KERALA - GOD'S OWN COUNTRY
Backwaters, beaches, hill stations, waterfalls, tropical forests, wildlife, art forms, festivals, ayurveda, houseboats, tree houses there is no end to the enchanting attractions of this land.
Kerala, was the Indian province where Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama landed inthe year 1498, opening the sea route between Europe and India, the land of spices. A God named Rama-of-the-axe had wanted to create a green Haven for wanderers and so he had hurled his Axe into the ocean. The water had bubbled and seethed in protest but, reluctantly, had to withdraw from the land. This green silver of a state, cupped between Elephant-haunted mountains and the heartbeat of the Arabian sea, is Kerala. Naturally, they call it, God's own country. Kerala is the darling of international travel writers and publications.
Sandwitched between the forest clad Western Ghats on the east and the Arabian Sea on the west, Kerala runs down the southwest coast of India. With unique geographical features, overpowering tropical landscape, 44 rivers and countless waterways.
Kerala's religious rituals and spectacular festivals stimulate even the most jaded imagination, ;continuing centuries of tradition that has never strayed far from the realms of magic. There are many colourful all-night entertainments associated with Kerta's temples. Fireworks rend the air, while processions of elephants are accompanied by some of the most rhythmic and loudest drum orchestras in the world. |