Vagamon
—  town  —
Vagamon town
Vagamon Location of Vagamon in Kerala and India
Coordinates	9°40′50″N 76°52′0″E / 9.68056°N 76.866667°E / 9.68056; 76.866667Coordinates: 9°40′50″N 76°52′0″E / 9.68056°N 76.866667°E / 9.68056; 76.866667
Country	India
State	Kerala
District(s)	Idukki
Nearest city	Kottayam
Time zone	IST (UTC+05:30)
Area • Elevation	• 1,100 metres (3,600 ft)
Codes • Vehicle • KL-06

Vagamon (Malayalam: വാഗമണ്‍) is a hill station located in Kottayam-Idukki border of Idukki district of Kerala, India. It has a cool climate with the temperature between 10 and 23 °C during a summer midday. It is situated 1,100 meters above sea level. Vagamon also known as the 'Scotland of Asia', was discovered by the Britishers who found the place ideal for tea plantations and they were followed by Christian missionaries who built their abode of service at Kurisumala in Vagamon. National Geographic Traveler has listed Vagamon on their directory of the '50 most attractive places to visit in India’.^[1]

Still untouched by commercialisation, the sleepy town with its scenic valleys, beautiful green meadows, enchanting pine forests, mists, fogs, tea estates, waterfalls with the overall greenery is really striking. The landscape is mostly hilly bald with green meadows. Vagamon is also home to a large variety of flowers and orchids. Cuddled up within three striking hills Thangal, Murugan and Kurisumala hills which are the representation of the chief religions in Kerala, i.e. Hindu, Muslim, and Christian which represent the cultural harmony. Vagamon has amenities for trekking, paragliding, mountaineering and rock climbing. However business interests are trying their best to exploit and sell and market vagamon for tourists. How much benefits the local people are receiving from tourism boom is to be seen. The efforts made by the Kurishumala Ashram have helped the farmers of vagamon to improve their earnings by ensuring better price for milk and marketing opportunities.^[2]

Vagamon is at the fringe of the Western Ghats and the foot hills on its lower side reach up to Teekoy with a gradual descent. This narrow strip of descending land gives a vital connectivity to the plains as both sides of vagamon up to kuttikkanam on the south west and moolamattom on the north east, are marked by steep and inaccessible hill slopes. Traveling by the hill highway in this section is an exhilarating experience with deep valleys and magnificent views all around. Vagamon presents very spectacular views with an ethereal touch. Vagamon's charm is worth experiencing and is indeed one of the must see places for tourists. Reaching Vagamon itself is an extraordinary experience. The meandering road to Vagamon is cut in solid rock lined with pine forests. And as you wind your way through green capped hills, the rolling plains come into view thousands of feet below you. The road to vagamon from Erattupetta opened an easily accessible and direct route to vagamon from the plains. This road which was constructed in the 1950s was an engineering marvel and is rated a state highway. Had it not been for the initiative and influence of the then member of parliament Shri George Thomas kottukappillil this very expensive road would not have been materialised. The road was made in treacherous and dizzying terrain. About a dozen workers died during the construction at the hanging cliffs and a 20 foot tall memorial tower stands in honour of those who gave their life for this road project at the beginning of the road in Teekoy town junction .

Vagamon is located 39 km from Thodupuzha, 33 km away from Palai, 45 km from Kumily, 22 km from Kuttikanam and about 65 km from Kottayam. Cochin International Airport is the nearest airport while the closest railway station is Kottayam. There are many fine resorts available in the surrounding areas with affordable cost for trekkers. Key tourist centers such as Thekkady, Peermade and Kulamavu are straightforwardly reachable from Vagamon.

Places of Interest[link]

1. Kurisumala: Kurisumala means 'Mountain of the holy cross'. Kurisumala monastery situated on the Kurisumala hill, is a famous pilgrimage center for the Nazrani Catholics where cross put-up in each sub hill stations. The nearby Kurisumala Ashram is an abode of calm and spiritual delight. This hill area includes 12 sub mounds where pilgrims visit. Travelers can enjoy trekking and climbing this high hill. The area is fully surrounded with Tea estates and lakes.
2. Indo-Swiss Project Diary Farms: Indo-Swiss Project dairy farms is situated on the Kurisumala hill. The dairy farm is managed by the Kurisumala monks.
3. Vagamon Meadows: The rolling green meadows of Vagamon has a lake amidst them. It has for long been a favorite location for shooting movie songs.
4. Pine Forests: A valley having huge lofty pine trees lined in rows.
5. Thangal Hill: This is a center of Muslim pilgrimage. There is an ancient cave though which one can walk for kilometers. A suicide point is also situated here.^[3]
6. Mooppanpara: It is a v-shaped canyon, one of the admired view points as well acknowledged as a suicide point. The outlook from the summit of the strenuous climb is amazing.^[4]
7. Murugan Hill: It is situated near to Thangal Para. A Murugan temple is situated which is devoted to Lord Muruga with gorgeous stone age carving.^[5]

Holy cross on top of Kurisumala hill, Idukki, Kerala, India.

