LINKS

Useful Links

The following is a list useful links that I have compiled. If you wish to be added to this list, please send me an e-mail.

Kerala - The God's Own Country

Sun blanched white seashore. Endless beaches. Incessant blue waves mostly calm but sometimes boisterous clamouring and vanishing among white splashes. Green groves of coconuts just stop short and border the beaches with frills. Lurking in the backdrop a network of lagoons and backwaters. Boats and country crafts moving along. Quite a lot of rivers and countless rivulets flowing through hills and paddy fields of the midland, emptying themselves into the backwaters. And the far off dark blue mountains. This is what the eyes meet about Kerala. An excellent colour scheme and art work of Nature.An occasional boatsman rowing and singing with cargo or people. A tiller or a mower and women planting seedlings. Women at work spinning coir. Dense plantations further eastward. Kerala is all these and more..... Better known as "Gods Own Country", Kerala offers you a host of exciting holiday options. Spread out across the year are specially designed packages that highlight the State's attractions, and prove beyond doubt that the season never ends in this breath takingly beautiful land.

Alappuzha - The Venice of the East

Washed by the silvery waves of the Arabian Sea, Alappuzha, the Venice of the East welcomes you to the backwaters of kerala. The Palm fringed canals and shores bustling with glimpses from the day to day life in the country side, the mirror still lagoons, picture book lakesides and its long sandy beach has blessed Alappuzha, the water locked district, to become one of the best Backwater tourism destinations in God's Own Country. The large network of canals provide Alleppey its lifeline. Water carnivals using the gigantic snake boats and the country canoes of varying sizes have an important role in the community life of the people of the district.

The month of August holds the prime attraction to the civilians and the tourists as it is the time of the spectacular event -the Nehru Trophy Boat Race that is held on the second saturday of August every year. A cruise on an elegant houseboat offers a rare chance to view the attractive dense palm groves that are so characteristic of Kerala's landscape. This district is also notable for its numerous pilgrimage centres that draw vast crowds on the festival days and also boasts of having some of the best ayurvedic rejuvenation centres in Kerala. This Venice of the East is also famous for its coir and carpet industries in addition to featuring many other attractions of tourist importance. So come along ...... & cruise along the backwaters of Alappuzha, the Venice of the East....

ALAPPUZHA The Venice of the East



Washed by the silvery waves of the Arabian sea Alappuzha occupies a significant place in the tourist map of Kerala. Interlocked with a large number of canals and bridges this waterlocked district has immense untapped potential for backwater tourism.

Alappuzha has several canals and lakes fit for boat cruise. Three prominent rivers in the southern grid of Kerala viz. Achankovil, Pamba and Manimala empty into the lakes. A boat journey through the lakes will be a memorable experience. The watercourses are flanked by an unending row of coconut trees which heave and sway to the tune of the gush.

WATER CARNIVAL
Nehru Trophy Boat Race, the annual water carnival at Punnamada Lake, is considered the biggest snake boat race in the world. The colourful boat peagentry which precedes the boat race is a marvellous treat to the eyes. The snakeboats with a length of 30 to 60 metres and with 100 to 150 oarsmen plough the waters with the rhythm and symbols to the tune of the legendary songs. The Nehru Trophy was instituted by the late Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru who was enthralled by the charm and gaiety of the water carnival. The boat race attracts a large number of tourists, domestic and foreign.

In addition to this the boat races at Payippad, Thiruvanvandoor, Neerettupuram, Karuvatta and Thykkoottam are quite famous.

FISHING
Alappuzha is a great centre of fisheries. 'Chakara' a rare marine phenomenon in which a large number of fish throng together in the early days of May to August is a peculiarity of Purakkad, one of the main fishing centres on the coast of the Arabian Sea. This is in fact a fishermen's fiesta.

COIR
The district is the major centre of coir and allied products. There are about 4000 production units including a few big factories with mechanized looms. Alappuzha retains monopoly in coir production and exports.


