India is famous for pilgrim centres. Indian constitution welcomes all the religions and their feasts and celebrations too. The south Indian state Kerala is specially known for pilgrim tourism as it is famous and rich with many historic churches, temples and mosques. Among the oldest churches in Kerala, the Champakulam Church is believed to be one of the seven churches established by St. Thomas in AD 427. The Champakulam tourist church of Kerala is named as St. Mary’s Church Champakulam. The Champakulam church feast occurs on the 3rd Sunday of October every year which is celebrated by lakhs of devotees. The number of devotees visiting Champakulam St. Mary’s Church increases every year. It is important to remember that the on March 19 the feast of St. Joseph is celebrated and the place near Champakulam is famous for making wooden statues of Christ and they export in to the whole world.

Apart from the religious view, Champakulam is a beautiful village in tourism Kerala, India. The location of Champakulam church is in the district of Alapuzha which world famous for water tourism. Champakulam is part of the rice bowl of Kerala – Kuttanad. The green paddy fields, coconut groves and water fowl add natural beauty to the place and it attracts the luxury tourist to Champakulam, Alappuzha.

The other feature of Champakulam is the Moolam boat race. The beautiful river Pampa flows through the village Champakulam which makes the place best suit for cultivation. The so called Champakulam Valiya Palli history can be known from the rock inscriptions found around the Champakulam Kallorkadu church. Thus, it is known in various names.

The Tourist facilities in and near St. Mary’s Forane Church include houseboats, resorts, luxury hotels, Champakulam snake boat, tourist guides to Champakulam Church Kerala and Champakulam art-emporiums. After all the Champakkulam boat race cannot be missed as it is the best attraction of the tourist spot Champakulam. People usually assemble on the banks of the river and watch the spectacular race. The boats called Chundans are the main attraction of the boat race here. The Chundan Valloms (boats) are 100 ft long boat with a hood. About 100-120 rowers row the boat at the race. And thousands of people from all over India and even from abroad gather here to see it. The TV channels also telecast this boat race live.

You can get to Champakulam church and Champakulam boat race easily with the help of the tourist guides in Kerala. The nearest airport is the Cochin international airport at 85 kms. You can also make use of road and water transport facilities to reach Champakulam.

The most attractive backwater tourist spot of Kerala is Alappuzha backwater tourism. The Vijaya Beach Park is the main attraction of Alappuzha tourism which is a children’s park with toy train, bicycles and boating facilities. Since Alappuzha Beach is one of the most visited beaches of Kerala all the foreign tourists to Kerala make sure a visit to Alappuzha. Though the calm beautiful beach is the major attraction of Tourism Alappuzha, the 137-year-old pier that extends deep into the sea cannot be ignored.

Vijaya Beach Park with the developed water sports facilities; children’s park and boating are specially designed for children’s tourism. The old lighthouse is a fascination to the visitors to Alappuzha Vijaya Beach Park.

The heart of the Alappuzha Backwaters contains the Rice Bowl of Kerala – Kuttanad. Kuttanad is world famous for doing farming below the sea level. And this is the only place in the world where cultivation is done under the sea level. The rich growth of paddy, banana, cassava and yam and the specialties of the place here in Kerala.

When you make a trip to Vijaya Beach Park you can also visit Pathiramanal which is close to the Alappuzha Beach. Another attraction near the Vijaya Beach Park is the Chavara Bhavan, the ancestral home of the Kuriakose Elias Chavara. It now has turned to be a holy shrine and spiritual resort. We can see a flow of devotees rushing to this place to offer prayers. On the other hand, the Champakulam Church or the St. Mary’s Church Alappuzha is one of the oldest churches in Kerala that is believed to be one of the seven churches established by St. Thomas.

Some of the other appeals of Vijaya Beach Park tourism are the snake boat races, marine products, coir industry, Cherai Beach and backwaters. The opening hours of Vijaya Beach Park are 15.00- 20.00 hrs. It is easy to reach Alappuzha Beach as it is connected with all the major cities of India by air, rail and road. The nearest airport is at Thiruvananthapuram which is 59 km away.

