Chasing the Monsoon in Kerala

If the gods were to be thanked for all the favours they have showered on Kerala, Indra the God of Rain, deserves the maximum.  For, if you take away the bounteous rain, this verdant short stretch of land, Once called the Malabar Cost but now named Kerala with the sobriquet ‘Gods Own Country’ to boot, will die, almost instantly. Its green, vivaciously verdant landscape is wholly due to the rain that relentlessly lashes the land for well over six months in a year, albeit, in two installments,  June – September (south –west monsoon) and October-November (north- east monsoon). (more…)

Kochi – A magnificent Matrix

The fall of Muziris following the freak flood of 1341 saw the rise of the twin cities of Mattancherry and Kochi down south. While the former grew into a great trading centre of repute attracting men and material from all over the globe, the latter emerged as a seat of royal power with all the attendant glitz and glamour. Today, neither retains the old mores, new ones having replaced them over the years. And therein hangs the fascinating story of their transformation. (more…)

Kochi – City of Charm

For a short stretch of land in the country of continental proportion, the Malabar  Coast,  presently called Kerala, perhaps deserved mention only on the back pages of history.  That was not to be.  Long before any part of the country came up for reckoning, this gorgeously verdant land had already had its tryst with the rest of the world.  Its spices, particularly pepper, also called black gold, were what the world was after.  And if ever history was made by geography, it was indeed here. (more…)

Kochi, Gateway of Kerala

As the competing yacht sailed into Cochin waters in tandem on the second lap of the famous Volvo Race in early December, 2008 they were inadvertently, but symbolically, recapturing history of the five centuries ago.  With perhaps, one major difference: the earlier seafarers were adventurous traders, while they present-day peers are footloose adventures.   And both found a warm welcome here, a coastal fishing village, then called British Cochin, now Fort Cochin, the gateway of  Kerala, a tourist super brand. (more…)

The making of a Kochi

Not much princely state in pre- independent India had two capitals; one where royalty sat and took decisions and another where its minions sat and dispensed royal diktats. The erstwhile Cochin State was one such. The hamlet-like Tripunithura was the abode of royalty, while the neighboring sleepy town of Ernakulam housed the secretariat, judiciary and other sundry officialdom. (more…)

The Spicy Route of Kochi

There are two stories about Gujaratis’ tryst with Kerala.  One has it that they first came here in the early 12^th century as refugees after their land was ruthlessly ravaged by the marauding army of Mahmud Ghazni. The second relates to a much later period when they came as honored guest at the request of the then Diwan of the erstwhile Travancore, Raja Kesavadas, to motivate the locals to entrepreneurship. Even if apocryphal, the two stories, nonetheless, suggest a symbolic, yet historical, link between the people up north and down south that evidently transcended time. (more…)

Tripunithura,Years Back

The year was 1898, On a sultry summer morning, the then Maharaja of Cochin State, Sir Sri Rama Varma, was closeted with his Diwan, Sir P Rajagopalachari. The issue that was agitating their mind was the non-completion of the railway line from Shornur in the north to the capital city of Ernakulam, down south, for want of funds. They had already scraped the proverbial ‘bottom of the pot’. Both were at their wits’ end. (more…)

Padayani

Padayani festival at Palli Bhagavathy Temple at  Neelamperoor in Alappuzha district.   Padayani literally means ’rows of army’ and is kind of ritual art. The one held at Neelamperoor is different from the Padayani  performance in other parts of Kerala.   It stands out for the massive effigies of swans,  the making of which is locally known as Annam Kettu.   A colourful procession carrying the effigies of mythological character is also carried out during the night.   From Kottayam it is only about 16km.

Malappuram Craft Mela to imitate surajkund

Kerala is considered the possibilities of organizing Malappuram Crafts Fair on the lines of the Haryana’s popular Surajkhand. The delegation of senior Government officers visited the 24th Surajkund Craft Fair like the one in Surajkhand.

