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Kerala History
The name Kerala is now widely explained today as the "the land of coconuts", derived from Malayalam word "kera" which means coconut. But history shows that Ashokan edits dating back to 273-236 BC had mentioned Keralaputra (the land of the sons of Cheras) and it is from this that the name has originated.
Not much is known about the history of this region of the period after the Ashokan edicts, except the fact that there was extensive trading with the Romans from this region. Chera was the first large empire that took roots in this state, and continued to use Tamil till 7th century as their administrative language. This shows the influence and power that Tamils exerted over this region. Cheras established a wide network of trade links not only with Indian businessmen, but also with countries outside ranging from Sumatra to Cordoba. The Chera power declined in the 10th century AD, after Cholas, the rulers of Tamil Nadu, were successful in overthrowing the dynasty.
Kerala Fast Facts :
Area : 38,863 sq km
Population : 31.8 million.
Languages Spoken : Malayalam, English, Hindi
Capital : Thiruvanathapuram
Kerala Fast Facts about the Climate: Kerala has tropical Climate and remains pleasant for most of the year. A few fast facts about the climate are that Kerala does not have a dry spell as is in rest of India. It is summer time from April to June. The maximum temperature remains around 33 degrees centigrade. The South West Monsoon touches the state in June and remains till September however not much difference in temperature can be felt, though humidity increases and rainfall can last for a couple of days at a stretch. Winter is from October to January and temperature drops a bit.
Kerala Fast Facts about the Temperature: The maximum temperature in Kerala rarely rises above 32 degrees while minimum temperature at sea level does not go below 20 degree centigrade. The weather is never too chilly in Kerala.
Kerala Language
Malayalam is the official language of Kerala. It belongs to the Dravidian languages category. The language is rich in literature as many literary. The language has close resemblance to Tamil, another language of Dravidian origin. Tamil greatly influenced the early development of Malayalam. English stands only second to Sanskrit in its influence in Malayalam. Hundreds of individual lexical items and may idiomatic expressions in modern Malayalam are of English origin.
Kerala People
As in the case of rest of South India, majority of the people of this state are also Dravidians. Hinduism is the principal religion with considerable percentages of Muslims and Christians. Christianity has a long history in this state, as it is believed that the first missionary from Europe landed on the coast of Kerala in the first millennium.
Kerala has hundred percent literacy and this has resulted in high health care and health awareness among the people. Here child mortality is lowest among Indian states and is comparable to those of developed countries.
The women in the state enjoys high social status mainly due to the historical matrilineal system where by property etc are transferred to females. Higher education and equal opportunities have further strengthened women's status in kerala's society
Kerala Cuisine
Rice, or rather unpolished rice, is the main food of the Keralite. Aside from the boiled product eaten as a staple, there is also a wide range of snacks and breakfast fare made of the cereal. Pounded into flour, it gives shape to the bamboo formed puttu, the round spongy vattayappam, the lacy edged palappam, the pancake-like kallappam, the sweet uniappam, the idiappam that looks like fine noodles, and the stuffed ball called kozhikotta. And then, there is the pathiri, chapatti-like bread that can be made into a plain thin one called vatipathiri, a box type pettipathiri and a sweet cake-Chattipathiri. Pathiris are also stuffed with beef, chicken or mutton and fried, or steamed when filled with fish.
Except for the Nambudiris who are strict vegetarians, Hindus of other castes eat both meat and fish as a matter of course. However, they do not serve non-vegetarian food on important days, though for the other communities no festive occasion is complete without it. It is the influence of the foreigners that, unlike most of the other parts of the country, beef is quite popular in the state.
The high ranges of the state boast of vast plantations of cardamom, pepper, nutmeg, tea and coffee while in its lower elevations there are clove, ginger and turmeric. The midlands have paddy fields, tapioca, all sorts of hardy vegetables such as yam, narrow, gourd, drumstick, etc. and a huge collection of tropical fruits-banana, jackfruit, mango, pineapple and cashew. In the lowlands, cultivation is mainly that of coconut trees and paddy.
Kerala Art and Culture
Kerala also known as the 'God in God's Own Country' boast of physical and natural attributes that attract a lot of tourists every year from India as well as abroad. Besides the physical beauty, Kerala has a rich cultural heritage, which fascinates the tourists a lot. The art and culture of Kerala portrays various dance forms and martial arts performed with the accompaniment of vocal and instrumental music. All these art forms are performed during some celebration or festivity.
Bharata Natyam is the oldest form of classical dance in India. Origin of this style of dance can be traced to the Natya Sastra written around 4000 BC by sage Bharatha. Known as the 'Poetry in Motion', this dance form was originally known as 'dasi attam,' a temple dance performed by young women called 'devadasis.' Bharata Natyam is most commonly performed by women rarely by men. Strict guidelines are laid down describing every single aspect of the dance form including the attributes required to be an accomplished dancer.
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