Among the most expensive of Kerala’s tourism products, a journey across the backwaters of Kerala is worth every single rupee and would rate as a journey of a lifetime!

The Kerala Backwaters is a term used to denote a labyrinth network of canals, lagoons and lakes stretching almost across the entire state. A visual map is provided.

44 rivers that span the state move down from the Western Ghats flowing through canals and lagoons and empty themselves into the Vembanad Lake and Ashtamudi Lake in the South and directly into the Arabian Sea in the North. While on this unique journey totalling more than 560 miles, these rivers have been the fount and origin of islands, mangrove forests, reclaimed paddy fields, bird sanctuaries, estuaries and human settlements.

With a majority of Kerala’s farming population spread across this vast network of canals, lagoons and lakes, a journey on a Kerala houseboat across these narrow waterways provides as insight into local life; mothers bathing naughty children, half naked men arguing boisterously inside a toddy shop (local alcoholic shop), school children running up and down the narrow connecting wooden plank bridges towards their school, a canoe and boatman with his Palmyra long hat transporting bags of cement, a canoe ferry transporting people across the river for a rupee; all enduring images of this unique backwater world.

Some of the unique sights include the vast the Vembanad Lake, Kuttanad and further south, the expansive Ashatmudi Lake.

The Vembanad Lake

With 240 sq.kms. in size, a depth of 40 feet in some places, a maximum width of 14 kms. and 96km in length, the Vembanad Lake is India’s longest lake and home to mangrove forests, water birds and the famed karimeen or King Fish.
The Vembanad Lake lies at sea level and is separated from the Arabian Sea by a barrier island at Kochi, its northern extension. The primary inflows into the lake are from 5 rivers; the Periyar, Meenachil, Manimala, Pamba and Achenkovil. The lake borders the towns of Alleppey, Kochi and Kottayam.
The lake can be divided into two, the freshwater dominant southern zone and the salt water dominant northern zone. The zones are separated by a kilometre long bund with sluice gates, the Taneermukkam Bund, which controls the flow of mud and salt into the southern zone.
The Vembanad lake area called the Vembanad Lake – Kol wetland is renowned for its clam and sub fossil deposits and being one of the largest estuarine systems in India has been designated as a Ramsar site since November 2002.
The Vembanad – Kol wetland is home to resident and migratory birds and helps sustain about 20,000 waterfowls during the months between November and February. The endangered species of water birds found here are spot billed Pelican, oriental darter, water cock and the black billed tern.
The Vembanad – Kol system acts as a transitional ecotone and supports a variety of finfish, shellfish and several aquatic species.

The Ashtamudi Lake

The word Ashtamudi means, 8 locks of hair or branches, perhaps to denote the topography, the many branches of the lake. With an area of 61 sq kms., the Ashtamudi Lake is the second largest lake in Kerala and the wetland system has been included in the Ramsar Convention sites of national importance. The main town around the estuary is Kollam.
The primary inflow river is the Kallada which traverses 121 kms and empties itself at Neendakara and thenceforth moves onto the Arabian Sea.
With 57 species of avifauna, 25 species of butterfly, 43 species of marshy, mangrove forests and a large variety of clams, the Ashtamudi estuary provides livelihood to thousands of fisherman.

Kuttanad

Kuttanad is a huge expanse of farming land reclaimed from the Vembanad Lake.
With the lowest altitude in India and an area of around 500 sq. kms, Kuttanad’s claim to fame lies in the fact that paddy is grown below sea level here.
The name, `kutta nadu’, means land of short people, an allusion to the picture of men standing knee deep in the paddy field.
The region designated as Kuttanad falls with three districts, Kottayam, Allappuzha and Pathanamthitta.
The major occupation of the region is farming and crops include paddy, bananas, tapiocas and yams.