Mr.O.P. Jain, Minister for Tourism, Haryana has promised to extend all cooperation to Kerala. (more…)

IRCTC’s Bharath Darshan

Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) offers 14 dates Bharath Darshan Trip. Tourist can avail of the services of the Bharat Darshan train operated IRCTC. The train will begin  its journey from the State on December 23. The 14-day tour would cost Rs 7,181. It would travel from Madurai via Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Shoranur, Kozhikode, Kannur, Kasaragod and Kankanady to Goa, Jaipur, New Delhi, Agra, Hyderabad, Ramoji Film City and return

Contact
Tel: + 91 495-2701510, 9746743047

KOCHI

Regional Office IRCTC, 1ST floor,14/894 Salih Konment Road, Ernakulam
Phone – 484-2382991/92, 09446579474
Fax -0484-2382990

Thripunithura Athachamayam

Thripunithura Athachamayam is one of the most popular events during Onam season with colorful procession where you can see almost all the folk art forms of Kerala.  Years back the procession was up to Thrikkakara temple to mark the beginning of the festival at Thrikkakara.  In olden days the event was conducted by the royal Rajas of erstwhile Kochi State.  The majestic charm still retained. Thrippunithura is about 8 km from Ernakulam.

Kerala Tourism website bags PATA award

The official website of Kerala Tourism www.keralatourism.org has won the prestigious PATA (Pacific Asia Travel Association) Gold Award 2010 for the best website.

The PATA Gold Awards were meant honour industry stakeholder who have made outstanding contribution to the promotion and development of travel and tourism across the Asia-Pacific region. The 2010 PATA awards attracted 200 entries from 80 organizations and individuals’ world wide. PATA Grand Awards are presented to outstanding entries in the four principal categories: Marketing, education and training, Environment and Heritage. (more…)

Kerala Travel Mart

The sixth edition of Kerala Travel Mart (KTM) will be held in Kochi from September 23-26 and speedy arrangements are on process. The KTM aims to offer small and medium stakeholders in the travel and tourism sector a platform to hold their own in the face of stiff competition from other States and aboard. The KTM is the only tourism event in the sub-continent that brings together the business fraternity and entrepreneurs behind the tourism products and services of Kerala. (more…)

Palakkad make others Green with envy

Elappully Panchayat came out as the winner of the social reality show, Green Kerala Express, first of its kind in the country. This panchayat was the favourite among the 140-odd grama panchayats and bagged first prize of Rs 1 crore. (more…)

CIAL to showcase aviation evolution

The proposed museum of Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL)nearing completion will have four exhibition halls showcasing the growth and evolution of the global aviation industry and relevant materials supported by photographs and narrations in English. Each of the rooms will contain a central model of different structure related to the airport industry or the models of fighter planes and choppers. (more…)

Thriruvananthapuram city tour Nagara Darsan by KTDC

Kerala Tourism Development Corporation’s newly introduced Thriuvananthapuram city tour ‘Nagara Darsan’ is aimed at introducing the traveler to the many sights and sounds of the beautiful capital city. Two five and a half hour-long trips offered by KTDC Resorts and Hotels in the Nagara Darsan city tour package stops over at the important land marks of the city. Prominent cultural and historical monument and destinations like, Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple, Kuthiramalika Palace, Shanghumugham Beach, Veli Tourist Village, Museum, Zoo and Art Gallery are the stopover points in the trip. (more…)

Makeover for Napier Museum

The 135-year-old Napier Museum, one of  Thiruvananthapuram’s historic landmarks, is going in for a makeover. In an effort to preserve the Museum, the Kerala State Archaeology Department is abandoning its conventional lighting system and replacing it with LED (light-emitting diode) lighting. This move is expected to reduce the building’s energy usage and carbon emissions from lighting by nearly 50 percent over a 20-year period, and reduce the carbon footprint as well. (more…)

Inland waterways on its Route to development in Kochi

Kerala’s inland water service is all set to promote inland navigation in Kochi. For this 40 new boats under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission has been introduced for ferry services in Kochi and Kerala State Water Transport Department has provided Rs 5 crore for the purchase of new boats and another 6 crore has been earmarked for the renovation of barges and jetties. This proposal will tap the potential of the State’s Inland water transport system. (more…)

Beautiful backwaters of Kerala

The beautiful backwaters Kerala  have outclassed the world-renowned destination and India’s Iconic Taj Mahal, in an international survey that rated the world’s top 133 tourist places. (more…)

Kerala Tourism has won the ‘Best Domestic Tourism Board’ award

Kerala Tour has won the ‘Best Domestic Tourism Board’ award and ‘Today’s Traveller Platinum’ award for ‘Best State Marketing Campaign in 2009′ instituted by Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI); a leading tourism trade association in the country. (more…)

