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Archive by Author
One lazy laidback destination in Kerala attracts discerning travellers and celebrities like no other…and that’s Kumarakom. Located some 75 kilometres from Kochi, Kumarakom consists of a cluster of little islands along the enchanting Vembanad Lake. With its vast expanse of shimmering backwaters, it’s indulgent and laidback atmosphere, its total isolation from the din of urban living, and its wide choice of accommodation ranging from modest home stays to five star luxury resorts, Kumarakom holds an irresistible appeal for the footloose traveller.
Little wonder the place attracts its share of high profile celebrities including the likes of pop singer Janet Jackson and ex-Beatle Paul McCartney and his wife Heather Mills. For everyone looking forward to a lazy, laidback vacation in Kerala, Kumarakom is the place to be.
 The Vembanad Lake acts as a bewitching backdrop to all of Kumarakom – endless miles of meandering waterways flanked on either side by swaying palms. Sailing on these waters I a house boat is an indescribably enchanting experience. Kerala’s houseboats are large, slow moving vessels equipped with air-conditioned, bath-attached bedrooms, open lounge deck, dining area and kitchenettes. They are generally powered by remarkably quiet inboard diesel engines, allowing one to cruise along at a gentle pace. Most of the vessels are equipped with chemical toilets. Some even have solar panels. Authentic Kerala food is served onboard. The houseboats offer the best way to experience the labyrinth of meandering waterways, canals, streams, and lagoons forming the famous backwater system of Kerala.
A popular attraction in Kumarakom is the Kumarakom Bird Sanctuary, a 14-acre enclave on the eastern banks of the Vembanad Lake. The sanctuary is a favourite haunt of migratory birds such as egrets, Siberian storks, darters, herons, teal, waterfowl, cuckoo, and wild duck. The best way to watch these birds is by boat. Pathiramanal (midnight sands) is an enchanting 10 acre island on the Vembanad Lake that can be accessed by boat from Kumarakom. This island is also home to a variety of migratory birds from different parts of the world.
Numerous resorts have come up in the area, including properties owned by the Taj, Zuri group and the CGH Group among others. Incidentally the much acclaimed CGH group property called Coconut Lagoon in Kumarakom has just won this year’s prestigious Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Award for Responsible Tourism, one of the four grand awards instituted by the organization in the environment conservation category.
To include Kumarakom as part of your Kerala holiday call one of Kerala Travel Centre’s experts today on freephone 0808 178 9799 or visit www.keralatravelcentre.co.uk.
Love Elephants? Then you have one more reason to love Kerala…because Elephants are an integral part of life here. Elephants are loved, revered and groomed and given a prestigious place in the state’s colourful cultural space. There are many places where one can go elephant spotting in Kerala…but we would like to draw your attention to one place that beats them all- the Anakottil- a one of its kind elephant sanctuary.
Sprawling over 10 acres of land about three kilometres north of the famous temple and pilgrimage centre dedicated to the Hindu God Krishna at Guruvayur in Kerala is Punnathur Kotta or Anakottil, a rare elephant sanctuary and perhaps the only one of its kind in the world.
The sanctuary currently houses 64 of these pachyderms. What’s exciting about a visit to the sanctuary is the fact that you are able to see so many of these mammoth creatures in one place, and watch them being bathed and fed and trained.
Unlike in other tourist spots, you cannot mount an elephant or play with them. But nowhere else can you see so many of these animals together. Many tourists flock here every day. Artists come here from different parts of the world to etch pictures of these magnificent beasts, while other camera toting tourists come here to capture them in the digital format. The sanctuary also has a mahout training school.
Each elephant in the sanctuary has 3 mahouts who look after it methodically. They bathe the animals, massaging them with small rocks or the husk of coconuts, trim their nails, polish their tusks, and feed them at regular intervals. The elephants also undergo ayurvedic rejuvenation treatment at the hands of experts once every year.
Visitors to Kerala cannot afford to miss this opportunity to be in close proximity with these social, intelligent animals.
Call Kerala Travel Centre today on Freephone 0808 178 9799 to discuss the inclusion of Anakottil - one of Kerala’s (in fact the world’s) rare elephant sanctuaries on your Kerala holiday . Discover the countless delights that Kerala has to offer and be sure to watch the state’s official animal up and close at the Anakottil.
