Category: Kerala

The World Heritage Week will serve lovers of history an opportunity to revisit the legacy around Muziris, as a seven-day event will highlight key features of the civilization that lasted for three millennia till its abrupt end in the 14th century. The November 19-25, Muziris Heritage Week at Kottappuram near Kodungallur of this district will feature exhibitions on conservation of pertinent monuments besides classes on creating public awareness on the matter. Organized by the Muziris Heritage Project (MHP), the festival focuses on the historical museums such as the Paliam Palace and Nalukettu, the Paravur-Chennamangalam synagogues and the Kottappuram fort as ... Read more

Kallada river awaits the penultimate round of Champions Boat League (CBL) races this Saturday, a week ahead of the finals of the pioneering three-month event being organised by Kerala Tourism across five districts of the state. Coinciding with the traditional Kallada Boat Race, the 11th leg of the CBL at the venue, close to the Munroe Islands in this southern district, on November 16 will see nine snake-boats vying for top honours. Tropical Titans are atop the overall tally with 143 points that give them an unassailable edge over rivals. Behind the leading team at the end of CBL Round ... Read more

India’s first-ever mosque and the oldest in the sub-continent will be recreated in tune with its original character and aesthetics, as the Muziris Heritage Project (MHP) is set to restore the Cheraman Juma Masjid built in 629 AD at Kodungallur of this district. Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan will inaugurate the project, an initiative of Department of Tourism through its heritage conservation efforts, on Sunday at the site of the religious structure, 40 km south of this city. State Finance Minister Dr T M Thomas Isaac will preside over the 4 pm function. Amongst the dignitaries at the event will ... Read more

Outperforming rivals by several yards amid loud cheers from spectators, Tropical Titans emerged victors yet again today at Race 10, stirring up prospects of scoring a third hat-trick in the Champions Boat League (CBL). The evening’s winners, with a timing of 4:39.76 along the 900-metre track at the Kayamkulam backwaters, surged further up the points position at 143, taking an unassailable lead after the 10th round of the pioneering water event modelled on IPL cricket. The final race saw a photo-finish for the first and second runners-up, with Coast Dominators coming second by clocking 5:17.17 and Raging Rowers (5:17.60) ending ... Read more

Rowing westward against a bright evening sun, all the teams displayed special vigour at the ninth round of the Champions Boat League (CBL) today, even as Tropical Titans continued to assert their supremacy by finishing first yet another time ahead of the finals later this month. The winning team timed 3:37.59 at Pulinkunnu leg of the 12-leg championship modelled on IPL cricket. Finishing second were Raging Rowers (3:45.75), while Mighty Oars (3:46.79) came third amid a cheering crowd of 1.3 lakh on both sides of the Pampa river. The ‘Nerolac Excel Fastest Team of the Day’ went to Tropical Titans ... Read more

Spreading the competitive spirit of the high-octane snake-boat races to another belt in Kuttanad region, the scenic Pulinkunnu will host this weekend the ninth round of the Champions Boat League (CBL) modelled on IPL cricket. Tropical Titans have surged ahead of their nearest competitors by a fair margin in the points tally with the 12-round pioneering event two-thirds way through and packed with prize monies totalling Rs 5.9 crore, making CBL the country’s fourth highest-paid sports tournament. The leading team, owned by the Pallathuruthy Sports Club of this coastal district, has 113 points, ahead of Raging Rowers (55) and Mighty ... Read more

Tourist destinations in Kerala are all set to go “differently-abled friendly” by 2021, said state tourism minister Kadamapally Surendran, while replying to a question by MLA Veena George. The government has identified around 120 tourist spots across the state in the first phase. Of these, 98 destinations have already been made completely specially-abled friendly “The work on the remaining centres are in progress, all the specially-abled friendly tourist spots will have special parking areas and toilet facilities,” said the minister. Besides this, special tourism packages for the specially-abled were also being implemented under the Responsible Tourism initiative, the minister added. ... Read more

