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| Cruising the beautiful backwaters of Kerala on Noble Caledonia's RV Vaikundam. |
● Kerala is famous for its scenic network of canals and rivers lined with palm
trees.
● The foothills of its eastern mountains are rolling green tea estates and
spice gardens.
● Kerala is the global hub for Ayurveda, with traditional healing retreats
and resorts as well as Ayurveda services on almost every city block.
● As one of the most advanced Indian states, Kerala has the highest
literacy rate (96%+) plus a per capita GDP over twice the national
average.
● Kerala has 36 million people, nearly the population size of
California.
● Kerala has its own language called Malayalam (which has nothing to do with Malaysia) and is spoken by far more people than speak Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Icelandic, and Estonia combined. It also has a striking, curving alphabet with 56 characters. Here is "to be or not to be" in Malayalam:
ആകണോ വേണ്ടയോ? അതാണ് ചോദ്യം.
CRUISE ക്രൂയിസ്
Noble Caledonia, my favorite small-ship cruise company, finally offered a Kerala trip and I jumped at the chance. We spent a few days in Cochin and in the eastern mountains ("Western Ghats"), but the highlight was eight days cruising the scenic inland waterways.
On the RV Vaikundam were 15 Brits and one Yank. The fine crew slept on a
similar boat.
The pretty waterways varied from narrow channels like this one to wider
rivers.
Fiona surveying the scene along this canal. We were surprised by the many
upscale houses along the waterways such as the one above.
CHRISTIANITY ക്രിസ്തുമതം
Since we think of India as overwhelmingly Hindu, we were surprised to see so many prominent churches. While outnumbered by Hindus and Moslems statewide, Christians are a majority of some parts of Kerala, home to nearly seven million Christians in total.
Indian Christians believe that the apostle Thomas brought Christianity to the
subcontinent soon after the resurrection and seem honored by that historic
priority.
These friends were chatting after church and kindly let me take their
photograph. This was at St. Mary's Syro Malabar Church in Kottayam.
Gliding along a canal on a Sunday morning we saw several churches holding
services.
These niece, bright young people had just come from church and wanted to talk
to the visiting American. All were planning to attend college.
Later, I spoke with this Catholic priest at Chavara Bhavan, a shrine to Saint Kuriakose Chavara, the first Indian man to be canonized as a saint.
In Aranmula, we visited the Parthasarathy Temple, an important site
dedicated to Lord Shiva. I spoke with these pilgrims who came from Chennai
to worship here. (Yes, we all might want to consider more pushups too.)
Many people cannot handle the super-hot version of Indian food and ask for it
not to be "spicy" resulting in a bland version. The trick is to ask for less red
chili powder, but not reduce the rich blends of garam masala, cumin,
cardamom, and other spices.
St. Raphael's Church in Palakkad, Kerala.
The imposing Pattumala Matha Church and Shrine sits atop a hill surrounded
by tea plantations.
Saint Mary's Church (Valiyapally) in Kottayam was
founded about 1550AD!
Later, I spoke with this Catholic priest at Chavara Bhavan, a shrine to Saint Kuriakose Chavara, the first Indian man to be canonized as a saint.
Hindu temples we saw were not as colorful as those I'd seen elsewhere but we
visited three that were interesting.
CUISINE പാചകരീതി
Kerala's delicious cuisine has many coconut-infused dishes, fresh
seafood curries, and specialties like appam with stew, reflecting a
blend of local and colonial influences.
My favorite breakfast: Crispy ragi dosa (make with millet instead of rice)
and an omelet with lots of cumin and turmeric, along with the usual sambar
and chutneys.
We has an interesting cooking class before the extraordinary meal shown
below. Many more dishes were forthcoming.
COMMUNISM കമ്മ്യൂണിസം
Interestingly, the Communist leader in the 1950s changed the party's
platform to promise they would continue true democratic elections if they took power. And they did! In the decades since, the
"CPI(M)" has led the Left Democratic Front, the coalition that has ruled
Kerala off and on. Its policies have been relatively mild and not hard-core
Soviet-style communism.
CULTURE സംസ്കാരം
Kerala dazzles with classical dance forms like Kathakali and Mohiniyattam,
vibrant festivals like Onam, and ancient temples and churches.
Mohiniyattam, Kerala’s classical dance, is traditionally performed solo by
women, with themes of love and devotion. In a special performance for our group, these two dancers were charming.
Kathakali is Kerala’s other classic dance-drama, famed for its elaborate costumes, bold makeup, and powerful gestures. Performed mostly by men, Kathakali draws on epic Hindu stories. We had a private performance that was pretty wild as you might guess from this photo.
We saw far more than I have included here -- dance schools, metal mirror craftsmen, coir weavers, an Ayurveda lecture, the Periyar National Park, a spice plantation, a snake temple, and much more. All in all, it was an scenic, intriguing, smooth, and delicious trip around Kerala.
