It was in January of 2006, that we went to Kerala on a pre-planned trip. I and my husband went there on a jolly trip. Our plan is that we visit Cochin, Munnar, Thekkady, Kumarakkom and then back to Cochin.
Kerala is well known as “God’s own Country” for its breath taking natural beauty. The Western Ghats, the Arabian Sea backwaters and the very rich culture in Kerala are worth seeing in ones life time. We boarded Sahara India flight at NTR International Airport, Hyderabad and reached Cochin International Airport, Cochin at 4 PM. The fly was over 2 hours and we had a good aerial view of the Western Ghats where we were to spend the rest of the week before landing at Cochin.
Kochi
Cochin is also very popularly known as “Kochi” and is nicknamed as the “Queen of Arabian Sea”. Kochi was an important spice trading centre on the Arabian Sea coast since the 14th century. It was the first city in India that was occupied by Europeans by the sea route. The Portuguese under the famous voyager Vasco Da Gama marked the first European colonial settlement in India in the year1503. Kochi was the capital of Portuguese in India until 1530, after which they opted for Goa as their capital. The city was later occupied by the Dutch and finally by the British till India got independence in 1947.
As soon as we arrived at the airport, we were welcomed by our cab driver “Jinu”, who accompanied us through the rest of our trip. We drove down to our hotel “Bolgatty Palace” which was by the side of Arabian backwaters.
Bolgatty Palace
Bolgatty Palace is located in Bolgatty Island. It is the oldest existing palaces built by the Dutch in India, during the pre-British times. Kochi (referred to us by Cochin) has long been one of the important trading centers of India, attracting traders and seafarers from across the globe. The Dutch traders built this palace, initially as a villa. Later, the villa was extended and lush green gardens were added all around it. Set in the middle of a fabulous garden, the palace has slowly metamorphosed into an esteemed heritage hotel. With the spectacular backwaters of Cochin as the background, the scenery around the palace is simply breathtaking. Hotel Bolgatty Palace is a two-storey building, with tastefully decorated bedchambers and a huge lounge, wherein historical portraits are displayed.
We had chosen a lakefront cottage along the edge of the backwaters. It is a great view of the backwaters from our room. We went on steam boat in the backwaters for a ride in the evening and also in the next morning and enjoyed the beauty of the Bolgatty islands. We had purchased Sony Digital camera the latest version at that time 7.2 Mega Pixel; prior to this visit and we knew how much worth it was going to be to have all the sceneries captured.
The Cochin Shipyard & Fishing Harbour
In the evening we visited the Cochin Shipyard, which is one of the largest shipbuilding facilities in India. We also visited the Cochin fishing harbour, which is located at Thoppumpady. This is one of the largest fishing ports in the state from where fish is exported. At this place we can witness the Chinese fishing nets which are called “Chinese Fishing Nets” or “Cheena vala”.
These fishing nets are fixed land installations for an unusual form of fishing where in the nets are operated at the shore. These nets are huge around 10 meters in height and 20 meters in breadth and require five to six fishermen to operate them. No clue as to why they are referred to as “Chinese” fishing nets but looks like there is a Chinese connection some where back in history.
St. Francis Church
St Francis church was built in 1503 is the oldest European church in India. It is at this church that the great Portuguese explorer, Vasco Da Gama was buried after his death in Kochi in the year 1524. He was on his third visit to India and also the Governor of Portuguese in India under the title Viceroy at that time. We were told that his remains were later moved to Lisbon from this church.
Munnar
After a fabulous day stay at Cochin, we set off for Munnar the famous hill station in the Western Ghats. On the way to Munnar, we came across many beautiful types of scenery that were breath taking and worth a photograph. There were a couple of natural water falls that were very beautiful to watch. We noticed the sign boards by the side of the falls mentioning not to pollute the water as the water was pure drinking water.
We reached Munnar post lunch time after a treat to the eyes. We were put up at Hotel “Tea County” in a room right up the hill. The view was beautiful from our balcony in the hotel room. Munnar is a hill resort and probably the must visit hill station for any visitor to Kerala. It is one of the most popular tourist destinations in India. Besides being a hill resort, Munnar is known a center for tea trade too. There are over thirty tea gardens in and around Munnar. The ghatty road that reaches to Munnar is full of tea estates. Tata Tea estates were among the many we noticed. It is a great sight to watch the tea plantations on both the sides of the road as we travel by the ghatty road.
