Kerala the God's own country

Kerala the god's own country 

Kerala the god's own country

 http://www.nobedad.com/article/kerala-gods-own-country/c=84941e57f5

Kerala locally known as Keralam, is a state on the southwestern,Malabar coast on India.

It is called South West India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions. Spread over 38,863km2(15,005sqmi), Kerala is the twenty second largest state in India. It is bordered by Karnatakato the north and northeast,Tamil Nadu to the east and Lakshwadeep and Arabian Seato the west. With 33 million inhabitants as per the census. Kerala is the thirteenth most populated state in India. It is divided into 14 districts with the capital being Thiruvananthapuram. Malayalam is the most widely spoken language and is also the official language of the state.The name Kerala has an uncertain etymology. One popular theory derives Kerala from Kera("coconut tree" in Malayalam) and alam("land"); thus "land of coconuts",which is a nickname for the state, used by locals, due to abundance of coconut trees.The word Kerala is first recorded as Keralaputra in a 3rd-century BCE rock inscription left by the Maurya emperor Ashoka(274–237BCE), one of his edicts pertaining to welfare.The inscription refers to the local ruler as Keralaputra(Sanskrit for "son of Kerala"); or "son of Chera[s]". This contradicts the theory that Kerais from "coconut tree".At that time, one of three states in the region was called Cheralamin Classical Tamil:Chera and Kera are variants of the same word.The word Chera refers to the oldest known dynasty of Kerala kings and is derived from the Proto-Tamil-Malayalam word for "lake

Food

The staple food of Kerala is mostly rice and fish like Bengal.

Dosa, Idly, Appam and Chappati and Kerala Porotta are eaten extensively.

Agriculture

Agriculture in Kerala has declined because of the gulf migration. Coconut tress are the most grown plant in Kerala.

Rice is also grown extensively.

Kerala produces 97% of the national output of black pepperand accounts for 85% of the natural rubber.Coconut, tea, coffee, cashew, spices—including cardamom,vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg are the main agricultural products.80% ofIndia's export quality cashew kernels are prepared in Kollam in Kerala.

History

Kerala has been a major spice exporter since 3000BCE, according to Sumarian records and it is still referred to as the "Garden of Spices" or as the "Spice Garden of India. Kerala's spices attracted ancient Babylonians ,Assyrians and Egyptians to the Malabar Coast in the 3rd and 2nd millennia BCE. Phonecians established trade with Kerala during this period.The Land of Keralaputra was one of the four independent kingdoms in southern India during Ashoka's time, the others being Chola, pandya and Satiyaputra.Scholars hold that Keralaputra is an alternate name of the Cheras, the first dominant dynasty based in Kerala.These territories once shared a common language and culture, within an area known asTamilikam. Along with the Ayr kingdom in the south and the Ezhimala Kingdom in the north, the Cheras formed the ruling kingdoms of Kerala in the early years of the Common Era (CE).It is noted in Sangam literature that the Chera king Uthiyan, Cherlathan ruled most of modern Kerala from his capital in Kuttanad,and controlled the port of Muziris, but its southern tip was in the kingdom of Pandyas,which had a trading port sometimes identified in ancient Western sources as Nelcynda(orNeacyndi) in Quilon.The lesser known as Ays and Mushikas kingdoms lay to the south and north of the Chera regions respectively.

Silk road map. The spice trade was mainly along the water routes (blue).

In the last centuries BCE the coast became important to the Greeks and Romans for its spices, especially black pepper. The Cheras had trading links with China, West Asis, Egypt ,Greece, and the Roman empire.In foreign-trade circles the region was known asMale or Malabar Muziris, Berkarai, and Nelcynda were among the principal ports at that time. The value of Rome's annual trade with the region was estimated at around 50,000,000 Roman currencycontemporary Sangam literature describes Roman ships coming to Muziris in Kerala, laden with gold to exchange for pepper. One of the earliest western traders to use the monsoon winds to reach Kerala and he was Vasco Da Gama. The first European to set foot on Indian Soil.

