On the trail, for the record

On the trail, for the record

It is still dark when we set out beside the swift and silently flowing Tamraparni. The only sound is the rumbling of forest department jeeps moving towards locations across the velvety-green dark ranges, carrying student volunteers and forest watchers. The first phase of the 2010 tiger census in the Kalakkad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR) has just begun.
Created in 1988 by combining the Kalakad and Mundanthurai sanctuaries in the southern Western Ghats (in the district of Tirunelveli), this reserve is Tamil Nadu’s second largest protected area. To scan for the ‘tiger signature’, 84 teams — comprising one volunteer, anti-poaching watcher and a forest guard — will comb the ranges over the next three days with the 89,500 hectares of the KMTR divided into 42 units for strategic operations.
KMTR chief conservator of forests (CCF) A Ramkumar, who is also the field director, says the first phase will involve students and NGO volunteers from nearby districts. “This year, the response has been overwhelming: we received 320
applications. But we took only 92, beca use we cannot host more volunteers.” The volunteers will be involved each day in recording carnivore signs along a five-km trek (generally around an animal path/ghat road/stream line) and the herbivore encounter rate along a two-km transect line.
KMTR deputy director D Venkatesh gives the volunteers an exhaustive briefing. “By carnivore signs, we refer to signs of tiger and co-predators (that include panther, wild dog, wild pig, bear and civet cat). Indirect signs to look for are scat and pug marks, scratches on tree bark. Plant species recording, of tree/ shrub/ herb/ grass, the density of canopy cover, even signs of human disturbance need to be observed and recorded. Herbivore encounter includes sighting of elephant, sambar, Indian gaur, common langur and nilgiri langur.”
Eager student volunteers learn about the diverse habitats that tigers are found in across the Indian subcontinent, the decline of populations and reasons, the genesis of Project Tiger and the National Tiger Conservation Authority, the need for participatory conservation and scientific management. Also that a tiger always attacks from behind, kills only about once in 12 days, needs to drink water often, can climb trees and swim easily and sometimes eats mud, grass, and even elandha pazham (wild berries) for digestive rejuvenation!
The questions fielded are diverse. First-timer Karthi, a computer science student from Palayamkottai, asks, “How different is a kill of a tiger, panther or a hyena?” Mani, a Zoology undergraduate, wants to know whether the scat of a leopard looks different from that of a tiger. And Kavitha, a college student from Tirunelveli, is eager to know about how one would record the pugmarks of a tiger.
The explanations are even more fascinating: we learn among other things how tiger (or any of the cat family’s) scat is found on the grassy areas is different from wild dogs’ and of each one’s specific nature, how tiger scratches on their prey are deeper than a leopard’s, how cubs accompany their mothers till they are a year and half old, and so on and so forth.
Says ranger Pillai Vinayagam, “A pugmark with a diameter greater than 12.5 cm means it has to be a male tiger; the imprint of its pad will be squarer than the females (whose length is 11.5 cm to 12.5 cm).” An experienced forester can even tell, with just one look whether the tiger was on a slow, normal or quick walk!
Mostly students, participants are from across professions and cross-sections.
Vignesh, a PWD contractor, has been volunteering for some years now during the census every year. Krishnakumar, who has an estate in Kerala and is part of the Wildlife Association of Rajapalayam, is also an old-timer. So is an advocate from Chennai.
Every morning, teams set out at 6 am with survey forms to record details meticulously. They carry GPS monitors to record exact locations, tapes to measure, transparent glass-sheets (to trace pugmarks) and water cans (to mix plaster-of-paris where a pugmark-cast is needed). Each member has an allotted task — one to look for scratches on trees (big cats like to scratch to keep their claws clean of meat remnants), another to scan the ground for pugmarks, and scat (samples are taken for DNA analysis) and the third to record carefully. Young volunteer Ayyappan explains enthusiastically, “Our starting point into the Kannikatti core area could be reached only after crossing the Tamraparni by boat. There was no direct sighting, but we saw a lot of tiger-scat which we transferred with leaves or twigs into sterile polythene covers for DNA analysis.”
C Badrasamy, deputy director and wildlife warden of KMTR, says the second phase will involve details being cross-checked with WII officials to ascertain the carnivore area distribution. “In the last phase, cameras will be positioned in strategic locations across every 4 sq km over 45 days to ascertain how many tigers are actually in the reserve.”
Involving students in the tiger census has proved a remarkable awareness exercise
to reach out to the community and encourage their participation in conservation. Says CCF’s Ramkumar, “A keen eye for detail,
an alert mind and a feel for nature is all that is required.” And as one tired but happy youngster put it, “Participating in the tiger census combines both fun and adventure. I know that I am making a small step towards saving the tigers in India.”

