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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.
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.
Minicoy
Furthest from Kavaratti island, 200 km away to the south and also nearest
to the Maldives, Minicoy has a lighthouse built by the British in 1885.
Visitors are allowed up, right to the very top. Words cannot do justice to
the incredible size of the lagoon, one of the largest in Lakshwadeep, the
green of coconut trees, and the mirror-like surface of an inland lake as
it nestles in one corner of the island. Minicoy has a culture very
different from any other island - dress, language, food, all differ.
Minicoy has a cluster of 10 villages, which are called Athiris, each
presided over by a Moopan. A walk through the winding lanes of the
villages is an indication of the culture here. Minicoy is renowned for its
dance tradition: the lava dance is performed on festive occasions. There
is a tuna canning factory - signifying its importance in tuna fishing and
boat building activity. Privately managed cottages have been built on the
isolated beaches and are available for tourists.
Agatti
Agatti has one of the most beautiful lagoons in Lakshadweep. This is
where the airport is built. A virtual gateway to Lakshadweep, a 20 bed
tourist complex has been set up here. The island will shortly be opened
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.