Kerala Traditions: Land of Coconuts, Spices, Beaches, Backwaters

Kerala to the very south of India in the Indian Subcontinent is known as the Gods Own Country. Kerala is very renowned for its Spices. It was Vas co d agama who first came to India and in turn created the spice route. Indian spices were very valuable and it defined the wealth of Kerala and in turn India. It was Vas co da Gama who made India known to the world through its spice route. The Dutch and English established offices in India and India in turn came under their rule.

History of Kerala

It is said that in early times, Kerala was formed when the great Lord Parasurama swept his axe into the sea and brought out Kerala, a piece of land from the sea. Parasurama, is said to be one of the avatar of Lord Vishnu, out of the ten avatars of Lord Vishnu. Kerala is also mentioned in the two Hindu mythologies, Ramayana and Mahabharata. The Malaya hills is said to be under the Kerala-Tamil Nadu region mentioned in the Purina’s. Kerala is said to be descendants of the Dravidian people who have come from the north of India and having made Kerala their home. Historians say that the name Kerala came from the Keralaputra, sons of the Chera dynasty is said to have been mentioned by Asoka, the great ruler of India. Keralaputra means sons of Kerala.

Kerala is home to Kathakali, Ayurveda, Snake boat races, House boats, beaches, lagoons, backwaters and what not. Kerala is also known for its coconuts. Some say Kerala got its name from the word ‘Kera’ meaning Coconut. The splendid coconut trees which are found everywhere where one meets eye. The Chinese fishing nets which is a special treat to the eye to those watching the way it works. The spices of Kerala are world renowned.

Kerala Culture

According to Kerala Culture Women wear ‘sari’ or casuals while the men wear shirt with dhothi or ‘mundu’ or even ‘lungi’. The city people wear sari, casuals like jeans or trousers with shirt. Kerala culture gets its flavour from a mix of Dravidian and Aryan people and its culture. It has been influenced by the people who visited Kerala from abroad and all over India and made Kerala their home.

Kerala culture has been influenced from their neighbours, the present day Tamil Nadu. Sanskrit and Tamil along with the reforms and revolution that took place in India and in their very own land have immensely influenced our culture. Our reformers stood against discrimination in caste like the great Sankaracharya and Sree Narayana Guru who made changes to the outlook and daily way of life of the people. During, after and before Independence, Kerala is diverse in its culture with large number of Hindus, Musims and Christians and with many minority people like Jews, Sikhs and other people living in harmony with one another.

Houses of Kerala

Houses of Kerala are a blend of the old and new. Now the rich are more interested in constructing houses like how the old ‘Tharavadu’ used to look like, truly restoring the old in the new modern outlook of life. Old houses used to have ‘Nalukettu’ or ‘Ettukettu’. Houses of the rich were constructed like big houses called as Ellam or Tharavadu with Nalukettu or Ettukettu. The houses of the poor were called as ‘Oalla Pura’ in which the roof was made with coconut leaves.

Transport in olden days used to be in bullock carts through land and vallams or boats through the waterways of Kerala.

Thattukada

At wayside thattukadas bajjis, parippu vada, fried chicken, fish fry, parotta and much more are a favourite spot for food lovers coming to get a taste of street food at these street corners. For the people who have to work at night the wayside ‘Thattukada’ is a relief. These Thattukada offer such delicious foods that are so mouth-watering and tasty that it is a must have. These delicacies are fast to make and less expensive. It is a sort of fast food of Kerala. They are spicy, tasty foods, which are so sumptuous that once you have food from these outlets you go there again and again. These thattukadas come up in the evening and continue through the night. Thattu dosa are a favourite among all. It’s so very yummy and tasty. Once you taste it you come here again and again.

Tea Shops of Kerala: Chayakada

Tea shops or Chayakada are a way of life for the villagers of Kerala, where the gossips in and around the villagers go around. Everything is discussed in the cosiness of the tea shops from politics to film news, to daily newspaper incidents. The villagers come to these tea shops in the morning, have tea reading the newspaper discussing everything that is current and on vibe. It is where the daily routine of the day used to start and a great part of the day time of people used to be spend here. It used to be a place where everyone used to chill and talk about the matters at hand. They come and have breakfast, even taking parcels back home to family. Those who couldn’t cook often buy parcels from these little restaurants. These ‘Chaya Kada’ or Tea shop’s one of the speciality dish is ‘kuzhakatta’.