— The writer is trustee of Nizhal, a Chennai-based NGO that promotes planting of trees in cities.
shobhamenon@airtelmail.in

Pied Kingfisher catching fish in split second - BBC wildlife

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- Pied Kingfisher catching fish in split second - BBC wildlife: ""

The Pandyans, Jainas and some little known treasures that I was privileged to see

There is an interesting group of people in Madras called the Hayagriva Study Circle, put together by Dr Gita Vasudevan. They come from all walks of life and are curious about filling in the gaps on subjects that interest them. I have attended lecture series on ayurveda, history and art with them, and its history that I've gone back for again and again.

Is it a sign of middle age creeping up or an acknowledgement that my history education has been abysmal? I seem to have a new found interest in the subject, which my teenage son finds completely incredulous and incredible. I mean, why would anyone willingly subject themselves to history lectures?! My husband smiles indulgently usually, since everytime I come back gushing about some new learning of mine, he has even more to add on the subject. But this time, I got him!

I came back from a Madurai tour with pictures and stuff that even he didn't know about! Oh, wasn't I smug! Let me rewind a bit.

December 17 2009

We boarded the Pandyan Express post dinner on Dec 16th, and our destination was Madurai. The tour was christened the Pandya country tour, and we were given a bunch of notes, which mainly dealt with Jainism and Jaina sites. Now this in itself had me puzzled. Weren't the Pandyas famous for the Madurai temple and other such stuff?

Various notions of mine were soon set right that morning at the Madurai Meenakshi temple, where we met the wonderful Prof Venkatraman, whose knowledge, of history, religion, symbolism, iconography and epigraphy knew no bounds, and was delivered with humour, sympathy and a modern world view.

I shall not spend my energies on the Meenakshi temple, so well known, and something which we didn't really do justice to, as whatever we see today is more the work of the Nayaks of the 17th and 18th century than the Pandyas, under whom the spot was sanctified.

So instead I will turn to Thenparankundram and Thirupurakunram, rock cut Jain caves from the 7th and 8th century AD. Madurai has a huge number of Jain caves all around it in rocky outcrops like this one below.

Thenparankunram is south-west of the city, and is in the same rocky hill that the better known Thirupurankunram, (which is now a Murugan temple), is. This is where we headed on the first afternoon, in our Hayagriva bus!

View Larger Map

I was so struck by what I saw, that I have not taken pictures of the entire cave complex from the outside, so please do take a look at Lakshmi Sharath's picture of the cave complex.

The air was cool under the large trees, and the call of monkeys and peacocks rented the air.
At the mouth of the cave, looking up at the rock face.

A short flight of steps led up to the cave, not very large, inside which now can be seen several Hindu carvings.

The early Tamil inscriptions on the eastern wall of the cave.

This Ardhanareeswara was in an inner dark cave. It faces east, and is believed to have replaced a Buddha probably, since there were tell-tale signs of removal, near the feet of this statue.

So then, what's the connection to the Jains, I wondered. Like an archeological Sherlock Holmes, Prof V showed us the tell-tale signs of previous Buddhist and Jain occupations of the cave.

The northern wall face - Shiva and Sivakami to the left, and Subramanaya and Devasena/Valli? to the right.