For those of you who thought Kung Fu or Karate were the ultimate and oldest forms of martial arts, here is a shocker. The mother of all martial arts is in fact - ‘Kalaripayattu’, the martial art form of Kerala. Said to be more than 3000 years old this is one of the oldest and perhaps the most scientific of all martial art forms in the world. Stumped?! Then read on…
Derived from the words ‘Kalari’(meaning place of training) and ‘payattu’ (meaning ‘to fight or ‘excercise’) Kalaripayattu dates back to early times in Kerala when every village had its own ‘Kalari’ and local boys (and sometimes girls) trained to become expert fighters. Trained fighters were sometimes called upon to fight duels to settle disputes in the village.
Training in Kalarippayattu starts at about the age of seven. The ancient ‘gurukulam’ system of education where the pupil resides at the Guru’s (teacher’s) kulam (residence), and works for the guru in return for food, accommodation and training, is the traditional method used for initiation into the art. Coordination of body and mind are given the utmost importance during the rigorous training regime. Training includes exercises to develop reflexes and techniques for unarmed combat as well as combat using spears, daggers, swords, sticks and other weapons.
Kalarippayattu is not merely a martial art. It is also a spiritual experience. Meditation and self control are part of the training. Exponents of this unique martial art form are also expert masseurs and bone setters. Kalarippayattu has strongly influenced the evolution of several of Kerala’s theatre and dance forms, most notably Kathakali and Theyyam.
Many of Asia’s martial art forms and practices could have evolved from Kalarippayattu, making it ‘the mother of all martial arts’. Even the highly evolved Shaolin martial art form of China traces its origin to Bodhi Dharma, an Indian Buddhist monk hailing from Kerala who was a Kalarippayattu expert.
Kalarippayattu performances are thrilling to watch. The nimbleness and agility that the performers display is truly amazing. Their dexterity with various weapons and the speed with which they react on reflex have to be seen to be believed. On your next holiday to Kerala, enjoy an exhilarating Kalaripayattu fight. We promise that it will change your views about martial arts forever!
Call Kerala Travel Centre today on Freephone 0808 178 9799 and book a holiday in Kerala. We’ll chart out a personalised itinerary that covers Kerala’s cultural aspects including a front-row view of a Kalarippayattu performance, as well as performances of other art forms unique to Kerala.
Any tourist travelling along the highways and byways of Kerala is likely to notice a distinctive black-and-white board with a single Malayalam word written on it. And that word is ‘Kallu’, which means toddy, a traditional, local alcoholic drink. Toddy is extracted from the inflorescence of the coconut tree using an indigenous technique developed by toddy tappers. Extraction is done by cutting the inflorescence in its bud and then covering it with an earthen pitcher so that the oozing liquid gets collected in the pitcher. The yield per tree varies from 1 to 5 litres per day. The alcohol content in toddy ranges from 4 to 6% v/v.
Toddy has a special place in celebrations and ceremonies such as marriages, burials and settlings. It is also believed to be good for health, particularly for eyesight, and also serves as a sedative and a mild laxative. In many households of Kerala, toddy is used in leavening as a substitute for yeast to make a local form of rice pancake called the Vellayappam.
Toddy is usually served in 600ml beer bottles, but you can also see it served in 1 litre earthen vessels. There are three kinds of toddy. Sweet toddy tapped early in the morning is not intoxicating and only leaves you pleasantly elated. A bottle of toddy tapped in the evening can leave you mildly inebriated. A bottle of toddy tapped the day before can make you tipsy. The best toddy is slightly sweet, with a faint note of ferment. It is best consumed immediately after collecting from the tree, since it becomes more sour and acidic as the hours pass.
The ‘chethukaran’ or toddy tapper gently taps the selected bud from bottom to top so that the sap flows smoothly to the pitcher. It is normally done in the evening, and by the next morning the pot will be full of white frothy toddy. When it is collected as sap from the tree, the toddy is entirely non-alcoholic. It gets fermented when it picks up tiny residues of yeast from the air. It is fermentation that adds ‘kick’ to the brew. Traditionally, toddy tapping is a task performed by the lower Ezhava community of Kerala.
The toddy bars in the state are auctioned every year, generating substantial revenue for the government. Most toddy bars look like run down shacks, but you also find posh and well appointed toddy parlours in places. More than the drink itself, what draws people to the toddy shops is the spicy ethnic food served there which has the typical taste of countryside cuisine. In fact lots of people come to these outlets purely for the food, having just a glass of toddy to wash it down.
Call Kerala Travel Centre on Freephone 0808 178 9799 to book you on a Kerala Holiday, and we’ll make sure you get to taste the finest of Kerala’s traditional drink.
Willingdon Island is a 22sqkm man-made island on the Vembanad Lake lying between the twin cities of Cochin and Ernakulam. It was created in the early 1920s, using the sludge that was dredged up while deepening the backwaters to build what subsequently came to be called the Cochin Port. The island was named after Lord Willingdon, the then governor of Madras. The mastermind behind it however, was Sir Robert Bristow, a brilliant British engineer.
