Mirror still lagoons, picturesque lakesides, palm-fringed canals, tingy shimmering rivulets mean- dering yes, this is God’s Own Land Where the seductive beeches lay unspoiled in quiet seclusion. In the lush velvet paddy fields the immortal silence is broken by the sound of the curfew. Tall coconut tree reach up to the sky and the sun warms them the whole year through, while the backwaters wash the sand. Everything is here: the sun thee sea and the sand. Yea, everything about this land is unique. Magnificent mountains, virgin forests all make Kerala what it is.
Fortune – hunters from ancient civilizations had come to this southern land. Be they Jews, Arabs, Syrians, Chines or the colonial cousins, who were enamored by the pastoral beauty: and have enriched the indigenous culture. Kerala’s fabled Malabar Coast was visited Marco Polo in 1324 to find that Christianity flourished here.
In as early as 10th century B.C King Solomon sent his fleet to Ophir (near Trivandrum) to buy timber, sandal wood and ivory (as well as spices peacocks and various other things) for the construction of a temple in Jerusalem settlers here. More set- thers came from Palestine in 70 A.D. and 136 A.D. when Jerusalem had been completely ransacked. It is belived that Apostle Thomas came here more than 19 centuries ago, and founded seven churches in Kerala.
Today, Kerala is inhabited by an enterprising and adventur- ous people who have inhabited by an enterprising and adventurous people who given it the highest literacy rate in the country. For the tourist, the state offers one of india’s most beautiful beaches at Kovalam, an exciting wildlife sanctuary at Thekkady an abundance of scenic beauty and the now popular ayurvedic treatments.