About Kerala

Kerala, a state on India's tropical Malabar Coast, has nearly 600km of Arabian Sea shoreline. It's known for its palm-lined beaches and backwaters, a network of canals. Inland are the Western Ghats, mountains whose slopes support tea, coffee and spice plantations as well as wildlife. National parks like Eravikulam and Periyar, plus Wayanad and other sanctuaries, are home to elephants, langur monkeys and tigers.

There is no unanimity among historians about the history of ancient Kerala, since so little written accounts exist. Much of the history is cloaked in myths and conjectures. One such myth centres around the legend of Parasurama, the warrior-sage who is regarded as the incarnation of Vishnu . After destroying the Kshathriya kings, goes the legend, the warrior-sage asked an assembly of learned men a way of penance for his past misdeeds.

On being advised to hand over the lands he had conquered to the Brahmins to save his soul from eternal damnation, he readily agreed and sat in penance at Gokarnam, those days considered to be land's end. There having got boons from Varuna, the God of the Oceans and Bhumidevi, the Goddess of earth, he proceeded to Kanya Kumari (Cape Comorin) and threw his battle axe northwards across the waters. The waters subsided and what was left over was called the land of Parasurama, that is today's Kerala.

Fiction ? Hardly so, since geologists have pointed out that the elevation of Kerala from the sea was the result of some seismic activity, either sudden or gradual. There is also another theory. The rivers of Kerala emptying into the Arabian seas bring down enormous quantities of silt from the hills. The ocean currents transport quantities of sand towards the shore. The coastal portions could well be due to the accumulation of this silt over thousands of years.

Ancient Kerala occupied a unique place in the commercial world. The teak found in the ruins of Ur must certainly have come from the Malabar Coast. This means trade flourished around 3000 BC. Cotton from this region was a favourite in Egypt, the Phoenicians visited the coast of Malabar around the same time to trade in ivory, sandalwood and spices. King Solomon is said to have sent his commercial fleet to Ophir which is said to be somewhere in Southern Kerala.

Backwaters & Rivers
The backwaters are a peculiar feature of the state. Canals link the lakes and backwaters to facilitate an uninterrupted inland water navigation system from Thiruvananthapuram to Vadakara, a distance of 450 kms. The Vembanad lake stretching from Alappuzha to Kochi is the biggest water body in the state and is over 200 sq.kms. in area. Kuttanad in Alappuzha district alone has more than 20 per cent of India's total length of waterways.

The important rivers from north to south are; Valapattanam river (110 kms.), Chaliar (69 kms.), Kadalundipuzha (130 kms.), Bharathapuzha (209 kms.), Chalakudy river (130 kms.), Periyar (244 kms), Pamba (176 kms), Achancoil (128 kms.) and Kalladayar (121 kms.). Other than these, there are 35 more small rivers and rivulets flowing down from the Ghats. Most of these rivers are navigable up to the midland region, in country crafts.