Kerala’s fringed waterfront is probably the most beautiful in the world

Madugundu Krishna August 13, 2012

Bakim Chandra Chatterji’s hymn `Vande Mataram’ may better apply to Kerala than to India as whole. Kerala is sujala, suphala ad malayajastala-traversed by many rivers and laved by the sea, rich in natural resources ad fresh like mountain air. It is particularly, sasyasvamala, darkly beautiful with vegetation. Its scenic grandeur is unlike the picture- postcard beauty of Kashmir. It creates a mystique from which a Malayali can hardly free himself.

Kerala’s fringed waterfront is probably the most beautiful in the world. The backwaters, rivers ad canals are about 1920 km, which more than one-fifth of India’s inland waterways. It may not be known to many that Kerala was the gateway of India in ancient times, doing trade with Greece, Rome, Arabia and china.

It is easy to romanticize- and dramatize- this land `of primeval forests and fertile valleys. Here sea and mountain and sky create a fairyland. The landscape is variegated and the vegetation is an orgy of luxuriance. For miles and miles, as far as the eye can see, are coconut palms leaning flirtatiously across the lagoons over the Chinese fishing nets. These and the arecanut palms are like the pillars that support the evergreen pavilion that is Kerala. In the mango groves and bamboo thickets tales are told of yakshis or wood spirits that lure away young men and devour them after making love to them.