Trip to Kerala

                                       Trip to Kerala

Kerala a state in Southern India is known as a tropical paradise of waving palms and wide sandy beaches.  It is also known for its backwaters, mountains, coconuts, spices and art forms like Kathakali and Mohini Attam. It is the most literate state in India, and a land of diverse religions, where you can find Hindu temples, mosques, churches, and even synagogues. With world class tourist sporting options, ayurvedic spas and treatments, eco-tourism initiatives, a large number of visit options ranging from beautiful high altitude blue mountains to pristine rain forests to golden sun-sand beaches and an enormous range of accommodation, Kerala has much to offer the visitor.

   Music

Kerala has its own indigenous music and orchestration.

• Melam. This is a percussion ensemble, with several variants differing in the number of percussive instruments used, as well as the style of playing them. Melam is extremely popular and is s mostly used during temple festivals, when more than six hours of continuous playing is the norm. Melam attracts large crowds and creates wonderful notes. The Thrissur Pooram has the largest Melam, with more than 300 musicians in the ensemble.

• Sopanam. This is Kerala's unique classical music; slow, graceful rhythms. Most of the original versions are poems, and the music is coupled with poetic expression and style. Sopanam is now limited to regular performances at temple events.

• Mappila Songs. This music is associated with the local Muslim community. Traditionally, the songs were performed in Mappila Malayalam - a mixture of Arabic and Malayalam - and most tell stories of social systems and customs. Today, Mappila songs are popular amongst youngsters, using Malayalam lyrics. Mappila songs have a charm of their own as their tunes sound a mix of the ethos and culture of Kerala as well as West Asia. 

                                     How to reach??? 

Indian Railways operates several trains to and from Kerala. More than 500 plus trains connect Kerala to all parts of India, including long-haul direct train services to cities like Delhi, Jaipur, Kolkata and Mumbai. Trivandrum Rajadhani, Ernakulam Durnoto, Kerala Express and Netravati Express are some of the most popular trains connect key cities across India.

Kerala is quite well connected with all modes of transport. The flat southern side is better connected than mountainous north. One of unique feature of Kerala, is its continuous urban and semi-urban areas across both sides of any road or rail. As a result, you might not feel you exited from village/city into another, being continuous. This helps in getting transport to travel around easily. 

                             What to see in Kerala 

Kerala is a long state by virtue of its geography and its advised to check individual cities and regions, to know local sightseeing attractions, restaurants, hotels etc.

• Backwaters of Kerala are a maze of lagoons criss-crossed with rivers, shallow pools and canals, all separated from the sea by a narrow strip of sand banks. In many places, the backwaters connect to form large lakes. Backwaters are present throughout the state Astamudi Lake is highly unique due to its topography. This is the most beautiful backwater of Kerala

• The annual Vallam Kali boat races take place in the backwaters. The boats are large wooden canoes that can accommodate 60 to 100 rowers. The most famous race is for the Nehru Trophy Vallam Kalli, held on the second Saturday of August as a tribute to the former Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru who had a keen interest in this sport.

Beaches

• Kovalam Beach near Trivandrum has a good bathing area, clean environment and plenty of accommodation. This was a centre of Hippy counter-culture in sixties, and is today well known for hedonistic beach parties.

• Varkala Beach in Thiruvananthapuram district - A long cliff makes the beach more natural (no restaurant behind you). It is long beach with natural springs from the cliff.

• Thirumullavaram Beach in Kollam district - A unique beach in the world where you can walk in the sea water for 1/2 KM because of its unique topography

• Alapuzha Beach and Kollam Beach are both well known for beach sports and tournaments.

• Marari is an upcoming location with quite a few resorts along the way and an hour away from Kochi.

• Cherai Beach near Kochi city has a large sand beach.

Kerala is also famous for its religious harmony. Keralites are very religious people and religious functions dominates all walks of life. However religion donot make the final word in anybody's life here, thus its an very open society for debate and discussions about religions.
 

                                             STAY

With tourism being one of the most important source for the state's coffers, a wide of accommodation is available for tourists across the world, suiting individual tastes, cultural preferences and all options that fits everyone's pocket. Almost all major cities have hotels ranging from tourist lodges to 5 star hotels and theme resorts. In addition to this, there are youth hostels, home-stays, travel dormitories and small lodges catering budget tourists, determining their necessity.