South
India Heritage
In
a special collector's issue released just before the turn of the century,
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TRAVELER gifted the tourists of the world with a priceless
treasure - a well researched compilation of the 50 destinations of a lifetime.
The only Indian destination that featured in it was
KERALA other than
the Taj Mahal in the World Wonders section.
Kerala was celebrated as a 'Paradise Found' - one of the ten in the world, A
perfect description for a land renowned as "God's Own Country". What
adds to the charm of its backwaters, beaches, Ayurveda health holidays, hill
stations, wildlife, festivals, monuments and vibrant art forms, is its amazing
social development indices that are on par with the developed world.
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.
Click
here for more details about Kerala Tourism
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