The District Tourism Promotion Council (DTPC), Thiruvananthapuram, is all set to roll out a special tour package connecting prime spots in Kerala capital including the famed Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple and Kovalam Beach resort. Styled as ‘Ananthapuri Package,’ the circuit will cover heritage structure ‘Kuthira Malika’, Museum and Zoo, Planetarium, Veli Tourist Village and Shankhumugham beach, all in and around the city. A conducted tour called ‘Triveni Sangamam’ to Kanyakumari, which covers outlying Ponmudi -Meenmutty forest trail and Neyyar Elephant Safari, have also been planned as an extended package. Under the Ananthapuri Package, tourists will be taken around the city in ... Read more

It’s not yet Christmas, but the exhilarating aroma of the Annual Cake Mixing Ceremony in the Terrace restaurant of The Leela Raviz, Kovalam brought alive the rich tradition and unveiled the spirit of the festive season. Spreading the cheer along with the chefs, media friends, corporate guests and in-house guests the highlight of the ceremony was the twenty children gang from Sree Chithra Home, Pazhavangadi who were the chief guests of the ceremony. Everyone was dressed in typical Chefs attire of caps and aprons amidst tradition and fanfare. Guests and colleagues together rolled up their sleeves and put their hands ... Read more

Ayurveda Promotion Society (APS), in association with Kerala Tourism and India Tourism, has launched maiden International Ayurveda Ambassadors’ Tour and B2B Meet on October 25, Dhanwanthari Day. The 45 Ambassadors comprising International Ayurveda operators, agents, bloggers and media personnel from 30 countries around the world, will stay in Kerala for 12 days and discover the possibilities for Ayurveda tourism and discuss the unique health culture and Ayurvedic treatment in Kerala. Six B2B meetings will be held at Bekal, Kozhikode, Cheruthurthy, Thrissur, Ernakulam, Kollam, Kumarakom and Kovalam during the 12-day road trip across Kerala, for the visitors for direct interaction with ... Read more

Ending its three-round itinerary in central Kerala, Champions Boat League (CBL) is set to return to the state’s heartland of water-races this Saturday when Kainakary in this coastal district will host the eighth leg of the three-month event concluding next month. Celebrated for its scenic beauty, the Vembanad lake would be the venue for the nine snake-boats to vie yet another time for honours at the 12-leg championships being organised by Kerala Tourism. The non-saline water body has five rivers draining into the tip of Kainakary, which has a tradition of boat races. Located in Kuttanad taluk which is India’s ... Read more

The first venue where Champions Boat League (CBL) was hosted consecutively reinforced the winning skills of Tropical Titans, who finished first yet again at Kottappuram backwaters today and remained atop the table with an emphatic total of 98 points after the seventh round. The finals at the 900-metre track near the historical Kodungallur turned out to be a thriller this evening when it ended in a photo-finish for the second and third winners, behind Tropical Titans (3:30.42). It required camera’s assistance for the judges to declare Backwater Knights the runner-up (3:40.01) and Mighty Oars third (3:41.13). A surprising element in ... Read more

His Majesty King Willem-Alexander and Her Majesty Queen Máxima have been invited for a state visit to India by President Ram Nath Kovind. The visit took place from 14 October until 18 October. On the fifth and final day of the state visit, the King and Queen cruised the backwaters in Alleppey, on board the Spice Routes Luxury Houseboats. The low-lying area of Alappuzha and Kuttanad were hit by floods in 2018, and during the cruise, the royal couple learned about measures that have been taken to prevent future flooding and discussed on how Dutch knowledge can help. The King ... Read more

 The 11th edition of the Kerala Travel Mart (KTM) will be held at Kochi in September next year, as India’s largest congregation of tourism industry will see stakeholders across the country and abroad seek new ways to promote business. Announcing the event at a press conference here on Thursday, Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran said KTM 2020 will aim at exploring new markets for Champions Boat League (CBL), adventure tourism and MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions) along with finding excellent global buyers. “KTM 2020 will be a four-day event starting on September 24, with two days packed with sessions involving ... Read more

The thrill quotient around Champions Boat League (CBL) registered a massive surge halfway the three-month event, as the sixth of the 12-round League saw Tropical Titans regaining their winning track with a timing of 3:44.51 amid a sustained trend of close results. In the first and only CBL leg in this district, Backwater Knights apparently came a surprise second in the evening’s final, but were subsequently declared third after judges imposed an additional five seconds on the team for track violation. Thus, Raging Rowers were officially declared the runner-up, clocking 3:47.56 along the 900-metre track at the Kottappuram backwaters near ... Read more