings around
three other islands as well, each easily accessible by out boarding,
sailing, rowing and for the athletic, by kayaking or wind-surfing from
Bangaram.
But that is not all. The warm, clear, deep waters of the Indian Ocean
with its myriad marine flora and fauna are an irresistible invitation to
the scuba diving fraternity of the world. The exquisite coral formations
including the black coral formations, the large variety and number of
coral fish-the angel, the clown, the butterfly, the surgeon, the
groupers, not to mention the abundance of the awesome, but harmless
sharks, mantarays, sting rays, moray eels (morena) and turtles, make
diving here an addictive experience, enough to make impressive any
diver's logbook with the stamp of the Diving School at Bangaram.
And quite important too is the philosophy of preservation of marine
life in its state of indigenous purity, where the coral and the shell
are left undisturbed and the fish merely observed. The more venturesome,
however may espy a sleeping nurse-shark, as commonly seen as the grey
and the white tipped or play with a friendly turtle.
Bangaram is also an experience of yet another kind. Of matchless peace
and tranquility, of a sense of severance from; the 'civilised' world, of
the visit of the muses that compel contemplation. To the sensitive and
the romantic, embroiled in the cacophony of crowded cities, it offers a
memorable escape into isolation, a moment of harmony with nature, an
experience quite beyond anything similar on the mainland.
For those who think they know India, either by travel or reading, the
islands of Lakshadweep and Bangaram in particular, beckon.
The Bangaram Island Resort is fast becoming a by - word among the
island hoppers of the world. Opened only recently to foreign tourists
the resort with its simple, but attractive housing has already become a
circled spot in the brochures of tour operators and travel agencies all
over. There are attractive package terms for the domestic tourists too.