The hill resort of Munnar derives its name from the fact that it lays at the confluence of three mountain streams. Literally in Tamil “Munnar” means "three rivers”.
The hill resort has been the place for summer retreat and tea plantations since long. Digging the past of Munnar reveals the list of tea planters that visited Munnar. With the passage of time once the forested and home of wildlife; Munnar turned a perfect place for tea plantations. In the hill resort of Munnar we get to bask in the beauty of nature. There are the gorgeous greens that rejuvenate all the senses.
Tea Plantations
Amongst the must visits in Munnar are the lavish and splendid tea gardens. The tea producing Munnar is the right place to know the tea processing mechanism. Right from picking of the tealeaves in the estates and the gardens to the packing in the factories, we can see it all. There are guided tours to the factories at the hill resort of Munnar. We may even pick up freshly packed tealeaves as souvenirs from the factory itself.
The Christ Church
The Christ Church of Munnar is another landmark of the hill resort. The church has been since the pre-independence days. Now the Sunday services are held here. We were told that the Christ church is the place to be in case we visit Munnar during Christmas.
Devikulam Lake
Close to the marvelous hill resort of Munnar is the Devikulam Lake. The cool breeze and the very attractive scenery at this lake make it an ideal spot for visitors to unwind and relax. We may even be at the picturesque island in the lake with prior permission from the authorities. There are many places in Munnar that require prior permission for photography or taking videos. Most of the places require us to pay to carry either a photo or video camera. Fishing is good option to have fun at this lake. We also witnessed people doing paragliding at this late so a good place for adventure seekers.
The Mattupeety Lake
Mattupetty Lake is the Indo-Swiss project, taking care of over 100 varieties of high yielding cattle is one of the largest of such ventures in India. It is one of the major tourists attractions around Munnar. The Lake at a distance of thirteen kilometers from Munnar is created by a small hydro electricity dam and is flanked by steep hills and woods all around. This is one area where in you must take a photograph of yourself by standing on the dam with the stunning beauty as the background which has the lake, several mountain ranges and lot of greenery. This area is a vintage point around Munnar that offers panoramic views of the lovely landscapes and the valley. We can also find the Indo-Swiss cattle-breeding centre cum dairy project in this area.
Echo Point
As we move ahead from the dam we come across what is called and “Echo point”. We can see lot of tourists at this place shouting out loud to hear they voice back. The area gets its name from the natural echo phenomenon that can be witnessed here. The area is beautiful by the side of a natural lake on the edge of mountain ranges. It is an amazing experience to be there. It was here we ensured to teach our driver how to use our camera as we could not afford to miss out on the snaps that would capture the stunning beauty of the place J
Top Point
Top point is the highest point on the Munnar-Kodaikanal road. We can spot the state of Tamil Nadu on the eastern side of the Western Ghats. We can also view the Arabian Sea from this point. The view was beautiful with the Western Ghats around you.
Rajamalai Wildlife Sanctuary
Rajamalai Wildlife Sanctuary is situated at a distance around seventeen km from Munnar. On visiting this sanctuary we can spot a variety of animals including the “Nilgiri Tahrs”. This sanctuary also offers wondrous vistas of the valley. For all those who want to be adventurous there is a trekking activity that can be availed. We chose to stay away from adventure and preferred to enjoy the natural beauty around us.
Ernakulum National Park
Another lovely place to visit to witness wild life is Ernakulum National Park. This park is nineteen km away from Munnar. The sanctuary is renowned as home to the mountain goat of the Nilgiri Tahr and is just close by the Rajamalai Wildlife Sanctuary.
One of the other options to explore the beauty of the Munnar is by riding on a bicycle. We can pick one at the hotel if it provides you a bicycle or hire bicycles in the hill resort. In fact there are several bicycle riding routes that are popular with the tourists.
Time flew by and we had to move on to other places that we intended to visit. We set off downhill to the wild life sanctuary at Thekkedy. The route was spectacular. The entire route had wondrous valleys, ravishing rivers, tea estates and cardamom estates and sandalwood plantations that offer spectacular sights.