A close-shot of Shiva in the Anandatandava pose, bust upwards. I thought it a bit strange, as mutilations go, that they cut off the legs. usually the face is mutilated is it not?

The five-headed Herambaganesha - represented in supposedly the Buddhist style with little Ganeshas all around the head of the main statue.

What seems to be currently accepted by the historians is: that the cave was originally occupied by the Buddhists - check out the lotus medallion - and then the Jains/shramanas/samanas followed, then in the 12th-13th centuries, the cave was taken over by Maravarman (Sundara?) Pandyan, when the current carvings were probably made. That's not the end of the story. Malik Kafur swept through in the fourteenth century, and was probably responsible for the vandalisation of the sculptures.

That's a fair amount of history surrounding one cave, is it not?! And here I was centuries later, ruminating that the more things change the more they remain the same.Subramanya flanked by Valli (which I had marked as Bhoo Devi) and Devasena, (his heavenly consort). I have since forgotten which is which. The one on the right is probably Devasena? Professor, help!

As we stepped back out into the evening sun, my convent-educated head was reeling with kunjitha pada, tirodhana, and such like on the one hand, ajeevikas and teerthankaras on the other, while still grappling with Maravarman, Kulothanga, Kalabhras and Kadunkon Pandya!
The Nayanar trio

And it did not end there. I was introduced to this trio on the left, carved in the rock-face, outside the cave. Sundara, Thirugnanasambandar and Appar. The Nayanar poets of the seventh century, with mythic status in Tamil Nadu.

Shiva bhaktas all three, I thought Appar's story was rather interesting. He was a practising Jain, Dharmasena. During a long illness, he returned home to be nursed by his sister, who supposedly grew his Shiva bhakti, and his devotion and prayer cured him. The interesting bit is that the Pallava king Mahendravarman was also a Jain and converted to Shaivism under the influence of Appar.

Manivachagar

Only when I heard this account did the widespread influence and hold of Jainism in south India sink in and I began to see why we were looking at Jaina history and historical sites on a Pandya tour!

The good Professor also made me realise the importance of the bhakti movement in reviving Hinduism among the common masses, through song and poems.

At a little distance, separated from these three was a fourth Nayanar, Manikavachagar, though why he was off on his own, I dont know. As far as I can make out he's a bit like a male version of Meerabhai, pining for God and considering God as his lover.

And so I returned from the Sangam period and from the realms of the Nayanars to the earthy sounds of the Thiruparankunram temple, just around the corner from Thenparankundram, but vastly more well known, and now a Murugan temple. The sun had set, and this is what I saw.
The Murugan temple at Thiruparankundram, with the rock peeping out at the rear

Prof V had mentioned that this was also a rock-cave temple, but what I saw was a well-built gopuram and the other structures that go with it. So, where's the rock and where's the cave? Buried in its inner reaches, and where photography is not permitted.

The original cave carvings are dated to 773 AD, and that predates it vis-a-vis the Meenakshi temple. Jatila Parantaka Nedunjadaiyan - I loved that name, it rolls off the tongue so nicely and grandly - was a Pandyan king, and he had a Minister called Chatan Ganapathy. Mrs Ganapathy was one Nakkan Potri, and stone inscriptions note that this rock cut temple was built for a lingam (facing east), a Vishnu, (facing west), Raja Rajeswari and Jyeshta Devi.

So we climbed in past the grand Nayak columns into the old, cave, and we saw the lingam and the Vishnu, but then there was Muruga marrying Devayani! And where was Jyeshta Devi? Well, she's well hidden from view, locked up in fact because at some point in time the superstition took credence that Jyeshta Devi was the bringer of misfortune, and if the doors of her sanctum are opened the village will be wiped out.

So now Thirupurankundram is one of the six famous arupadai veedu temples for Murugan, and its Pandyan roots are probably not so well known.

We emerged back into the corridor-lined hall, and my eyes met the tired eyes of the temple elephant, all chained and cooped up. I was left with the unhappiness, guilt and sadness that temple elephants now fill me with.

