Kerala is a state in the south-west corner of India , formed in 1956 from former princely states of
Travancore Cochin and
Malabar.
Its capital is Thiruvananthapuram.
It has a lot of unique aspects to its credit.
It one of the most densely populated state in India (819 persons /Square KM) ,
most literate state (89.8% according to 2001 Indian census) and is the home of
Ayurveda (an ancient
Medicine system)
Kalarippayattu(an ancient system of Martial arts)
Kathakali (a system of drama)
Mohiniaattam (a dance form) and
Sopana Sangeetham (the traditional Classical Music of Kerala).
It is a lush green state and is the land of
Malayalam one of the 14 recognized languages of
India. Kerala is also known as the land of spices and was visited by quite a number of travellers in ancient times.
Vasco da Gama who was the first person to discover a sea route to India landed at Kappad in Kerala
Kerala lies at the foot of Sahya mountain range that separates the Indian main land from the southern state. Due to this natural divide, Kerala enjoys a distinct cultural development from the Indian main land. Kerala is bordered on its western side by ArabianSea - a portion of Indian Ocean
. It is a land of rivers with 44 rivers running through it. The vegetation is predominantly rainforest. The cultivation is mainly paddy coconut and spices.
The main religions of Kerala are Hinduism , Christianity and Islam . Hinduism is further subdivided in this part of India into casts called Nair Ezhava and Namboothiri.
The political climate in Kerala though highly unstable due to the nearly equal mind share enjoyed by major political parties is relatively tension free when compared to the main land India
Kerala borders
Karnataka and
Tamilnadu - two other states of India