Thekkedy & Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary
The road from Munnar to Thekkedy is a very ghatty one. Our cab driver had given us a caution to keep our tummy empty in the journey on the way to Thekkady, as we may feel like vomiting due to the ghatty area. On the way, we can witness tea and cardamom plantations apart from the beauty of the Western Ghats. Thekkady is famous for its spices and is also home to the Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary.
Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary is situated on the banks of the Periyar lake - an artificial lake, at Thekkady. We reached Thekkedy at around noon. We were put up at a hotel that was located inside the sanctuary area. The name of the hotel was “Aranya Nivas” which suggests that we are living in a forest. The sanctuary hosts some of the rare animals that Indian forests can boast of; the elephants, sambars, tigers, gaurs, lion tailed macaques and Nilgiri langurs. The sanctuary is part of the Western Ghats and full of dense green trees and grasslands. This place offers a lot of things. Elephant rides, cruises on the lake which were free of cost for the residents of Aranya Nivas.
The Periyar Widlife sanctuary is spread across 360 sq km is thick evergreen forest. It was declared a Tiger Reserve in 1978. It is one of the world's most fascinating natural wildlife reserves. The splendid artificial lake formed by the Mullaperiyar Dam across the Periyar River adds to the charm of the park. This is the only sanctuary in India where you can have the unique experience of viewing wildlife at close quarters from the safety of a boat on the lake. The greatest attraction of Periyar, however are the herds of wild elephants that come down to the play in the lake. We could spot one wild cat, a herd of deer drinking water from the Periyar lake, also a herd of Nilgiri langurs when we were out on our cruise. Unfortunately, we could not see any herd of elephants in spite of going on the boat cruises twice. The sanctuary offers the unique opportunity to watch and photograph wild animals at close quarters. We can carry our both photo and video cameras by paying the respective amount before moving on the lake area.
I still remember the night stay in Thekkady. We can hear the voice of the animals and birds in the forest. The early morning cruise was a good experience as we found a very think layer of fog on the waters. Also, it was very cold and the visibility of the Western Ghats was very poor.
Kumarakom
On our way down to Kumarakom from Thekkady we started to feel the change in climate. We got used to the cool breeze that Munnar and Thekkady provided us. We were now heading down to sea level and the climatic changes were obvious. It was an unforgettable experience as we were stopped a few times due to vehicle strikes that were going on in Kerala state which were not aware of. Some how we got away with the agitators after being stopped many times during the course of the journey. On arriving at Kumarakom too we were stopped by the agitators, who were not allowing the vehicles to proceed by stopping them. Our cab driver Jinu did have a role to play in explaining the protesters regarding our case as we were tourists.
In Kumarakom we were taken to our resort “Water Scapes”. This is one of the best resorts I had seen so far during the tour. The resort has individual hut shaped cottages situated in between the backwater canals of the Vembanad Lake. The cottage was raised at around 15 feet above the ground and was surrounded by beautiful gardens. This cottage is located inside the bird sanctuary, on the side of Vembanad Lake. Vembanad Lake is the largest fresh water lake in the state of Kerala. Kumarakom is famous for its mangrove forests, emerald green paddy fields and coconut groves interspersed with enchanting waterways and canals adorned with white lilies. Situated on the Vembanad Lake, in this small water world you'll come across plenty of traditional country crafts, house boats and canoes that will take you into the heart of the scenic lake.
The Vembanad Lake
The region of Kottayam is a vast network of rivers and canals, which empty into the great expanse of a backwater called the Vembanad Lake. The lake is bordered by Alappuzha, Kottayam, and Ernakulam districts. It lies at sea level, and is separated from the Arabian Sea by a narrow barrier island. An enchanting picnic spot and a much sought-after backwater tourism destination, the lake provides boating, fishing and sightseeing experiences that are truly exhilarating. Stretching about 110 km and spanning three districts, the Vembanad Lake is at its widest point at Kumarakom. The serene lake comes alive during Onam with a spectacular regatta - the world renowned Nehru Trophy snake boat race.