We went on to the Koodal Azhagar temple, an eighth century temple, venerated in song by the Alwars, but much of what we see now is twelfth and thirteenth century Nayak-restored structures. An interesting multi-storeyed temple, with Vishnu in various poses, but my mind wandered back to the Jains and my heart was with the elephant and really not here.

Some references I liked -

Jatila Parantaka Nedunchediyan's Velvikudi grant

The quaint caverns of Samanamalai

Yay!

I was on the beach last weekend, helping some youngsters clean up about a km of the beach near the mouth of the river, where the estuary meets the sea. This was organised by the SSTCN and the Lets Restore Our Beaches voluntary bodies.

This is where, if I'm not mistaken the elevated highway will come across the estuary, according to government plans, and there has been general anxiety about the government's plans among most of the city's citizens. The fishermen dont seem to want it, the residents dont want it, the environmentalists think its a completely batty idea, but no, the government is all gung-ho.

The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : CRZ nod denied again for Elevated Expressway

CRZ nod denied again for Elevated Expressway

A. Srivathsan
Chennai: For the second time, the Ministry of Environment and Forest has refused clearance for the elevated expressway from Chennai Port to Maduravoyal proposed by the Chennai Port Trust.

The Expert Appraisal Committee for Coastal Regulation Zone (Infrastructure Development and Miscellaneous Projects), convened a few weeks ago, scrutinised the project and did not recommend it for Costal Regulation Zone (CRZ) clearance.

This time, the Chennai Port Trust argued that the project is neither a National Highway nor an expressway but only a connecting road between the port and the existing National Highway. Hence, it claimed that the project is permissible under CRZ Notification, 1991.

However, the expert committee was not convinced and has asked Chennai Port Trust to explain the basis on which this project is now presented as a link road.

It has also directed the Port Trust to obtain a clear recommendation from the Tamil Nadu State Coastal Zone Management Authority (TNSCZMA) that the proposed link road will be permissible under CRZ Notification.

The four-lane elevated expressway running for a length of 19 km is proposed by the Ministry of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways through National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). It is to be partly constructed along the Cooum and partly over Poonamallee High Road at a cost of Rs.1,655 crore.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh laid the foundation stone for this project in January 2009. About 34.58 ha of the proposed elevated road falls within the CRZ and of the 506 foundation pits proposed, 35 fall in the riverbed.

When this project was first submitted for CRZ clearance in May 2009, the expert committee refused clearance stating that part of the proposed expressway fell between High Tide and Low Tide Lines and it was against the recommendations of the Tamil Nadu State Coastal Management Authority. The proposal was retuned with the suggestion that it be revised.

The Jacana Junkies at the bird race

There were 4 birders from Madras

who had not birded for a while, alas!

So they decided to change their ways

And take part in the Chennai bird race.

Jacana Junkies, there were four

One slept over

And then were three!

Never mind, we thought, off to GNP!

Bird calls everywhere and we were so excited

I heard the bulbul, but an oriole was sighted!

Parakeets and sunbirds, all so restive

And the butterflies added to make it all so festive.

Oh man, I thought, I am really out of touch

Spotting that calling coucal is proving too much.

The boys from Olcott School

I tell you, were way too cool.

An ashy drongo they showed us

Lurking in the bushes.

On we went to the polo ground

Where blackbuck and chital do abound.

A screeching shikra was identified

And was that a sparrow hawk we spied?

Two jackals with bushy tails, sauntered past

With my camera I should have been more fast.

Baby chitals peered with curiosity

Were we three such an oddity?

An Asian Brown Flycatcher

Had us JJs in a lather

Books were perused and binos viewed

before we deduced

the id of this winter visitor!

Pallikaranai marsh was next on our path

But only after a hearty repast

Pongal, kichdi and dosai with ghee

And good south Indian sweet and strong coffee!

To provide us Pallikaranai never fails

A bountiful supply of feathers and tails!

Jacanas and moorhens,

egrets and herons

Swallows and Swifts

Ducks and Stilts.