Bakeries in Kerala

Bakeries, around the cities and town of Kerala, offer sweets and cool drinks. Cool bars offer cool drinks. In Malabar region of Kerala, the halwas, a sort of sweet in black, green, red, yellow are very famous. It can be found in the bakeries of Kerala. Bakeries also offer vadas, puffs & other pastries as well as breads. Sweets when made at home, children buzz in and out of kitchen for a little sweet taste of the yummy sweets. Every day there will be ripe bananas for eating as it grows throughout the year. Many bananas or plantain are grown in the land in and around each house courtyards.

Fruit shops of Kerala

Fruit shops of Kerala are a sight to watch in Kerala. You can find fruit shops in every corner of the cities and towns of Kerala. They offer seasonal fruits which are in demand during the time of the year. Treat yourselves to these tasty fruits by buying a few. Bananas are found throughout the year. You get to know the taste of these cool fruits on trying out some.

Toddy Shop of Kerala

Toddy shops can be found in the villages of Kerala. Toddy is served with various delicious hot, spicy fish, ploutry dishes etc. Kappa with Meen curry is an all-time favourite. Toddy is obtained from the sap of coconut and palm trees. It is fermented and is an alcoholic drink. Coming to Kerala, toddy and the various delicacies is a must have for foreigners and tourists coming to Kerala. You get to experience the life of poor village people by taking a glimpse of the life spinning around these shops. The women of Kerala don’t drink alcohol. It’s mostly for the men. But healthier drinks like wine is a must have in Christian homes. Toddy is even used in the kitchen of Keralities to make Appams.

About Kerala

Kerala region has Malabar to the north. In central Kerala, we have Cochin and to the south the Travancore region. Kerala is very well known for its Chundan Vallams. Chundan Vallams or snake boat competition takes place during the time of Onam. Nehru Trophy Vallamkali is very much popular where these snake boats compete with one another. Aranmula Vallamkali is another Vallamkali taking place at Aranmula. Tourists and foreigners come to watch these races. This is one of the specialities of Kerala. Aranmula Vallamkali, Aranmula Kannadi and Aranmula Onasadya are all very famous. Kerala is very well known for its spices, lagoons, backwaters and beaches. Tourists who come to Kerala go back home cherishing the wonderful experiences they had here visiting places and eating new delicacies.

Ayurveda – The Essence of Kerala

Ayurveda is the knowledge of life. It is the medicine or science founded in the olden times that was known only to the Indians during the Vedic times. The herbs and oils extracted from plants have medicinal qualities. In Vedic times, the sages and rishis had immense knowledge to treat many great ailments common to people. These herbs have curative essence in them. Today it is a science knowledgeable to people who have taken up Ayurveda as their study or career. It treats ailments and these oils and herbs have tension relieving qualities that can heal the body, soul and mind. Kerala is very much famous for the science, Ayurveda.

Bronze Utensils of Kerala Homes

In the earlier times bronze was available cheaply. It formed most of the utensils used by the rich. The poor mostly used breakable ‘munn chattis’ for cooking.

Elephants of Kerala

Elephants of Kerala are from the Asian Elephants tribe. They are very important for temple festivals and play a great role in making temple festivals a hit. These elephants are always accompanied by mahouts or ‘ana pappaans’. They are trained elephants unlike the wild variety of elephants in forests of Kerala and India.

Spices of Kerala

India is famous for its Spices. A large part of it comes from Kerala. Spices like Pepper, cardamom, nutmeg, cinnamon grow in abandons in Kerala. Kerala is known for its tropical climate, which makes it even better for growing these herbs and plants.

Performing Art Forms of Kerala
Kalari Payattu

This marshal art was practised in the ancient times by the Keralities. There was no particular rule as to who performed this art form. Some Hindus of Nair Community, some Muslims and even Christians took pleasure in learning the martial art form. It was used in the ancient Kerala as a means of practicing to be good while in the battleground. Great fighters, kings and other warlords of Kerala knew and practised this great art form. It is said that even Kathakali artist knew about various postures of this art form.

