Aeons ago a victorious Parasuraman, the sixth incarnation of Lord Vishnu ( Preserver in the Hindu Trinity ) after slaying the evil Kshatriyas ( warriors ) prayed to the Gods for a secluded place to perform his penance. The Gods deigned to give him the land he chose. Standing high upon a mountain peak he flung his axe in a wide arc across the seas, commanding them to retreat. The land that emerged dripping from these cobalt waters was Kerala, a land of plenty and prosperity.

The Genesis tale, almost magical in a way explains Kerala's close linkages with the sea and the mountains. A narrow strip of land 400 miles long, 80 miles wide, shut out from the rest of the Indian peninsula by the Western Ghats, a mountain chain in the east and nuzzling the Arabian sea on the west. In between lie seemingly endless miles of placid Kerala backwaters flanked on either side by paddy fields and swaying coconut palms. Over 900kms of this water world is navigable. The foothills to the mountain ranges are home to the famed Kerala plantations of rubber, coffee, cardamom, pepper and tea. Hemmed in between the mountain and the sea, Kerala is but a ribbon of land. 'This land itself is a secret shared between the sea and the mountains, a child of these two natural forces, protected by and provided for by them in a special way. Therefore there was always an assurance of plenty and of peace".

Recent archaeological evidence suggest that Kerala had become the home of man at least as early as 4000 B. C. Kerala is as old as any Puranic kingdom referred to in the Indian epics.

Pliny the Elder ( Gaius Plinus Secundus, 23-79A.D. ) describes Kerala as 'primum emporium indiae'. Well did it deserve this proud distinction. For Kerala was truly at the crossroads of the world.

From Kerala was exported to the nations of the west, pepper, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger and other spices; pearls in considerable quantity and superior quality and gems of every variety. This commercial intercourse so drained the gold of Europe into India to such an extent that, so far back as the First Century AD Pliny calculated that fully ' a hundred million sestences' were withdrawn from the Roman empire to purchase 'useless' articles from the East.

The main ports in these days were Muziris ( Cranganore ) and Barace ( Porakkadu,near Alleppey ).the Phoenicians, the Egyptians, the Arabs, the Greeks and the Romans; each in carried out on commerce with this land.
And then came the Portuguese and the Dutch and the English on their heels.
It was to Kerala that the ancient Greek merchant and mariner Hippalus, in his voyage to find a sea route to India around 110 B. C. discovered that the monsoon winds would carry him from Europe in forty days to the Kerala coast. The Arabs and Indians must of course have known and made use of the monsoon winds many centuries earlier.
It was to Kerala, according to tradition that the Apostle St Thomas landed first and preached Christianity in the opening years of the first century of the Christian era ( 52 A.D)
It was here, not long after, the Jews arrived after the destruction and desolation of Jerusalem ( 69 A.D. ) and founded a colony.
They were followed later by the Muslims as well. The Romans set up a temple of Augustus here and stationed a garrison to protect their trade.
The Portuguese were the first European nation to arrive and found an empire in India. They gave way to the Dutch and later to the English who as early as 1616, entered into a treaty with the Zamorin ( ruler of north Kerala region of Malabar ), perhaps the very first treaty between the English and an Indian soverign.

With a culture as rich as it is ancient, Kerala is quite the proverbial melting pot. Its interaction with the world has left an indelible mark on the land and its people. Visitors are surprised to discover the charms of Kerala. Its landscape, its architecture, its cuisine, its art forms, its martial art have all a semblance of give and take.
Kerala is the most progressive state in India terms of social welfare and quality of life. Progress has been achieved bypassing industrialisation which has left the land unpolluted and unblemished. Tele communications,medical care and social services are top class. Well connected by roads, railways, airports and of course the waterways, Kerala has the unique distinction of being the only totally literate state in the country.

Kerala's wonderfully temperate climate is a boon to visitors. Kerala rarely records an increase of over 35o c in summer and seldom below 18oc in winter. And then there is monsoon rains from June to September that cools the land and recharges its water resources.

Cool cottons are recommended wear all throughout the year in the plains and visit to the hills may require a wollen pullover or shawl.

Kerala is serviced by three international airports at Kochi (Cochin ), Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum ) and Kozhikode (Calicut).

Train services run through the entire length of the state connecting the major towns.

Kerala is well connected by a good road network and serviced by buses and taxis.

900 kms of the states backwaters are navigable and connect important tourist destinations.

The Keralite is at home not only in his native tongue, Malayalam but English, Hindi and Tamil are widely understood and spoken.