The first ship to berth at Cochin port was ‘MT Padma’ under the command of Capt. Bullen. It dropped anchor here on 28 May 1926. The first liner to call at the port was a Bibby Line vessel which docked at the port on 9 March 1935. A hostel was built close to the berth to accommodate passengers who wished to spend a few nights before moving on. This hostel evolved into what today is the Malabar Hotel owned by the Taj Group.
The basic port infrastructure consisting of a deep wharf, and rail and road bridges connecting to the mainland were completed in 1939 before the outbreak of World War II. A naval works was also built on the adjacent Venduruthy Island. A large tract of the vast expanse of newly reclaimed land was soon sequestered by the Royal Air Force, and a large aerodrome was built there. After India’s independence, this continued to serve the Indian Navy while doing double duty as Cochin’s civilian airport till a new one was built at Nedumbassery a decade ago. When the British withdrew from India in 1947, they left Willingdon Island as a significant and well organized transport hub with an all-weather sea port, a functional airport, a rail head, a network of roads, and connecting bridges to the mainland.
The old Thoppumpady Bridge (also called the Mattancherry Bridge) is a classic example of British engineering. It connects Willingdon Island to the mainland on the west, where Fort Cochin is situated. In its heyday the centre span of the bridge would be raised to let large vessels pass. Now only two and three wheelers use the bridge. A new bridge built approximately a kilometre to the south carries most of the traffic today. Efforts are on to convert the bridge into a heritage monument.
Be sure to include this vestige of British engineering in your visit to Kerala. Willingdon Island has some pretty good places to stay too, including the Taj Malabar. To book your Kerala Holiday just call Kerala Travel Centre at 0808 178 9799. Have a whale of a time exploring Britain’s contribution to Kerala’s history!
Never has the 49km Punalur-Shencotta metre gauge railway track seen such a heavy rush as during the three days from 18th to 20th September 2010. The reason was simple. Come September 21, and 107 year old British built rail track through the scenic and densely wooded Western Ghats would be closed for conversion into a broad gauge line. It would be the end of another era.
The first stretch of the 91km Kollam-Shencotta track reaching up to Punalur had been converted to broad gauge earlier. Punalur is one of the few stations in India that has both meter gauge and broad gauge tracks. Conversion of the Punalur-Shencotta section is expected to be completed in two years. The existing track was laid by the British way back in 1903 to transport crops like pepper and other spices to the erstwhile state of Madras from Kollam. More lately the track was being used to transport goods in the opposite direction, namely to bring vegetables from Tamilnadu to Kollam.
The Kollam-Shencotta route was one I had never travelled on before, and not wanting to wait till the gauge conversion works got finished, I made my way to Punalur and wriggled myself into the train along with hundreds of other rail enthusiasts who wanted to be a part of the historical journey.
When the train pulled out of the station at 8:45 a.m. with seven coaches, there were more people on it than in it. Many were standing on parts of the engine, squeezing themselves into any bit of space they could find to plant their feet on. Scores had clambered onto the roof of the train from where they could watch the passing sights unobstructed, while others made the entire three-hour journey hanging onto the steel bars on either side of the compartment doors. A few even did the entire trip standing on the connecting link between the coaches. Where else would you find such sights than in incredible India! The ride across the Thenmala range through dark tunnels, across valleys and over the magnificent 13 Arch Bridge at Kazhuthurutti was truly breathtaking.
Returning to Punalur by the same train, I checked into a small nondescript lodge. Punalur is a hilly town and a municipality in Kollam district of Kerala state. It was a famous trading centre during the Travancore period. It rose to a township when it became the headquarters of Pathanapuram taluk (county).
To connect Punalur with the Tamil region on the other side of Kallada River, the British constructed the Punalur Suspension Bridge. Designed and built by British engineer Albert Henry in 1877, this 400 ft. long structure was the first suspended-deck type bridge in south India. A parallel bridge was constructed in 1972 to accommodate increasing vehicular traffic, relegating the Punalur Suspension Bridge to the status of a structure of archaeological interest.
Punalur has several interesting sites to be seen including the Thenmala eco-tourism village, the Palaruvi waterfalls, Butterfly Safari, the Shenduruney Wildlife Sanctuary and the Courtallam waterfalls.
On your next holiday to Kerala deviate a little from the routine tourist trail to explore places like Punalur. Call the Kerala Travel Centre to create a customized itinerary for you that includes off-beat places like these.
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