But it was the pelicans that were delightful

A couple in the water, unusually busy and cheerful.

Then we looked up in the sky and gasped

Like a busy airport with planes a-circling

Another fifty pelicans lazily gliding

Riding the thermals, waiting and watching.

A Marsh Harrier rounded up our sally

45 was our final tally.

By now, one Junkie was sneezing and snuffling

Another's phone was ringing and calling

Yours truly's car was low on petrol

And so we all headed on home.

I watched Cilic and Wawrinka do battle that night

As they hit the tennis ball with all their might

But guess what I found in the ladies' bathroom

next to the pots and pails and brooms?

A white-browed wagtail,

a fitting end to this Bird Race tale!

******

(The 3rd Chennai Bird Race was organised by the Madras Naturalist Society along with India Bird Races and HSBC on 10th January, 2010. Our team was the Jacana Junkies, after my favourite new bird of 2009, the pheasant-tailed jacana. )

For more sensible accounts of the bird race, read:

Bird watchers have a field day

Rare winged visitors enthral birdwatchers | Deccan Chronicle

Some photo albums as well:

The second placed team Rajali saw munias, terns and crotchety moorhens

Third Chennai bird race

Birding to turn fun for nature lovers from dawn to dusk on January 10 - Chennai - City - The Times of India

No, we dont race the birds, just race to spot birds!

We - the Jacana Junkies - will be doing a leisurely search (no racing for us) at a couple of spots in and around south Madras on Sunday.

Chennai Open final also beckons in the evening.

PS: There's a storm approaching, reportedly on Sunday!

A man called Cutlet

One of the founding members of the Madras Naturalist Society was Mr RKG Menon. It was a name that I had heard, but I had not really bothered to find out more. He passed away a year ago, and I came across this interesting tribute to the man, his mission, passion and kindness.

Lone palm tree, Sir! | eco logic

Here's a colourful quote from the man, in the article.

“Write it down. If you think its all in your memory, it is not worth it. It’s just kaka-pee [crow-shit]“

There's a whole website now dedicated to his papers, jottings and observations. Its a stupendous collection of work on The Blackbuck.

A wonderful way to remember him and salute his work, and a great reference tool for greenhorns like me.

Blackbuck and Chital at the GNP - a favourite subject for Cutlet

A Raptor photo essay

Picasa Web Albums - Chennai Birder - Raptors

Some great photos by Skandan.

I always have a problem with raptor ids...they have so many variations that its not funny!

The Veined Octopus and the coconut - an underwater mystery!

BBC News - Octopus snatches coconut and runs

In case you have not already seen/read please check out the video clip in the link - its funny, cute and wondrous!

Bird’s Crop and scaly wings

What is a Bird’s Crop?

I didn't know either. Check out the link and find out!

What are butterfly wings made of?

I knew this, but the magnified pictures are very telling.

A Pichavaram tale

Vikas Madhav and Prasanna Sriya- My experience at Pichavaram - My Wonderful World Blog

Please do check out the link. Vikas, the author of this piece, is in 5th standard, and an ace birder! (I wonder if he's the youngest MNS member.)

Its amazing and wonderful to see this interest in one so young.

Do leave your comments on his post on Pichavaram.

My son and I visited Pichavaram with my parents, several years ago, and what a memorable trip it was! My father insisted on driving all the way, and once we got off the highway onto the road to Pichavaram, we crawled. There was really no road. Actually, thats wrong to say, there was a road at some point, and the rains and frequent use had now converted it into this path with ravines, craters, ruts and mounds!

My father and son were insistent that we return, but my mother and me begged and pleaded for us to go on! Every villager we met said it was just 5 kms away, and that number stayed constant however much we travelled it seems!

When we did reach Pichavaram, we were not sorry at all, and so glad we came. It is just absolutely captivating, serene and magical, to ride on those waterways, with only the sound of water lapping, and the call of the birds, and the occasional raised voice of a fishermen.

I hope the road stays/has stayed that way...it only allows the truly motivated in!!