Sea View Park Alappuzha is an attractive tourist spot of Kerala rich with boating and swimming tour facilities. The tourism package Sea View Park at Alapuzha offers cheaper boating facility that ranges ten to fifteen rupees only. Each boat is available on rent for about ten minutes here and the rental boat price is Round boat (4 seater): Rs. 10 Pedal boat (2 seater): Rs. 15 Pedal boat (4 seater): Rs. 25. And likewise you also will have to pay some amount for still cameras and video cameras. For video you will have to pay only Rs. 15 and for still camera you will be charged only Rs. 10. This is a cheap rate comparatively.

This is one of the best water tourist spot is that is a must visit in Alappuzha, Kerala. Though boating is the major attraction of the place, the natural beauty is something God given. And you will realize this factor only if you visit Alappuzha Sea View Park, Kerala, India. Krishnapuram Palace that was built in the 18th century during the reign of Marthanda Varma is the other attraction of the place. It shows cases the typical characteristics of Kerala architecture. One of the largest mural paintings here is the Gajendra Maksham. The Krishnapuram Palace is just 47 kms from Alappuzha. Kerala sculptural tourism and Kerala architectural tourism have a lot to with in and near Sea View Park.

The beautiful district Alappuzha of Kerala is known for the popularity of Alleppey beach. It is one of the most popular picnic spots in the district of Alappuzha.

The travelers from across the world refer this beach as the Venice of the East. Tourism Alappuzha Backwater Country is also home to varied animals and birds. The immediacy to the sea makes helps the town to be a unique part in the maritime history of Kerala. Several thousands of foreign tourists each year do visit the backwater tourist center Alappuzha. Alappuzha is also associated with boat races, houseboat holidays, beaches, marine products and coir industry. Thus, this place is full of entertainment in all the ways. The hotels in Alappuzha provide any dish that you wish to have. The hospitality of the people of this place is noteworthy. You can also visit the old lighthouse which to the beauty of Alappey beach Kerala. The nearest airport is at Trivandrum.

Kuttanad is world famous for having cultivation under the sea level. And this is the only place in the world where farming is carried out under the sea level.

It is also called as the ‘Rice Bowl of Kerala’. The reason behind it is its wealth of paddy crops. It is important to note that it is at the very heart of the backwaters. The scenic and beautiful countryside of Kuttanad with attractive waterways has an abundant crop of banana, cassava and yam.

Kuttanadu in Kerala tourism India is the region having 500 square kilometers of area below sea level. It is significant that most of this area is covered with water throughout the year. The tourism Kuttanad region is spread across the districts of Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta, and Kottayam. Four major Kerala rivers of South Kerala flow in to Kuttanadu. They are the Pampa, the Meenachil, the Achankovil and the Manimala rivers. The Kuttanad region is broadly classified into Lower Kuttanad, Upper Kuttanad and North Kuttanad.

Kuttanad which is rich in diversity of nature, culture and lifestyle is rated among the fifty must see places of the World. The attractions of Kuttanad tourism are exclusive as it includes coconut groves, beautiful sunny, backwaters, spice gardens, exotic wildlife, Ayurvedic health resorts, enchanting art forms, magical festivals, historic, cultural monuments, Kerala special Kuttanad hotels and food items, etc. Alleppey is the doorway to experience the ethnic feel of an ancient tradition of God’s own country Kerala. Kuttanad Resorts are world famous as they offer Indian medical tourism for the tourist to Kuttanad, Alappuzha, Kerala, India. The massage with specially made Kerala coconut oil and other Ayurvedic oils are world famous as it is proved that it cures all the sicknesses. All types of joint pains and stresses can be healed here by the massage at the massage parlors of Kerala.

Practice of Yoga is given most importance in Kerala as part of its treatment which is good to attain great concentration. Thus, the tour to Kerala is not just for entertainment; rather it is both a mental and physical treatment too. The home stay packages at Kuttanad resorts provide you the rare facility to stay as an honored guest as each Keralite is known for hospitality. One can also know the culture and tradition of Kerala and India by making use of Kuttanad accommodation hotels.