Kathakali Dance Form

Kathakali is a drama style performing art form of Kerala. While the performance of the dancer takes place, there will be music recited by the troop members and also drumming in tune with the dance. The Kathakali artist’s costume and makeup is really beautiful and a treat to the eye. This is a difficult art form and requires many years of training to perform on stage. The theme of the art form will be various epic recitals of great epics of Indian Hindu mythology.

There are the Muslim art form of Oppana which take place during the marriage of girl brides and Mappila Paattu, Kolkali and Duff Muttu which are other such Muslim performing arts. Some of which can only be found now a days in youth festivals. Then there are the Christian Art forms of Margam Kali and Chavittu Nadakam. The Hindu Arts include Kathakali which is nowadays performed in front of visiting tourist and foreigners. Then there is Theyyam, Koodiyattam, Mohiniyattam, Panchavadyam, Thullal, Tholpavakoothu, Ottamthullal, Kummattikali, Kalarippayattu, Chakyar koothu, Nangiar koothu, Pulluvan pattu and many other such forms which nowadays can only be found during festivals, in temples of villages and in student youth festivals where they portray their achievements through the art and culture of Kerala from their roots.

Village Life of People in Kerala

Villagers are so blessed that if they are ready to work on their farmland, money will flow in and they can be self-reliant, eating whatever is produced in their land and selling anything that comes in excess. So if they need anything like fish or other items, they buy from the market with the money they earned from the land. Vegetables like tomato, tapioca, spinach, lady’s finger, eggplant, chillies and many other varieties of climber like bitter gourd, snake gourd, ash gourd, cucumber and other plants are grown in their premises itself. Fruits generating trees like mango, banana or plantain, jackfruit, passion fruit, guava etc. are grown over generation in the villages in their land and its fruits are taken for eating and the excess amounts are sold in the market for money. Every Kerala home in the villages had a few coconut trees, one or two mango trees, jackfruit trees pepper plants grown on trees and drumstick tree, banana plantain trees, papaya tree, chikku plant, passion fruit tree and many other varieties of trees, plants & flowers like roses, jasmine, shoe flower and many other varieties of flowers in different colour all grow in abundance in Kerala. Coconut that grows on land is sold in the market. There is always huge demand for coconuts in turn generation of income. Cows and goats are also part of the village life of Kerala. They give milk every day and is sold to the neighbours’ in and around without cows in need of cow’s milk. Hens roam around the land and lay eggs which are sold in the market or hens sit on the eggs and chicks are produced which grows up to lay eggs or are used for their chicken meat. Thus on the whole, everything grows in the farmland and people are self-sufficient. The bark of the cinnamon plant is dried and used as cinnamon, the spice. Pepper climber plant is grown in abundance in Kerala. In the villages the people grow the pepper on trees. It is an income generating means for those with landed properties. The fruit from this plant is dried and can be ground to make the pepper powder. It is in great demand all over the world.

In the high ranges Rubber plants are grown in abundance. The milk from the sap of the tree is collected and is used to make rubber for making rubber tyres, carpets and many other rubber products.

The land used to be ploughed with bullocks and in some parts of Kerala and India this type of ancient ploughing system is still continued.

Taking a ride & taking window seat in Train through Kerala, you get to see the village life of the people here. While being glued to your seat you find coconut trees, small village houses, banana trees plantation, mango trees, jackfruit trees while passing and you get a glimpse of true Kerala. It is a treat to the eye in itself.

Tribals of Kerala (Adivasi)

Adivasis living in the forest know lots of plants that have medicinal values. They know about it because it’s been transferred to the next generation by the ancestors of their tribes of these jungles. Adivasi tribes live in their own tree houses or houses constructed with bamboo, stones and mud. Wayanad is to the northern part of Kerala. It is famous for its jungles and adivasis or tribal people who live there. They catch their own fish from the river, tap their own honey, and grow their own fruits & veggies.