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Welcome to God's own country
The City of Kochi
Kochi is an ancient & major port city along the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of Kerala. The city is also commonly referred to as Ernakulam. It is also known as the Queen of Arabian Sea.
It has been a port since 1341, when a flood carved out its harbor and opened it to Arab, Chinese and European merchants. Sites reflecting those influences include Fort Kochi, a settlement with tiled colonial bungalows and diverse houses of worship. Cantilevered Chinese fishing nets, typical of Kochi, have been in use for centuries.
Ernakulam is the financial, commercial and industrial capital of Kerala. Chinese, Arabs, Portuguese, Dutch and British have serially dominated this port on the Malabar Coast, exporting tea and spices, and importing their own architecture, religion and cuisine. These influences are still represented, particularly in Fort Cochin.
The Hill Palace, built in 1865 for the Cochin rajahs is an archaeological museum.
The best seller "1000 Places to See Before You Die" includes as one of its don't-miss destinations the "staggeringly beautiful" backwaters of India's Kerala state. The book also says a stopover in Kochi, the gateway to these interconnected lakes, lagoons and canals, is a must.
All the islands that constitute a part of Kochi are interconnected by a network of backwaters canals and lakes. Kochi lake is part of Vembanad lake (backwaters) which is the longest lake in India.
Art unique to Kerala is Kathakali, It is a temple art, requires lot of fine expressions and movements. Face decoration are time consuming with special babiliments.