Kuttanad art and culture reflects the Kerala art and culture. Kerala craft that is well-known world wide especially of wood, cane, fiber and coconut shell is available here in Kuttanad tour packages. Kuttanad shopping tourism is the best cheap tour shopping of the world. You can buy Kerala products like kathakali models in wood, rosewood elephants, miniature models of snake boats, baskets, trays and furniture made of cane, coconut shell cups, vases and so on.

The art forms of Kathakali, Chavittunatakam, Oppana, Krishnanattom, Mohiniyattam, Thiruvathirakali, Thullal, etc can be best enjoyed realistically in the Kerala tourism package to Kuttanad. And of course, backwaters are the backbone of Kuttanad. It provides not only luxury house boats but also ayurvedic treatment and hotel tourism too. The Kuttanad luxury hotels offer all types of food that you need. They offer your native food item, the Indian food items, Kerala food items and even any food item that you require. So, you will not feel home sickness when you are on Kerala tours.

Sabarimala Pilgrim centre is the most visited spot of tourism Kerala as the number of pilgrims climbing the Sabarimala to reach the Sannidhanam is innumerable. This is the most crowded pilgrim centre all around the world as we will have to wait so long as even more that ten hours in queue to see Lord Ayyappa in the temple Sabarimala Kerala. It is important to notice that any one from any cast or creed can visit Sabarimala if he or she maintains purity and keeps away from non vegetarian food. It is also seen that only true devotees do the trekking to Sabarimala. Though it is purely a pilgrim centre, the view from the other angle will give us a note of a trekking experience. The tour operators to Sabarimala make sure that all their clients keep up the required purity in mind and body before getting in to the best tourist pilgrimage of Kerala i.e. Sabarimala Sannidhanam.

The Sabarimala pilgrimage trekking is adventurous as the way to the temple up hills is thorny and stony. It is believed that all the sins of the devotees will be forgiven by visiting Lord Ayyappa on Sabarimala. The devotees do recite His name repeatedly as Swamiye Saranam Ayyappo while on their way to Sabarimala pilgrimage. The Sabarimala tourist need not be Hindus but the tourists to Sabarimala are expected to keep up all the norms and traditions followed by the pilgrims. Only true Ayyappa devotees are allowed to climb the so called famous 18 steps of Sannidhanam; i.e., the Pathinettampadi.

There is a good medical care to Sabarimala tourists/pilgrims offered by the ambala committee or the officials of the Travancore Devaswam Board. A great protection from the side of the police force of Kerala is also offered through out Sabarimala season in Kerala tourism.  The hilly area of this pilgrim centre is one of the biggest trekking experiences of tourism Kerala. The medical support given by professional in Sabarimala is at your service at any casualty or physical difficulty. The ambulance service at Sabarimala and police force at sabarimala take care of the sabarimala devotees’ health whereas the sabarimala tourist operators and sabarimala hotels see to all our comfort and leisure.

Best Kerala Hotels

As Kerala is ranked in the list of the best ten must visit tourist spots of the world you can be sure of the touring and facilities available in Kerala now. Having some attractive tourist spots alone will not help an area to be the best or must visit place; rather, it should have certain facilities like good hotels, tour operators, travel agents, entertaining activities, etc. And we can come to the conclusion that Kerala has more that what is expected as mentioned above and it has turned out to one of the best tourist spots of the world. Among all these the main attractions of Kerala tourism are the Kerala natural beauty and Kerala medical tourism.

Some of the leading hotels of Kerala offer us not only good accommodation and food but they also offer us a great touring experience rich in natural beauty and Kerala treatment of Ayurveda. Kerala Ayurveda treatment is the main attraction of it with a season through out the year. The exclusive climate of Kerala is the best advantage of Kerala tourism. You can undoubtedly travel to Kerala, India at any time of the year. Some of the best Kerala hotels could be found near backwaters or lagoons as Kerala is now concentrating more on backwater tourism of Kerala. It also has so many other water tourism projects including Athirapally water tourism Kerala, Kerala Thekkady water tourist spot and so on. The best hotels in Kerala do give more attention to Kerala special food and accommodation too. The Kerala special meals and dishes can best enjoyed in the tourist choice hotels of Kerala.

