Whats so special about Kerala?

Question

I hear so much and during my next visit to India I am planing to go there if one can convince me its a place not to be missed.

Answer 1

god's on country

Answer 2

the lack of pollution..and the massages

Answer 3

Kerala (['keːɹəˌɭɐ] (help·info); Malayalam: കേരളം?; Kēraḷaṁ) is a state on the tropical Malabar Coast of southwestern India. To its east and northeast, Kerala borders Tamil Nadu and Karnataka; to its west and south lie the Indian Ocean islands of Lakshadweep and the Maldives, respectively. Kerala nearly envelops Mahé, a coastal exclave of Pondicherry. Kerala is one of four states that compose the linguistic-cultural region known as South India. The principal spoken language is Malayalam, but other languages are also spoken. Kerala ranks 21st by area (about the size of the Netherlands) and 12th by population nationwide[citation needed].

First settled in the 10th century BC by speakers of Proto-South Dravidian, Kerala was influenced by the Mauryan Empire. Later, the Cheran kingdom and feudal Nair and Namboothiri Brahminical city-states became major powers in the region.[1] Early contact with overseas lands culminated in struggles between colonial and native powers. The States Reorganisation Act of 1st November 1956 elevated Kerala to statehood.

Social reforms enacted in the late 19th century by Cochin and Travancore were expanded upon by post-independence governments, making Kerala among the Third World's longest-lived, healthiest, most gender-equitable, and most literate regions.[2][3] Though the state's basic human development indices are roughly equivalent to those in the developed world, the state is substantially more environmentally sustainable than Europe and North America.[4][5] Nevertheless, Kerala's suicide, alcoholism, and unemployment rates rank among India's highest.[6] A survey conducted in 2005 by Transparency International ranked Kerala as the least corrupt state in the country.[7]

The widely disputed etymology of Kerala is a matter of conjecture. In the prevailing theory, Kerala is an imperfect Malayalam portmanteau that fuses kera ("coconut palm tree") and alam ("land" or "location").[8] Another theory is that the name originated from the phrase chera alam ("Land of the Chera").[9] Natives of Kerala, known as Keralites or Malayalees, thus refer to their land as Keralam. Kerala's tourism industry, among others, also use the phrase God's Own Country

History

Main article: History of Kerala

According to a legend, Parasurama, an avatar of Mahavishnu, threw his battle axe into the sea. As a result, the land of Kerala arose and was reclaimed from the waters.[11] During Neolithic times, humans largely avoided Kerala's rainforests and wetlands. There is evidence of the emergence of prehistoric pottery and granite burial monuments in the 10th century BC that resemble their counterparts in Western Europe and the rest of Asia. These were produced by speakers of a proto-Tamil language.[12] Thus, Kerala and Tamil Nadu once shared a common language, ethnicity and culture; this common area was known as Tamilakam. Kerala became a linguistically separate region by the early 14th century. The ancient Cherans, whose mother tongue and court language was Tamil, ruled Kerala from their capital at Vanchi and was the first major recorded kingdom. Allied with the Pallavas, they continually warred against the neighbouring Chola and Pandya kingdoms. A Keralite identity—distinct from the Tamils and associated with the second Chera empire—and the development of Malayalam evolved between the 8th and 14th centuries. In written records, Kerala was first mentioned in the Sanskrit epic Aitareya Aranyaka. Later, figures such as Katyayana, Patanjali, Pliny the Elder, and the unknown author of the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea displayed familiarity with Kerala.[13]



Lord Parshuram with settlers commanding Lord Varuna to make the seas recede to make the Kerala.

Muniyaras (Keralite dolmens or megalithic tombs) in Marayoor, erected by Neolithic tribesmen.

The Knanaya Syrian Orthodox Valia Palli (St. Mary’s Church) in Thazhathangadi, Kottayam. Built in 1550 AD, it hosts an 8th-century Persian cross and Sassanid Pahlavi inscriptions.

Memorial of Veera Pazhassi Raja (the "Lion of Kerala") in Mananthavady, Wayanad. Pazhassi Raja launched a guerilla war against the British in the late 18th century.The Chera kings' dependence on trade meant that merchants from West Asia and Southern Europe established coastal posts and settlements in Kerala.[14][15] Many, especially Jews and Christians, escaped persecution and established the Nasrani Mappila and Muslim Mappila communities.[16] According to several scholars, the Jews first arrived in Kerala in 573 BC.[17][18] The works of scholars and Eastern Christian writings state that Thomas the Apostle visited Muziris in Kerala in 52 AD to proselytize amongst Kerala's Jewish settlements.[19][20] However, the first verifiable migration of Jewish-Nasrani families to Kerala is of the arrival of Knai Thoma in 345 AD.α[›][21] Muslim merchants (Malik ibn Dinar) settled in Kerala by the 8th century AD. After Vasco Da Gama's arrival in 1498, the Portuguese gained control of the lucrative pepper trade by subduing Keralite communities and commerce.[22][23]