Scandinavia is a growing market for Kerala

With an eye to woo Scandinavian tourists, Kerala Travel along with a team of large travel delegates toured Scandinavia to promote Kerala as a preferred holiday destination. Kerala Travel Director, Mr. M. Sivasankar, led the seventeen member delegates, which comprises of trade representatives, hoteliers and tour operators. (more…)

Kochi International Marina

The magnificent Kochi will soon become home to a world class marina when Kerala Tourism Development Corporation (KTDC) will started its operation of an international marina on the Bolghatty islands on 24th April, 2010. (more…)

Vagamon Adventure Tourism

Vagamon, popularly known as Asia’s Scotland has to its credit one more shot in its arm – it has been selected as the venue for International Adventure Tourism fair by the Minister for Tourism Mr. Kodiyeri Balakrishnan. In association with the Adventure and Sustainable Tourism Academy, the Tourism department has set up a committee for this purpose, with Tourism Secretary, Dr. V. Venu, as Chairman. Mr. Gopavarma the Chairman of Adventure and Sustainable Tourism has also joined as one of the organizers of this championship. The fair is expected to give a boost to Kerala Tourism by positioning the state as an ideal destination for adventure tourism like trekking, paragliding and water sports like wind surfing, scuba diving, backwater biking and para sailing. Vagamon is also the venue for International Paragliding festival since 2006.

Muddy Boots Wayanad

Muddy Boots – The event masters of Wayanad

Surrounded by mountains, hill and rocks, covered in forests and plantations enriched by waterfalls and streams, Wayanad is blessed by the Nature with unmatched potential for action and Kerala Tourism adventures. This opportunity and potential has been lying untapped due to ‘lack of focused and professional product development’ the relevance and role of Muddy Boots Vacations, an interestingly different company emerges here. ‘We are here to bridge the gap between the market and the potential with a vision to bring the joy of outdoors to the interested traveler irrespective of fitness levels. And especially for families with children’, said Mr. Pradeep Murthy, one of the founders of this novel venture…. (more…)

Development on Tangasseri, Kollam

Tangasseri, Kollam is stepping into the Kerala tourism spotlight with many of its sights and sounds marked for development. A land scaped park is coming up within the fishing harbour complex at Tangasseri with the ruins of the 16th century Portuguese built Fort Thomas as the backdrop. The fort, situated on the tangasseri panhandle of Kollam, was once the citadel, from where the Portuguese controlled the coastal belt from Kollam to Anchuthengu. During the latter half of the 17th century, they surrendered the fort to the Dutch and towards the end of the 18th century, the fort came under the British. (more…)

Monsoon – A treasure unseen elsewhere

Monsoon starts raining from this land of God’s Own Country.  Enjoy the multi incarnations of monsoon in its place of origin. Monsoon in Kerala, with its altering attires of nature is an enchanting phenomenon to watch. A life giving bliss to the nature and mankind, it gives birth to new bio diversity. And the existing biosphere awaits the arrival of monsoon. It takes away all the impurities from the land and buries them in depths of the sea. (more…)

Best Pictures of 2010

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Dr.Philip Augustine

Health care is his forte

Dr.Philip Augustine MD, DM, the Managing Director of Lakeshore Hospital, Kochi is one of India’s leading gastroenterologists and health care administrators. An expert in gastrointestinal endoscopy , he has been researching in pancreatic and pancreatic cancer. (more…)

Dr Madhu Sreedharan

Practitioner of  heartfelt Charity

Dr Madhu Sreedharan, MD, DM, MRCP (UK), has been heading the NIMS  Heart Foundation for the last three years. A fellow of interventional Cardiology in Australia, he had been working as one of the three consultants in cardiology at the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences (SSSIHMS) at Whitefield for 3 years. Dr Madhu Sreedharan has written several articles in National and International journals. In an interview with us he reveals some of his views on health care and tourism in India . (more…)

Vaidyaratnam PS Varier

P.S Varier, the founder of Kottakkal had studied Ayurveda under the classical Gurukula system and also acquired proficiency in the pratice of Modern medicine.  A multi-faceted personality, he was an Ayurvedic scholar, academician, an able practitioner, a successful entrepreneur, and a genuine philanthropist. In recognition to his valuable services to humanity, Sri P.S Varier was conferred the distinguished title of ‘Vaidyaratna’ by His Excellency the Viceroy and Governor General of India in 1933. Mr.Varier wrote textbooks for students of Ayurveda that include Ashtangasariram.