Kumarakom Bird Sanctuary
Located on the banks of the Vembanad Lake, the Kumarakom Bird Sanctuary, an ornithologist's paradise, is a favorite haunt of migratory birds. June to August is the breeding season of resident wetland birds like Siberian stork, cormorants, white ibis, egret, darter, heron and teal. Between November and May, one can witness here migratory birds like pintailed duck, garganey teal, spot billed duck, osprey, marsh harrier, steppe eagle etc. The bird sanctuary is well within the premises of Waterscapes resort and can be visited between 6 AM and 5 PM. Its very good experience to be there listening to variety of birds.
Canal Cruise (Boat ride)
Your stay at Water Scapes provides many opportunities to enjoy the best of backwater experiences. One such experience is the cruise on the labyrinth of canals in and around the property. Guests can really go for a quiet and relaxed cruise, taking in the myriad forms of green. The canals easily take one close to many rustic backwater villages in Kumarakom, enabling one to observe the many facets of backwater village life.
We had a great fun in the boat ride. It’s a steam boat, where there were only 3 families on the boat. A small kid of one of the families is very funny in the boat. She was running here and there, sitting in my lap, jumping over. It was very nice to watch the backwaters there. We happened to see a house boat passing by our boat. Our boat then went through the village boarder, where we can find every house has a two-wheeler, four-wheeler and a boat too as their vehicle. Just as we have a car shed back in our home towns you can find every house by the side of the canals having a boat shed. Found many citizens carrying there daily works like washing clothes in the lake, traveling through water transportation. Found it to be interesting thing to watch.
Driftwood Museum
Water Scapes is located close to many other interesting destinations in Kumarakom. The historic Baker's Bungalow and the Bay Island Driftwood Museum. Here, one can find a fairly large collection of superior quality driftwood articles of very high artistic value, crafted through a rare and innovative modern artistic approach.
Pathiramanal
Pathiramanal, a small island in the Vembanad Lake is a haven for hundreds of rare birds migrating from different parts of the world. Surrounded by the Vembanad Lake, Pathiramanal is accessible only by boat. The green island thus forms an ideal place for a break in the journey while on a backwater cruise. We just went around that island to find a variety of the birds.
Our way back to Cochin
We were now coming close to the end of our one week visit to Kerala. We did get to witness the famous Kathakali dance at Waterscapes resort in Kumarakom late in the evening which meant we had seen it all, a full circle to witness the great culture of Kerala. It was an enchanting experience to see this beautiful state and yes it is worth its name as the “God’s own Country”. We started back to Cochin in our cab, to reach the airport directly. On the way, we stopped at the beach side and had some coconut water. Something which we wanted to do all the time we were in Kerala just to taste the water there. We all know of the people of Kerala using Coconut in most of their daily food. So, we expected coconut water to be very cheap there. We were surprised to find it expensive but the water was worth the money. Jinu dropped us off at the airport and we expressed our heart felt thanks and gratitude to him for seeing us through the entire trip. With lots of happy moments and memories, we flew back to Hyderabad.
Hyderabad Biriyani is a popular non-vegetarian variety of Biriyani (Rice food).
HITEC City stands for the Hyderabad Information Technology Engineering Consultancy City, a technology township in Hyderabad, India.
Hyderabad, the very name takes us into a strange world. A world full of pomp and glory, a world with the tinkle of bangles and glittering pearls, with a powerful smell of perfumes and flowers, that’s Hyderabad, a comparatively young city. People from far and wide have been fascinated by this city.
400 years, that’s fairly young. It was built by Sultan Quli Qutab Shah for his beloved Bhagmati. For this beautiful lady, he built the city and named it Bhagyangar. She was so charmed that she became a Muslim and called herself Hyder Mahal. Then onwards, the city came to be known as Hyderabad. The city of
Hyder was ruled by the Nizams.
There were ten Nizams in all. They were very rich. The ninth Nizam it is said never repeated a dress. His clothes filled a building of two stores. There many places of interest in Hyderabad. The Salar Jung Museum has a wonderful collection of things. The most famous object there is the marble `Veiled Rebecca.’ It is a statue carved so finely that we can see her fingers through the veil.
The Charminar is a wide gate in the middle of two busy roads; the Charminar was actually the tomb of a Muslim saint imam Husain. `Char’ as you know is four and Minar as a `pillar’. So it has four pillars.