Conflicts between the cities of Kozhikode (Calicut) and Kochi (Cochin) provided an opportunity for the Dutch to oust the Portuguese. In turn, the Dutch were ousted at the 1741 Battle of Colachel by Marthanda Varma of Travancore (Thiruvathaamkoor). Hyder Ali, heading the Mysore, conquered northern Kerala, capturing Kozhikode in 1766. In the late 18th century, Tipu Sultan, Ali’s son and successor, launched campaigns against the expanding British East India Company; these resulted in two of the four Anglo-Mysore Wars. He ultimately ceded Malabar District and South Kanara to the Company in the 1790s. The Company then forged tributary alliances with Kochi (1791) and Travancore (1795). Malabar and South Kanara became part of the Madras Presidency.[24]

Kerala saw comparatively little defiance of the British Raj. Nevertheless, several rebellions occurred, including the 1946 Punnapra-Vayalar revolt,[25] and leaders like Velayudan Thampi Dalava, Kunjali Marakkar, and Pazhassi Raja earned their place in history and folklore. Many actions, spurred by such leaders as Sree Narayana Guru and Chattampi Swamikal, instead protested such conditions as untouchability; notable was the 1924 Vaikom Satyagraham. In 1936, Chitra Thirunal Bala Rama Varma of Travancore issued the Temple Entry Proclamation that opened Hindu temples to all castes; Cochin and Malabar soon did likewise. The 1921 Moplah Rebellion involved Mappila Muslims rioting against Hindus and the British Raj.[26]

After India gained its independence in 1947, Travancore and Cochin were merged to form Travancore-Cochin on July 1, 1949. On January 1, 1950 (Republic Day), Travancore-Cochin was recognised as a state. The Madras Presidency was organised to form Madras State several years prior, in 1947. Finally, the Government of India's November 1, 1956 States Reorganisation Act inaugurated the state of Kerala, incorporating Malabar district, Travancore-Cochin (excluding four southern taluks, which were merged with Tamil Nadu), and the taluk of Kasargod, South Kanara.[27] A new legislative assembly was also created, for which elections were first held in 1957. These resulted in a communist-led government—one of the world's earliest—headed by E.M.S. Namboodiripad.[27][28] Subsequent social reforms favoured tenants and labourers.[29][30] As a result, living standards, education, and life expectancy improved dramatically.

[edit] Geography

Main article: Geography of Kerala



A temple pond in Palakkad.Kerala’s 38,863 km² landmass (1.18% of India) is wedged between the Arabian Sea to the west and the Western Ghats—identified as one of the world's twenty-five biodiversity hotspots[31]—to the east. Lying between north latitudes 8°18' and 12°48' and east longitudes 74°52' and 72°22',[32] Kerala is well within the humid equatorial tropics. Kerala’s coast runs for some 580 km (360 miles), while the state itself varies between 35 and 120 km (22–75 miles) in width. Geographically, Kerala can be divided into three climatically distinct regions: the eastern highlands (rugged and cool mountainous terrain), the central midlands (rolling hills), and the western lowlands (coastal plains). Located at the extreme southern tip of the Indian subcontinent, Kerala lies near the centre of the Indian tectonic plate; as such, most of the state is subject to comparatively little seismic and volcanic activity.[33] Pre-Cambrian and Pleistocene geological formations compose the bulk of Kerala’s terrain.

Eastern Kerala lies immediately west of the Western Ghats's rain shadow; it consists of high mountains, gorges and deep-cut valleys. 41 of Kerala’s west-flowing rivers, and 3 of its east-flowing ones originate in this region. Here, the Western Ghats form a wall of mountains interrupted only near Palakkad, where the Palakkad Gap breaks through to provide access to the rest of India. The Western Ghats rises on average to 1,500 m (4920 ft) above sea level, while the highest peaks may reach to 2,500 m (8200 ft). Just west of the mountains lie the midland plains composing central Kerala; rolling hills and valleys dominate.[32] Generally ranging between elevations of 250–1,000 m (820–3300 ft), the eastern portions of the Nilgiri and Palni Hills include such formations as Agastyamalai and Anamalai.



A view of Vazhachal fallsKerala’s western coastal belt is relatively flat, and is criss-crossed by a network of interconnected brackish canals, lakes, estuaries, and rivers known as the Kerala Backwaters. Lake Vembanad—Kerala’s largest body of water—dominates the Backwaters; it lies between Alappuzha and Kochi and is more than 200 km² in area. Around 8% of India's waterways (measured by length) are found in Kerala.[34]  

Answer 4

You get a lot in a small region: rain forest, beaches, hill stations, backwater lagoons.  The food is good too.  Check out some of the websites listed by one of the other respondents (see above).

Answer 5

gods own country , natural beauty,  

for further detail go to this sites.

http://www.keralatourism.org/

http://www.ktdc.com/

http://www.kerala-tourism.net/

http://www.keralagreenery.org/

Answer 6

It's beautiful.....

nice climate....

greenary all around....

literate people....

Answer 7

lungis that they wear

Answer 8

to say everyting is sppcial..... d food.... u get mor of non veg....... nature......... where ever u go u find........ n its totaly  a beautiful...... hav  a nice tim......

Answer 9

Kerala is known to be "Gods own country" because of its natural beauty.  Kerala is one of the place never to be missed during visit to India.

For more details, please check the following links:

http://www.keralatourism.org/

http://www.keralatourism.com/

http://www.kerala-tourism.net/