KUMARAKOM

 

Fishing boats glide silently over the velvety dark water as wiry men push their oars or draw in nets. Little canoes, called kettuvellums, carry women home after a day of selling flowers at the market. Long houseboats resembling floating bamboo huts that used to transport rice but now ferry tourists also pass by. Along the riverbanks, village life is in full swing as women wash clothes or pump water near their neat brick houses, children climb trees, and young men play volleyball. These are the famous "backwaters" of Kerala. This network of waterways branches out from Vembanad Lake near the sleepy town of Alleppey, an hour south of Cochin, the commercial hub of the Indian state of Kerala. A lush strip on the country's southwestern coast, Kerala, meaning "land of coconuts," has become one of India's most desired tourist destinations

Backwaters are unique to Kerala and are essentially inland lakes connected by a network of canals lakes, canals and estuaries opening into the sea. The biggest among these backwaters is the Vembanad lake, with an area of 200 sq km, which opens out into the Arabian Sea at Cochin port.  The lifestyle in the area is unique as for about 9 months of the year the land is flooded. This area  is probably the only place in the world where farming is done below sea level. The backwaters are a self-supporting eco-system teeming with aquatic life. The canals connect the villages together and are still used for local transport. There are almost a dozen of such backwaters in Kerala.

Kumarakom is a lovely village surrounded by paddy fields and the Vembanad Lake. The bird sanctuary here spreads over an area of 14 acres and numerous species of birds can be seen here. Siberian Storks migrate here every year. Set off on a small country boat through the mesmerising waterscape and the numerous canals and rivers.

 

more....