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| • Southern
Kerala |
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| •Thiruvananthapuram • Kovalam • Varkala • Kottayam • Kollam • Alappuzha |
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| • Thriuvananthapuram |
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Area:
2193 sq.km
Population:2,938,583
Altitude: Sea level
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The city
gets its name from the
word, Thiruvananthapuram,
meaning the city of Anantha
or the abode of the sacred
serpent Anantha on which
Lord Vishnu, the preserver
of the Hindu trinity,
reclines. |
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| • Kovalam |
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This
beach town is probably the
most important tourist destination
in the state. The good beaches
and excellent hotels and
resort make it a tourist
favourite. The other attractions
is the Ayurvedic health
programmes offered by a
various health centers and
resort. Thirty years ago
Kovalam was a hippy idyll
: a picture-perfect beach
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Kovalam
retains a certain charm
and is still popular with
travelers carving some rest
from the long haul across
the subcontinent. The beaches
are generally safe and clean
and the powerful Arabian
Sea swells are inviting
and invigorating. And each
night local fishermen still
row their boats out to sea.orientation |
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Kovalam consist of two palm-fringed
coves separated from less-populated
beaches north and south
by rocky headlands. The
southern headland is marked
by a prominent lighthouse.
It's is 15 minute walk from
one headland to the other. |
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| • Varkala |
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This is another good beach 50 km from Trivandrum. The Papanasan beach here is not as crowded as the one in Kovalam. The Janardhana temple here is believed to be 2000 years old.
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| Things
to See & Do: |
| Varkala is first and foremost
a temple town and the
Janardhana Temple is on
Beach road. |
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| • Kottayam |
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Tourist
Season:
August to March This back
water town is well known
for its rubber plantations
. The religion is a predominately
Christian and is dotted
with pretty old churches.
Thekkady is a major wildlife
center 114 km from here.
The Hindu pilgrim center
Sabarimala is 134 km from
here.
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An unbelievably beautiful
paradise of mangrove forest,
emerald green paddy fields
and coconut groves interspersed
with enchanting waterways
and canals adorned with
white lilies.Situated on the Vembanad
lake, in this small water
world you'll come across
plenty of traditional
country crafts, boats
and canoes which will
take you into the heart
of the scenic lake. The
resorts nearby offer comfortable
accommodations and exclusive
leisure options like an
ayurvedic massage, yoga,
meditation, boating, fishing,
angling and swimming. |
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| The
Vembanad Lake, Kumarakom
(16 km from Kottayam town) |
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Kottayam
is a vast network of rivers
and canals which empty
into the great expanse
of water called the Vembanad
lake. The lake, an enchanting
picnic spot and a fast
developing backwater tourism
destination, provides
boating, fishing and sightseeing
experience that are truly
exhilarating. The serene
lake comes alive during
Onam with a spectacular
water
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regatta- the snake
boat races. It is indeed
amazing to watch oarsmen,
at least a hundred in
one boat, slice their
way through the water
to the fast rhythm of
their own full throated
singing. |
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| Kumarakom
Bird Sanctuary (16 km
from Kottayam town) |
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Located on the banks of
the Vembanad Lake, the
Kumarakom bird sanctuary,
an ornithologist's paradise,
is a favourite haunt of
migratory birds like the
Siberian stork, Egret,
Darter, Heron and Teal.
Other common varieties
like the Woodpecker, Skylark,
Crane, Water hen and Parrots
can also be spotted here.
A cruise along the Vembanad
Lake is the best way to
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experience the sanctuary.
Pathiramanal, an enchanting
island on the lake, can
be accessed by boat from
here. |
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| Pathiramanal |
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This 10 acer island on
the backwaters is home
to many rare varities
of migratory birds from
different parts of the
world. According to mythology
a young brahmin divided
into the Vembanad lake
to preform his evening
ablutions and the water
made way for land to rise
from below, thus creating
the enchanting island.
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| • Kollam |
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District Area
: 2579 sq.km.
Climate : Tropical
Rainfall : 270 cm. (Annual)
Temperature : Mean Max. 36.0
degree Celsius
Mean Min. 22.4 degree Celsius
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72 km away from Trivandrum is
fairly important for the State's
trade and commerce and is the
center of the country's cashew
trading and processing industry.
It is also an important hub
for the State's marine products
industry, with the port of Neendakara
being the center for travelers
and ice plants. For all its
natural gifts of wide rivers,
dominant hills and forest, lakes
and plains, there is the throb
of a vibrant industrial activity
that combines with equanimity
the wonders of the modern age
with the traces of a bygone
era. Quilon which is a veritable
Kerala in miniature is gifted
as it is with Kerala's very
representative features - sea,
lakes, plains, mountains, rivers,
streams, backwaters, forest,
vast green fields and tropical
crop of every variety both food
crop and cash crop. |
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| • Alappuzha |
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District
Area : 1414 sqkm.
Climate : Tropical Humid
Altitude : Sea Level
Temperature : Mean Max.
35 degree C Mean Min. 20 degree C
Rainfall : 229 cm. (Annual)
Tourist Season : August
to March
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Alleppey,
one of the best-known
ports along the coast
of Malabar, is referred
to as the Venice of the
East, built on the banks
of a network of canals.
It is a fabled trade center
of antiquity. |
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The beach
here is not as big as
the others. However, north
of Alleppey, the Arthunkal
beach in worthy of development
as an international holiday
resort. Watching rural
life at close quarters
- the many activities
like; toddy tapping, fishing
for small fry, coir-making,
prawn farming, and scores
of other sights by a boat
trip in a country craft up and down
the narrow canals in the coastal
region is gaining in popularity
among the foreign tourists and
the North Indian visitors alike. |
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