It was made of wood and had magical powers. People believe that it can stop evil, for it bad kept off cholera at one time. For many years people were allowed to climb the pillars. From the top of these pillars one could see the whole of Hyderabad. There are many other places to see. The Tank Bund is a bridge which separates Hyderabad and Secunderabad. The Husain Sagar flows underneath. In there The Buddha statue is 17 meters tall and weighs 320 tonnes as described by a board at the installation site of Buddha statue.
As we go into the gullies of Hyderabad we see tiny shops. But these shops have the best of things- wonderful glass bangles, glittering bangles of stones and lac, bidri articles, Kalamkari hangings and beautiful silk clothes. People from far come to buy the famous pearls of Hyderabad.
The Golconda Fort at the other end stands like an old monument. It is the largest castle ruin in the world. This was the capital of the Qutab Shahi kings before Hyderabad was built and is more than 800 years old. Soldiers stood on the tall towers and guarded the city.
The diamond mines of Golconda are famous even today. The world’s famous diamond –the Kohinoor, the Hope diamond were mined here. The peaceful Birla temple stands in the middle of the city.
Hyderabad has had great musicians and poets. Poets sang Ghazals which remain in our hearts, even today. `Shayers’ as they are called the poets of Hyderabad continue to write and sing them. The Shervani clad men and the Burka clad women decorate the city, what we cannot miss is the smell of perfume through the Bazaars.
Indian subcontinent is separated from the main landmass of Asia by the huge range of mountains called the Himalayas. The subcontinent includes countries like Pakistan, Nepal Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and India. India is the largest country in the subcontinent.
India has three main landforms:-
1) The Himalayas in the North.
2) The indo-Gangetic plains in the middle.
3) The Deccan plateau or Dakshin plateau in the south.
The Himalayas extend from the west to east for nearly two thousand and five hundred kilometers. These high mountains protect India from winds from the north. The tall peaks are covered with ice. There are beautiful carved peaks like Mt. Kanchenjunga, Mt. Nanda Devi and Mt. Shivling.
There are beautiful valleys between the hills like the Kashmir valley, the Kulu valley, the Kumaon valley and the valley of flowers. There are many glaciers in this region like the Gangothri, Yamunothri and kathiling. From these glaciers, rivers run down to the plains. The Himalayan range is a big watershed. Many rivers flow down the mountains in different direction. The Ganga, Yamuna, Sindhu, Brahmaputra are big rivers in India. There are also beautiful lakes in the Himalayas like the Lake Manasarovar and the Dal Lake. Up to a great height, there are many villages and forests.
Animals like the panda, sow- leopard and musk deer have made their homes on the higher mountains slopes.
There are many forests of oak, birch, pine and deodar. Himavan they mythical king of the Himalayas, is the protector of forests lakes, animals and birds.
Many useful are found in the Himalayas. The Himalayas look grand with sunlit peaks, green forests and brooks.
Indian culture is influenced by the Himalayas. The Himalayas prevent the freezing northern winds from Central Asia from reaching India. They are also giant-like guard. There are only few high and difficult passes. So invaders were few and far between. The Himalayas protect and allow Indian culture to grow undisturbed. Though the Himalayas prevented the entry of large armies, they allowed a few pilgrims and traders to come through the passes.
The indo –Gangetic plains were formed by the Indus and its tributaries. The Himalayan Rivers powered the rocks on the mountains and carried them down to form an alluvial plain. This is a flat land with a gentle slope to the east.
These fertile flat plains are fine places for man to live in. even today, more people live in the Gangetic plains than anywhere else in India. There are many ancient cities here like Varanasi, Patna, Hastinapur and Gaya. The main occupation of the people is growing crops. The Deccan plateau is a volcanic plateau. The lava from the crack on the west side spread over a large area in sheets. The west side of the plateau is higher and bounced by the hills called he Western Ghats. Hence many of the south Indian rivers like the Godavari, Krishna and Cauvery flow from the west to the east.
The Eastern Ghats on the east coast consists of another group of hills.
The Arabian Sea in the west and the Bay of Bengal in the east enclose the southern peninsula. India has long coastal line. The east coast is called the Coramandel coast and on the west are the Malabar, the Konkani and the Saurashtra coasts. There are fine harbors on the west coast and on the east coast. There are also beautiful beaches and lakes. The marina beaches in Chennai are the second largest beach in the world.