The tour operators of Kerala are specially trained in order to give you a warm welcome and special care. They get to what you need and see that it is done in the best possible manner. This is important to note that the best luxury hotels Kerala tours offer us a great time of luxury. They make sure that all our requirements are satisfied. For this they utilize the maximum time of ours and their. Not even a minute of yours will be left alone. In fact you will have to say that you are tired after a couple of days since there each nook of Kerala is a tourist spot. The natural beauty is the main advantage of Kerala. There is nothing wrong in labeling Kerala as God’s own country as it is so. In other words, it is the Paradise in the 21st century. The easiest way to get to Kerala will be through the tour operators who will arrange a cheap tour to Kerala which will be cheap only in price and never in quality. So, why do you have to wait to book Kerala tour package as tourism Kerala department is ready to welcome you?

Kerala - Scandinavia tourism News

Kerala tourism considers that the Scandinavian nations are among the biggest sources of tourists to the state of tourism Kerala. Kerala tourism director M. Sivasankar says that “Within Scandinavia, Sweden commands the largest share of outbound travel market in terms of volume and value” and this fact is agreed by the representatives of hoteliers and tour operators of Kerala, India. Therefore, the department of Kerala tourism now is trying to develop the tourism market of Kerala and India by conducting a tourism road show Kerala - Scandinavia. Kerala in Scandinavia from November 6 – 15 is looked upon by all the tour operators of Kerala, India.

The objective of the Kerala tour road show is to display tourism Kerala to tour operators in the Scandinavian countries. The three Scandinavian countries are Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. In 2008, tourist flow into Kerala from the Scandinavian country Sweden proved a 103% growth, while it was 46% for Denmark, the Scandinavian country.

Kerala will contribute in two consumers’ activities in Stockholm including a 10-day “Delicious Kerala” food festival Kerala and a three-day health and wellness exhibition in Scandinavia. M. Sivasankar tourism director of Kerala said: “Swedes are one of the most frequent international travelers favoring sunny destinations”. The Scandinavian tourists are also interested in the Ayurvedic tourism of Kerala. And the Kerala Ayurvedic medical tourism and food festival go hand in hand.

The coordinators of the Tour Scandinavia road show expect more than 25,000 people to attend the health exhibition from November 6th to 8th of 2009. And the food festival will be held from November 5th – 15th at four restaurants in Stockholm. The diners at Scandinavia will get a chance to win free holiday packages to fly to Kerala provided by the Qatar Airways. This is the most expected show of  the Scandinavian tourists to Kerala, India.

The main attraction of the Scandinavian - Kerala roadshow the 10-day ‘Delicious Kerala’ food festival and three days at the ‘Allt For Halsan’ – Health – exhibition. Kerala medical tourism will have the best chance ever to show off Kerala’s ayurveda treatment to the Scandinavian nations and the whole world even. Scandinavia is a growing market for Kerala tourism. The food loving tourists will have a great opportunity at the ‘Delicious Kerala’ food festival at four city restaurants in Stockholm till November 15.

Martial Arts of Kerala

Kerala tourism and the Martial Arts of Kerala are the two sides a coin Kerala. Kerala is well known for its martial arts. The main martial arts of Kerala are Kalaripayattu, Parisa Kali, Velakanni, Valeru, Kunderu and Njaninmel Kali. Among all these Kalaripayattu of Kerala state of India are one of the oldest and the best martial arts of the world. The martial art Kalaripayattu is a safe guard to us as it is on the other hand is part of the powerful ayurvedic physical treatment of India.

The steps or tricks of the martial art Kalaripayattu are very quick and sharp. Attentiveness and concentration are the greatly important aspects of Kalaripayattu, the martial art of Kerala, India. Kalaripayattu helps the seekers of Kalaripayattu to get rid of the physical troubles. The thirummu chikitsa (massage) offered by the experts of Kalaripayattu heals even the physically challenged and paralyzed ones. The Kerala ayurvedic tourism goes along with Kerala martial arts.