Geography

The state is wedged between the Lakshwadeep Seaand theWestern Ghats. Lying between northern latitudes 8°18' and 12°48' and eastern longitudes 74°52' and 77°22', Kerala experiences a humid tropical rainforest climate with some cyclones. The state has a coast of 590km (370mi)and the width of the state varies between 11 and 121 kilometres (7 and 75mi).Geographically, Kerala can be divided into three climatically distinct regions: the eastern highlands; rugged and cool mountainous terrain, the central mid-lands; rolling hills, and the coastal plains flat land. The Pre Cambarian geological formations compose the bulk of Kerala's terrain. A catastrophic flood in Kerala in 1341 CE drastically modified its terrain and consequently affected its history; it also created a natural harbour for spice transport.The eastern region of Kerala consists of high mountains, gorges and deep-cut valleys immediately west of the Western Ghats'rain shadow41 of Kerala's west-flowing rivers, and 3 of its east-flowing ones originate in this region.The Western Ghats form a wall of mountains interrupted only near Palakkad hence also known Palghat, where the Palakkad gap breaksThe Western Ghats rise on average to 1,500 metres (4,900feet) above the sea level while the highest peaks reach around 2,500 metres (8,200 feet). Anaimudi in the Idukki district is the highest peak in south India, is at an elevation of 2,695m (8,842ft).

Natural Disasters are rare in Kerala. Kerala rarely experiences floods and droughts. In 2018 after 106 years Kerala experienced a drastic flood in August 2018. Kerala is currently experiencing a drought.

Climate

With around 120–140 rainy days per year, Kerala has a wet and maritime tropical climate influenced by the seasonal heavy rains of the southwest summer monsoon and the northeast winter monsoon.Around 65% of the rainfall occurs from June to August corresponding to the Southwest monsoon, and the rest from September to December corresponding to Northeast monsoon.The moisture-laden winds of the Southwest monsoon, on reaching the southernmost point of the Indian peninsula because of its topography, divides into two branches; the "Arabian Sea Branch" and the "Bay of Bengal Branch".The "Arabian Sea Branch" of the Southwest monsoon first hits the Western Ghats,making Kerala the first state in India to receive rain from the Southwest monsoon.The distribution of pressure patterns is reversed in the Northeast monsoon, during this season the cold winds from North India pick up moisture from the Bay of Bengal and precipitate it on the east coast of peninsular India.In Kerala, the influence of the Northeast monsoon is seen in southern districts only. Kerala's rainfall averages 2,923mm (115in) annually. Some of Kerala's drier lowland regions average only 1,250mm (49in); the mountains of the eastern Idukki district receive more than 5,000mm (197in) of orographic preciptation: the highest in the state. In eastern Kerala, a drier tropical wet and dry climate prevails. During the summer, the state is prone to gale-force winds, storm surges, cyclone-related torrential downpours, occasional droughts, and rises in sea level.The mean daily temperature ranges from 19.8°C to 36.7°C.

Mean annual temperatures range from 25.0–27.5°C in the coastal lowlands to 20.0–22.5°C in the eastern highlands. In Kerala the climate is hot and humid and rainy in the plains and cool and humid and rainy in the hills.

Economy

Kerala's economy depends mainly on the emigrants working on the foreign countries, mainly in the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, andremittancesannually contribute more than a fifth of GSDP.The state witnessed significant emigration during the Gulf boom of the 1970s and early 1980s. In 2008, the Persian Gulf countries together had a Keralite population of more than 2.5million, who sent home annually a sum ofUS$6.81billion, which is the highest among Indian states and more than 15.13% of remittances to India in 2008. In 2012, Kerala still received the highest remittances of all states: US$11.3billion, which was nearly 16% of the US$71billion remittances to the country.In 2015, NRI deposits in Kerala have soared to over₹1 lakh crore(US$14billion), amounting to one-sixth of all the money deposited in NRI accounts, which comes to about ₹7 lakh crore(US$97billion). However, a study commissioned by theKerala state planning board, suggested that the state look for other reliable sources of income, instead of relying on remittances to finance its expenditure. According to a study done in 2013,₹17,500 crore(US$2.4billion) was the total amount paid to the migrant labourers in the state every year. These emigrants have made Kerala very rich.

Language- Malayalam

The most spoken language In Kerala is Malayalam. The other languages are Bangla or Bengali, Tamil, Hindi, Urdu and Arabic.

Malayalam is a mixture of Sanskrit and Tamil. The pronunciations and grammar are borrowed from Sanskrit. Words are borrowed mostly from Tamil and Sanskrit. Malayalam also has borrowed words from Urdu.

Author: Rodger Bloor (Gurunithyan Rahul)