Calcutta, the city of joy throbbing with life, has charm of its own in spite of being hot, dusty and noisy. Calcutta is linked by water rail, road and air. It is the capital of west Bengal and has a population of more than eleven million people, most of who live in very poor condition.
Calcutta is a port even though it is about 135 kilometers away from the Bay of Bengal. The city with it is outlying towns and districts stretch for 1000 kilometers along the banks of the river Hooghly, which is a large tributary of the river Ganga. Hence Calcutta is a river –port. The docks lie south of the famous Howrah Bridge which spans the river, connecting the city of Howrah with Calcutta. This is a suspension bridge, which means that its roadway is suspended by cables from pillars which are easily seen from a distance. There is enough room under the bridge for small ships to go p the river. Calcutta is situated to the north of the Bay of Bengal, not many ships from the west cell here. The port is gradually losing its importance as the river is silting up and has to be dredged frequently. The new, deep water-port Haldia, about 100 km down stream, may soon take its place.
Howrah, on the right bank of the river is the rail head. This large, noisy station is the terminus of the railways from all over the country.
As Calcutta lies on the Gangetic plain, the soil here is very fertile. Canals tha6t take water from the river also provides cheap waterways for transporting food.
The fertile valleys of the Ganga and Brahmaputra lying behind the city are the hinterland of Calcutta. On account of this fertile hinterland, Calcutta is able to manufacture and export jute, tea oilseeds, iron ore, shellac and coal. The imports are petroleum and foo0d grains. There are a large number of factories in and around Calcutta that make electric appliances rubber gods, paper, sugar, motor cars, jute goods and iron goods.
As Calcutta is situated near the sea, it never gets very cold. The average winter temperature is about 10 degrees cilices in December but during summer it can get quite hot- about 30 degrees cilices in May and June as the sun’s rays shine directly over Calcutta at this time. The rains come in July. August is the wettest month with an average rainfall of about 32 cm.
The large, open space called Maidan lies in the centre of Calcutta. Here are beautiful lawns dotted with trees and small lakes. There are besides this park is the main road of the city, Chowringhee road, where the best shops, restaurants and cinema theaters are located. The British built a replica of the Taj Mahal at the southern Memorial which houses the relics of British rule. Priceless treasures of our ancient civilization are stored in the Indian Museum. The /national Library and the Raj Bhavan –the residence of the Governor- are rather impressive buildings of the British Raj. The Birla
Planetarium which is a famous observatory for studying the stars is also located in Calcutta.
The shortage of housing and amenities however make Calcutta one of the most crowed cities of the world.
The city was observing `friends of the green’ day. The guide explained to the tourists a group of them to visit the city gardens.
As they walked around with saint Ramoji, the clever sage, they noticed that a peel tree was growing right through a wall. Saint Ramoji explained that all fig trees, the peepal being one being one of them, grow anywhere. `The peepal tree is a sacred tree. It is said God appeared to Buddha while he was sitting under it and praying.’ Saint Ramoji remarked that people believed it was dangerous to lie and cheat when seated beneath the tree. However, people continue to do these things in spite of having peepal trees in the bazaars!
The group then walked further till they came to a banyan tree. The people were impressed with its size. One of the man asked why these trees were not seen in the city itself. `That is a good question. You can see it needs a lot of space to spread itself out. Look how its branches reach the ground, take root again and then send up more trailing b5ranches, which spread out again and give further strength and support to the trees,’ said saint Ramoji.
Old service man Mr. Mohan, head of the gardens, arrived and explained that it would not be possible for them to talk about all the wonderful trees, but they must not miss seeing the palm trees. They noticed that the palm trees were in a row, the way they are near the seashore. The ladies in the group could identify the Palmyra tree, from which the cool and delicious Palmyra fruit is obtained. There was also the betel –nut and date palm which is an important tree. Muslims break their fast with the date, which is highly nutritious.
The people wanted to know about the coconut palm. Mr. Mohan explained that it was a popular palm because it gave water in the shell, flesh in the nut, oil for cooking and applying too the hair. The coconut tree is useful to us in other ways also. Brooms are made from its leaf ribs; palm wine, sugar and jaggery are made from its sap; fiber is obtained from the outer cover of the nut. Butter is produced from the dry copra.
Having enjoyed their visit, the people returned to colony. The people said the visit would have been more enjoyable if they had been permitted to climb the trees!
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