When comparing to the foreign martial arts like wrestling, Kalaripayattu is more dangerous while learning and practising. As practice makes a man perfect, practice in Kalaripayattu makes the kalari practitioners perfect.

Kerala’s own martial art forms are famous all over Kerala and Indian tourism. There are many martial arts institutions in Kerala, India. The martial art parishioners of Kerala martial art tourism like to perform and practice the art form on the sea shores early mornings and in the evenings. The sunrise and sunset meditation yoga and martial arts go along with the martial art tourism Kerala.

In the ancient time the dispute between the rural kings of Kerala was settled by fighting and betting over the martial art competitions in Kerala, India. The internal fights of India were solved by the martial arts of India. Each of the kings or their representatives used to fight each other to claim victory over the other. Thus, the historical significance of the Indian martial arts is great. The weapons used for the most famous martial arts are dangerous as they include Swords, Daggers, Long Sticks and Long Flexible spring like sword.

The martial art centres in Kerala also provide body massaging treatments which is part of Kerala’s ayurvedic medical treatment and medical tourism India. The role of martial arts in Kerala tourism encompasses ayurvedic treatment of Kerala tourism. The important places of martial arts and the important places of Kerala martial arts are famous with the Indian and Kerala tourism today. Many foreigners come to India today to learn more about the Kerala martial art tourism. There are many kalari centres in Kerala. Some of the main kalari training centres of Kerala are in Ettumanoor, Kanjirappally, Pala, Thiruvanthapuram, etc. In fact this art is famous across Kerala.

The Indian martial arts like Kalaripayattu aim at giving the practitioners the perfect control over their body balance, flexibility, stamina and speed. It also helps to attain perfect neuro-muscular co-ordination, an ability of the physic to react instinctively to the senses, etc. The Indian martial arts are part and parcel of India culture and traditions. The cultural tourism of Kerala, India is the best tourism packages of the world. It gives not only scenic beauty, rather much more.

Festival Tourism Kerala

The southern state of India is well famous for festival tourism. Kerala state of India is famous for tourism. The Kerala tourism is world famous with its natural beauty and climate. The so called God own country Kerala is also rich with the number of festivals. Therefore the state of Kerala is best for festival tourism. The main aspect of Kerala tourism is the Kerala festival tourism. The feasts and festivals of Kerala are large in number. All the religious groups of Kerala have their own festival and festival tourism in Kerala. The touring organizations in Kerala make use of the foreigners’ attractions and interest in Kerala festivals.

The tourism Kerala festivals differ in class according to religion and interests. Though there diversity in religion and such aspects, the Keralites celebrate the main festival of Kerala Onam in the best manner. The people of Kerala find time and means to celebrate the Kerala festivals. Every one – rich, poor, middle class, Christians, Muslims, Hindus, etc. celebrate Onam the main festival of Kerala. Including Onam all the festivals of Kerala, India has a myth behind it. The main feature of Onam and Onam festival tourism is that the day’s lunch will be completely of vegetarian food. While celebrating the Kerala festivals like Onam and Vishu, people wear the traditional dress of Dothi and Set Saree.

There are religious festivals in Kerala tourism festivals. The Hindu festivals of Kerala are Vishu, Mahasivarathri, Navarathri, Astami Rohini, Thrikarthika, Thiruvathira, etc. Christmas and Easter are the Christian Kerala festival tourism. The important Muslim festivals Kerala tourism are Bakrid, Idul Fitr, Miladi Sharif, Muharram and Chandankudam at Beemapally, Kerala the God’s own country and the Kerala festival tourism are the most popular talk of the world today.

Thrissur Pooram is the Hindu festival of Kerala tourism. The Thrissur Vedikettu (fire works) is the major attraction of the tourism festival Kerala. The Vallamkali (boat race) could be the best festival tourism of Kerala, India. The shopping experience during the Kerala tourism festivals is the best time of all types of business in Kerala. All the countries give more offers and reduction to reach the highest selling range. The festival tour operators also provide good offers during the main festivals of Kerala tourism. The hospitality of the people of Kerala is world famous. So you can have the best time in Kerala festival holiday packages. It will be your best choice to spend time in Kerala festival holidays.