Sights in Southern Kerala
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Zoological gardens
The modern zoological gardens are among the most impressive in India. There are shaded paths meandering through woodland and lakes, where animals, such as tigers, macaques and lots of bird-life, happily frolic in massive, open enclosures that mimic their natural habitats. There’s a separate reptile house (entrance with zoo ticket), where dozens of the slithery things do their thing and cobras frequently flare their hoods – just don’t ask what the cute guinea pigs are here for.
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The Backwaters
Trips through the backwaters cross shallow, palm-fringed lakes studded with cantilevered Chinese fishing nets, and travel along narrow, shady canals where coir (coconut fibre), copra (dried coconut meat) and cashews are loaded onto boats. Along the way are small villages with mosques, churches, temples and schools, villagers going about their daily chores, and tiny settlements where people live on narrow spits of reclaimed land only a few metres wide.
Travelling through the 900km network of waterways that fringe the coast and trickle far inland is the undisputed main attraction of a trip to Kerala. Long before the advent of roads these waterways were the slippery highways…
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Matha Amrithanandamayi Mission
Matha Amrithanandamayi Mission is the incongruously pink ashram of Matha Amrithanandamayi. One of India’s few female gurus, Amrithanandamayi is also known as Amma (Mother), or ‘The Hugging Mother, ’ because of the darshan (blessing) she practises, often hugging thousands of people in marathon all-night sessions. The ashram runs official tours at 5pm each day. It’s a huge complex, with about 2000 people living here permanently – monks, nuns, students, Indian families and Westerners. It offers food, ayurvedic treatments, yoga and meditation, as well as souvenirs from the cult of Amma, everything from books to postcards of her toes. Amma travels around for much of the …
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D
Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple
This 260-year-old temple is Trivandrum’s spiritual heart. Spilling over 2400 sq metres, its main entrance is the 30m tall, seven-tier eastern gopuram (gateway tower). In the inner sanctum, the deity Padmanabha reclines on the sacred serpent and is made from over 10,000 salagramam (sacred stones) that were purportedly, and no doubt slowly, transported from Nepal by elephant.
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Krishnapuram Palace Museum
Two kilometres south of Kayamkulam (between Kollam and Alleppey), this restored palace is a fine example of grand Keralan architecture. Now a museum, inside are paintings, antique furniture, sculptures, and a renowned 3m-high mural depicting the Gajendra Moksha (the liberation of Gajendra, chief of the elephants) as told in the Mahabharata.
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Padmanabhapuram Palace
With dozens of lumberyards worth of intricately carved ceilings and polished-teak beams, this palace is considered the best example of traditional Keralan architecture today. Parts of it date back to 1550 though, as the egos of successive rulers left their mark, it expanded into the magnificent conglomeration of 14 palaces it is today.
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Veli Tourist Park
At the junction of Veli Lake and the Arabian sea, 8km west of the city, the unique Veli Tourist Park showcases strikingly oversized sculptures by local artist Kanai Kunhiraman. It's well-designed, and the ponds, mammoth concrete conches and quasi-erotic curves of the artwork make for an interesting backdrop for a picnic or a stroll.
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E
Puthe Maliga Palace Museum
The Puthe Maliga Palace Museum is housed in the 200-year-old palace of the Travancore maharajas. The traditional Keralan palace has carved wooden ceilings, marble sculptures and even imported Belgian glass. Inside you’ll find Kathakali images, an armoury, portraits of Maharajas, ornate thrones and other artefacts.
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Neyyar Dam Sanctuary
This sanctuary, 32km north of Trivandrum, lies around an idyllic lake created by the 1964 Neyyar Dam. The fertile forest lining the shoreline is home to gaurs, sambar deer, sloth, elephants, lion-tailed macaques and the occasional tiger.
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F
Beach
The beach is about 2km west of the city centre; it's a nice, shaded walk, but there's no shelter at the beach itself and swimming is dangerous.
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