Vagamon Meadows, Idukki, Kerala, India.

Hills seen from Vagamon, Idukki, Kerala, India.

Rolling meadows of Vagamon, Idukki, Kerala, India.

Waterfalls during monsoon at Vagamon, Idukki, Kerala, India.

Route to Vagamon

Feature films in Vagamon[link]

Song sequences of many South Indian films are shot in Vagamon. Recently, the Naseeruddin Shah starrer - The Blueberry Hunt - was shot in Vagamon and surrounding areas.

Issues[link]

In August 2008, the Kerala Police said it had begun investigations two months back into a training camp organized in December 2007 by the banned SIMI activist in Thangalpara, a rocky landscape accessible only by foot adjacent to Vagamon hills.^[6]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Vagamon information site

La Cantatrice Chauve — translated from French as The Bald Soprano or The Bald Prima Donna — is the first play written by Franco-Romanian playwright Eugène Ionesco. Nicolas Bataille directed the premiere on May 11, 1950 at the Théâtre des Noctambules, Paris. Since 1957 it has been in permanent showing at the Théâtre de la Huchette, which received a Molière d'honneur for its performances. With a record number of interpretations, it has become one of the most performed plays in France.^[1]

Origin[link]

The idea of the play came to Ionesco while he was trying to learn English with the Assimil method. He was impressed by the contents of the dialogues, often very sober and strange, so he decided to write an absurd play named L'anglais sans peine ("English without toil"). He originally wrote the play in his native language Romanian, then wrote it again in his adopted language French. The current title was set only after a verbal slip-up made by one of the actors during the rehearsals.^[2]

Plot summary[link]

The Smiths are a traditional couple from London who have invited another couple, the Martins, over for a visit. They are joined later by the Smiths' maid, Mary, and the local fire chief, who is also Mary's lover. The two families engage in meaningless banter, telling stories and relating nonsensical poems. At one point, Mrs. Martin converses with her husband as if he were a stranger she just met. As the fire chief turns to leave, he mentions "the bald soprano" in passing, which has a very unsettling effect on the others. Mrs. Smith replies that "she always wears her hair in the same style." After the Fire Chief's exit, the play devolves into a series of complete non-sequiturs, with no resemblance to normal conversation. It ends with the two couples shouting in unison "It's not that way. It's over here!," right before a blackout occurs. When the lights come back on, the scene starts from the beginning with the Martins reciting the Smiths' lines from the beginning of the play for a while before the curtain closes.

Meaning[link]

Like many plays in the theatre of the absurd genre, the underlying theme of The Bald Soprano is not immediately apparent. Many suggest that it expresses the futility of meaningful communication in modern society. The script is charged with non sequiturs that give the impression that the characters are not even listening to each other in their frantic efforts to make their own voices heard. There was speculation around the time of its first performance, categorising it as a parody. Ionesco states in an essay written to his critics, that he had no intention of parody, but if he were parodying anything, it would be everything.

The Bald Soprano appears to have been written as a continuous loop. The final scene contains stage instructions to start the performance over from the very beginning, with the Martin couple substituted for the Smith couple and vice versa. However, this decision was only added in after the show's hundredth premier, for it was originally for the Smiths to restart the show, in exactly the same manner as before.

According to Ionesco, he had several possible endings in mind, including a climax in which the "author" or "manager" antagonizes the audience, and even a version in which the audience would be shot with machine guns. However this was ultimately settled for a cheaper solution, the cycle. Ionesco told Claude Bonnefoy in an interview, "I wanted to give a meaning to the play by having it begin all over again with two characters. In this way the end becomes a new beginning but, since there are two couples in the play, it begins the first time with the Smiths and the second time with the Martins, to suggest the interchangeable nature of the characters: the Smiths are the Martins and the Martins are the Smiths".^[3]

See also[link]

• Le Monde's 100 Books of the Century

References[link]