AMBALAPPUZHA-SREEKRISHNA TEMPLE
Amabalappuzha Sreekrishna Temple on the Kollam-Alappuzha Highway is called the Dwaraka of the South. It is frequented by thousands of devotees especially during the annual festival which falls in April every year.

'Ambalappuzha palpayasam' the devotional delicacy of the temple, is renowned for its unique taste.

Ambalappuzha is also famous for the traditional visual martial art of Kerala, Velakali.


KARUMADI
Karumadi, three Kms. east of Ambalappuzha, has a statue of Budha called Karumadikuttan, a perennial source of interest for the tourists.

ARTHUNKAL CHURCH
Arthumkal Church is famous for the St. Sebastian's church which is situated south west of Cherthala town 22 Kms north of Alappuzha. The famous Arthumkal Perunal is held in January every year. Catholics from all parts of the state participate in the feast of St. Sebastian.

MANNARSALA
Mannarassala near Harippad 32 Kms. south of Alappuzha is an important centre of pilgrimage in the district. The famous Mannarassala temple devoted to the serpent deity is a rare phenomenon of worship. The Ayilyam festival held in November every year is very famous.

Ayurveda

Ayurveda is the 'Knowledge or Science of Life'. According to Charaka, the ancient physician-sage, life is a unified state of the physical body, the cognitive organs, the mind and the soul, thus signifying a living being.

Ayurveda deals with the maintenance of health and relief from disease. Susruta, another physician-sage of early times, defines the healthy state thus: 'A person whose somatic and psychic humours are in equilibrium, digestion is uniformly healthy, with normal functioning of the fundamental tissues of the body and body wastes, accompanied by the processes of the soul, cognitive organs and the mind, is said to be a healthy person'.

The primary position given to humoral equilibrium indicates its importance in maintaining health. Any disequilibrium is considered to lead to disease. Health is the physiological maintenance of all the functions of the living being, while disease is the disturbance in the physiology.

The contemporary practice of Ayurveda is based on the several hundred volumes of Classical treatises and on the official Formulary and Pharmacopoeia.

During the 500 years of foreign domination of India, Ayurveda was held in ridicule, and it withered. But the invincible spirit of this life science survived and thrived. Today, Ayurveda has caught the attention of the people the world over - both laymen and professionals.

The major credit for reviving and spreading the message of Ayurveda in the 20th century goes to the Kottakkal Arya Vaidya Sala and its founder Vaidyaratnam P. S. Varier. Called the 'Saviour of Ayurveda in the South', he was the first man in South India to organise the treatment of patients under the Ayurvedic system. He pioneered the production of Ayurvedic medicines on modern lines, and ensured that Ayurveda occupied its rightful place among the country's major medical systems.

Inspired by the zeal, vision and human compassion of its great founder, Kottakkal Arya Vaidya Sala carried on with its noble mission. It sailed smoothly through two World Wars, the Great Depression of the thirties and several natural calamities and political upheavals. Today, it has grown into a mighty organisation unparalleled in South India.

The services of The Arya Vaidya Sala reach its patients through a nation-wide network of 14 branches and more than 1000 retail distributors that market its 500-odd formulations.

Thousands of patients visit Kottakkal every year, seeking succour at the healing hands of Arya Vaidya Sala. Ailing people from the West European, Arabian, American and Far East countries also approach the institution.

Keralam Official Details

Kerala Today

Kerala is a place where art, culture, beauty and tradition come together. It is the ultimate destination of tourists all around the world. Now in Kerala tourism is at its apex.

Call me information Center - All about Kerala. A Helpline

	His Highness Marthanda Varmma Maharaja  Dedicated this  - Very Special - Kerala's First Search Engine and Largest Information Portal of Kerala  to World Malayalees on 1st Nov. Kerala Piravi Day

Chief Minister's Message
I am happy to learn that "Oxford Webs and Call me information Center" designed and hosting a special internet search engine

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