India Unfolded is the creative director. You are the photographer. These aren’t photo spots — the twelve follow a narrative arc, so that together, in order, they tell the whole of Thekkady in one album.
SHOT 01 OF 12 · ARRIVAL
The lake at half past seven
The lake Pennycuick made in 1895, seen from the boat that has carried life jackets since 2009.
The place
The 07:30 boat from the Periyar boat landing — ask for a front seat when you board; report at Anavachal by 06:30 — The 07:30 boat, front seats; The 09:30 boat on a misty December morning
Stand here
The row behind, seated. Phone sideways from the row behind them, seated — nobody stands on this boat.
People
Yours — your family in the front seats, life jackets on, looking ahead; the drowned trunks and the mist beyond.
Did our direction work?CURATED · NOT YET FIELD-CHECKED
SHOT 02 OF 12 · THE SHORE
Elephants at the water, if the forest decides
'Animals sightings are a matter of chance, be Patient' — the reserve puts it in every programme's rules, and the dry-season shore is where chance improves.
The place
From the boat, the shore grass on the first or last cruise — best March–May at low water — The shoreline on the 07:30 boat; The 15:30 boat in April
Stand here
Your seat, phone over the rail. Phone sideways at 2× from your seat; the rule is fifteen metres from any animal, and the boat keeps it.
People
Yours — the animals on the bank; a child's pointing arm at the edge of the frame; the boat's rail.
Did our direction work?CURATED · NOT YET FIELD-CHECKED
SHOT 03 OF 12 · THE OTTERS
Otters on a dead trunk
The reserve's own page promises 'a high probability of observing the antics of the Smooth Indian Otter' — the sighting the reserve itself rates most likely.
The place
From the boat, along the shoreline where the trunks stand in shallow water, mid-morning — The shallows near the landing on the 09:30 boat; Any trunk the guide slows for
Stand here
Seated, elbows braced. Phone sideways at 2×, elbows on your knees to hold it still.
People
Yours — a family of otters on a trunk; the water's reflection; nothing of yours in the frame.
Did our direction work?CURATED · NOT YET FIELD-CHECKED
SHOT 04 OF 12 · THE VINE
Pepper on a living post
Black pepper is a vine that needs a tree to climb, native to this coast, picked green and dried until it wrinkles — 'drooping black gold', as Kerala Tourism says of Murikkady.
The place
Abraham's Spice Garden at Spring Valley, or a Murikkady estate, 08:00–10:00 with the sun through the leaves; red berries December–February — Abraham's Spice Garden, Spring Valley; Murikkady's cardamom-and-pepper estates, 5 km
Stand here
A hand's width from the spike. Phone upright, close, with the sun behind the leaves.
People
Yours — a hanging spike of berries at eye level; a child's hand reaching, not picking; the support trunk.
Did our direction work?CURATED · NOT YET FIELD-CHECKED
SHOT 06 OF 12 · THE FRUIT
A nutmeg split open
Two spices in one fruit — mace is the aril, nutmeg the seed — dried in the sun for months until the kernel rattles.
The place
Any spice farm with a nutmeg tree — ask the farmer to open one, 10:00–12:00 — Abraham's Spice Garden; A homestay's own trees at Chellarkovil or Anakkara
Stand here
Over the farmer's hands. Phone upright, very close, shade light, no flash.
People
Yours — the open fruit in the farmer's hands: yellow flesh, red mace, brown seed; a child's face close behind.
Did our direction work?CURATED · NOT YET FIELD-CHECKED
SHOT 08 OF 12 · THE CLIFF
Chellarkovil into Tamil Nadu
A village on the state line where the water leaves Kerala by falling — and Mangaladevi's ridge, open one day a year, on the skyline.
The place
Chellarkovil viewpoint, 15 km from Kumily by jeep, late afternoon for the ridge light; not June or July — Chellarkovil viewpoint; Pandikuzhi, the head of the falls, on the way back
Stand here
Behind them, at the railing. Phone sideways from behind, the drop taking two-thirds of the frame.
People
Yours — your family at the edge, backs to you; the plains and the coconut groves of Kambam far below; the falls at the side.
Did our direction work?CURATED · NOT YET FIELD-CHECKED
SHOT 09 OF 12 · THE PIT
A fighter mid-leap
Kalaripayattu is practised in a dug pit so the gallery looks down on it — the show runs from unarmed forms through sword, shield and spear to the urumi last.
The place
Kadathanadan Kalari Centre, Thekkady Road, Kumily, the 18:00 show — the long side of the 42-by-21-foot pit — Kadathanadan Kalari Centre, Thekkady Road
Stand here
The gallery rail, long side. Phone upright from the gallery, no flash, shoot bursts.
People
Yours — one fighter at the top of a leap, sword and shield; the pit's edge; your family's faces lit from below at the rail.
Did our direction work?CURATED · NOT YET FIELD-CHECKED
SHOT 10 OF 12 · THE FACE
The green-faced hero
A classical dance-drama in which the face does the talking — green is the noble hero, and the eyes are trained for years.
The place
The Kathakali hall on Thekkady Road, Kumily — the 17:00 show lets you leave before dinner; front row — The Kathakali hall on Thekkady Road, 17:00 and 19:00
Stand here
Front row. Phone upright at 2× from the front row, no flash.
People
Yours — the painted face and the eyes; a child's face looking up from the front row.
Did our direction work?CURATED · NOT YET FIELD-CHECKED
SHOT 11 OF 12 · THE ESTATE ROAD
Pluckers at Vandiperiyar
The British leased these hills for tea, coffee and cardamom; the pluckers' 'customary garb and headdress' is Kerala Tourism's own phrase, and the valley is the Periyar's.
The place
A tea-estate road at Vandiperiyar, 18 km toward Kottayam, 08:00–10:00 — Vandiperiyar's estate roads off NH 183; The Periyar valley estates
Stand here
The road edge. Phone sideways from the road; ask before photographing workers close.
People
Yours — the pluckers' line across the tea with their headdresses; your family on the road edge.
Did our direction work?CURATED · NOT YET FIELD-CHECKED
SHOT 12 OF 12 · NIGHT
Fireflies at the edge of the forest
The reserve's own cottage, whose copy promises fireflies that 'descend like the stars from the Milky Way' — and fifteen bamboo huts at the gate that often oblige.
The place
Jungle Inn, the reserve's forest cottage, 20:00–22:00 — the Bamboo Grove huts by the gate and estate gardens often oblige too — Jungle Inn, the reserve's cottage; Bamboo Grove, by the Periyar gate; A Murikkady homestay garden
Stand here
A wall or rail, phone resting. Phone on a wall or rail in night mode; everyone holds still for the exposure.
People
Yours — points of light among the bamboo; your family as still shapes; no torches.
Did our direction work?CURATED · NOT YET FIELD-CHECKED
Twelve photographs become your book
Capture the twelve and your album — My Thekkady — assembles itself in narrative order. Back home, one tap: Create My Book. Your photographs, this guide’s story, printed and bound.