THROUGH TIME.TASTE AND TRANQUILITY

From spice-scented markets and sea-facing sanctuaries to misty hill trails and ancient rituals, North Kerala reveals a soulful, lesser-known side of God's Own Country

- By Ishani Nandi

It all begins, as it often does in Kerala, with people around a table, conversation and food. At Hotel Jineesh, a small, bare-bones eatery in Chaliyam, my order arrives on a steel plate filled to the brim and placed on a rough-hewn, wooden table. Three men, already seated, see mid-chat that there's no room elsewhere, and wave us over to settle next to them. I slide my plastic stool forward to this Malabar classic: kallumakkaya-freshly harvested mussels simmering in a light gravy mix of its own juices, coconut slivers and fragrant spices-and a thick slice of pathri, a golden-fried, riceflour roundel. I dig in as a fresh batch of batter-fried bananas are carried out by a sari-clad woman, whose face brightens into a smile as hungry locals trickle in, eager to start the day right.

If Kerala's south were a monsoon downpour, the north would be its petrichor. Unlike its wellpublicised southern sibling, North Kerala remains largely untouched by the stampede of mass tourism, inviting you in with the promise of raw landscapes, languid rhythms and a storied history.

THE LAND OF LEGENDS

It's a warm, sticky June morning, and I am on the hunt for some of those stories with Rajeesh Raghavan, a travel professional and local-history expert, who is guiding me through Kozhikode. Within minutes into our half-hour drive to the city, he recounts tales from Kozhikode's long and complex past. Along the way, he points to landmarks that reflect its continued presence-a centuryold British-built iron bridge still in daily use; the Commonwealth Tile Factory in Feroke, built in 1864, and still operating; the Wadiaji Parsi Anjuman Baug, an 18th-century fire temple, managed and maintained by the Marshalls, a four-member family that is all that remains of Kozhikode's once significant Parsi community.