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Kerala Travel Guide
Kerala Travel Guide
Kerala
is a green strip of land, in the South West corner of Indian peninsula. It
has only 1.1 8 per cent of the total area of the country but houses 3.43% of
the the country's population.
In
1956, when the states were reorganized, Kerala was formed after tying the
princely states of Travancore and Cochin with Malabar, a province under
Madras state.
Kerala may be divided into three geographical
regions: (1) High lands, (2) Midlands and (3) Lowlands. The Highlands slope
down from the Western Ghats which rise to an average height of 900 m, with a
number of peaks well over 1,800 m in height. This is the area of major
plantations like tea, coffee, rubber, cardamom and other spices.
The
Midlands, lying between the mountains and the lowlands, is made up of
undulating hills and valleys. This is an area of intensive cultivation.
Cashew, coconut, areca nut, cassava (tapioca), banana, rice, ginger, pepper,
sugarcane and vegetables of myriad varieties are grown in this area.
It
is a purified world in Kerala, the land of trees. A big, spreading tree
purifies as much air as a room air-conditioner. And the former is never
switched off. The prolific, bustling, vegetation acts like a massive,
biological, air-filtration plant working round the clock, round the year.
Hence spending days in Kerala countryside is as if spending in an air-
purified environ; some times better than it. So is the rejuvenating effect
of the lush greenery of the state.
The
wanton growth of trees makes Kerala a herbarium. The four month-long,
copious monsoon and recurrent flurry make this land a perfect nursery for
all living beings. Loitering under the canopy of the foliage, you will feel
blossoming the dreams. Thus, on a sojourn in Kerala, away from the rough and
tumble of cities, you're breathing freshly purified air all the time.
Another
piece de resistance of Kerala is the meandering rivers which criss-cross the
state physique like blood veins. Besides, water bodies tucked away in thick
forests also enhance the amazing beauty of the state. They fertilize the'
land, turn waste into the wealth of the rich, black, alluvial soil on which
the agrarian state thrive.
The Lowlands or the coastal area, made
up of river deltas, backwaters and the Arabian coast, is essentially a land
of coconuts and rice. Fisheries and coif industry constitute the major
industries of this area.
Kerala is a land of rivers and
backwaters. Forty-four rivers (41 west-flowing and 3 east-flowing}
criss-cross the state physique along with countless runlets. During summer,
these monsoon-fed rivers will turn into rivulets especially in the upper
parts of Kerala.
Backwaters
are an attractive, economically valuable feature of Kerala. These include
lakes and ocean in lets which stretch irregularly along the Kerala coast.
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
Periyar, Pamba, Manimala, Achenkovil, Meenachil and Moovattupuzha rivers
drain into this lake.The other important backwaters are Veli, Kadhinam
kulam, Anjengo (Anju Thengu),Edava, Nadayara, Paravoor. Ashtamudi (Quilon)
Flora: Kerala has over 25%
of India's 15,000 plant species. Among them include endangered and rare
species, flowering plants, fungies, lichens and mosses. The state's forest
wealth include tropical wet evergreen, semi-green and tropical most
deciduous. Teak, Mahagoney, Rosewood and Sandalwood are common, the forests
abound with orchids, anthirium, balsam, and medicinal plants. banyan figs,
bamboo as well as 40,000 years old grasslands. Mangroves are seen in coastal
areas and low, morass lands. So fertile is the state, thanks to rivers and
dams that are replenished by copious rain in Western Ghats.
