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               KERALA TRAVEL GUIDE

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Kerala is a state in Southern India, famous for its culture, spices, beaches and
backwaters. It is also one of the most literate and prosperous states in India.
Malayalees call their state "God's own country" and it is blessed with tropical forests,
a fertile coastal plain, fishing, tourism and a relatively stable political situation.

According to a Brahminical myth, Kerala was created by Parasurama (an avatar of
God) when he tossed his axe dripping with the blood of his mother, over the Western
Ghats Mountain into the sea. He was asked to decapitate his mother by his father
over an allegation of adultery. Parasurama chopped off his mother's head and this
pleased his father so much that he granted him any wish he wanted. He promptly
asked for his mother to be brought back to life and it was granted. However
Parasurama felt so bad after this that he tossed his favorite weapon to the sea and
renounced violence once and for all. However the sea which is depicted as a
Goddess didn't want to receive the spooky axe and receded creating the land of
Kerala.

During Neolithic times, humans largely avoided Kerala's rainforests and wetlands.
There is evidence of the emergence of prehistoric pottery and granite burial
monuments in the 10th century BCE that resemble their counterparts in Western
Europe and the rest of Asia. These were produced by speakers of a proto-Tamil
language.

The ancient Cherans, whose mother tongue and court language was Tamil, ruled
Kerala from their capital at Vanchi and was the first major recorded kingdom. Allied
with the Pallavas, they continually warred against the neighbouring Chola and
Pandya kingdoms. A Keralite identity—distinct from the Tamils and associated with
the second Chera empire—and the development of Malayalam evolved between the
8th and 14th centuries. In written records, Kerala was first mentioned in the Sanskrit
epic Aitareya Aranyaka. Later, figures such as Katyayana, Patanjali, Pliny the Elder,
and the unknown author of the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea displayed familiarity
with Kerala.

GENERAL INFORMATION

Time zone         IST (UTC+5:30)
Area                   38,863 km˛ (15,005 sq mi)
Capital               Thiruvananthapuram
Largest city        Thiruvananthapuram
Largest metro         Kochi metropolitan area
District(s)                14
Population              31,838,619 (12th) (2001)
Density                    819/km˛ (2,121/sq mi)
Language(s)          Malayalam