Ente Keralam - Ethra Manoharam

Winston Churchill once said, "The further back you can look, the further forward you are likely to see." Churchill, a student of history, understood that studying the past allows one an educated glimpse into the uncertain future. Celebrating the Kerala Piravi was a time to cogitate if the land of Malabar arose, as a result of Parashuram throwing his axe, why and how did Onam celebration start? On Onam day, we welcome Mahabhali; who was a contemporary ruler during the time of Vamana born before Parashuram in the 8th Canto of Srimad Bhagvatam; and from Dhasavatharam. Possible there could be two theories, first Vamana submerged the land with Mahabali and Parasurama reclaimed the land, second Vamana / Mahabali event occurred near Narmada river, the descendants of Parasurama when they migrated carried the story over to new land reclaimed. According to this version, Thrikkakara temple was consecrated, after a bird sang the story of Mahabali/ Vamana. Kerala was, is and will continue to be an ecologically sensitive area, along with being the doorway to India for varied cultures and races embracing one and all.

It is believed that on the destruction of the First Temple in the Siege of Jerusalem of 587 BCE, some Jewish exiles came to India, they were from King Soloman's time, even before Christ was born. Thomas the Apostle is believed to have brought Christianity to India, in 52 AD; some believe it to be 6th century AD even. Kodungaloor houses the first Muslim mosque in India believed to be build around 629 AD by Cheraman Perumaal, a Hindu king who accepted Islam. Adi Shankaracharya who consolidated the doctrine of Advaita Vedanta is from Kalady in Kerala, the earlier kingdom of Cochin was the only kingdom in South Asia to be a protectorate of China. Buddhists, Arabs, Romans, Portuguese, Dutch and even the British have walked through Muziris, who has stood witness to varied civilisations and wars by being ancient world's greatest trading centre in the East. Trading in everything from spices to precious stones with the Greeks, Romans and the rest of the world. At the time of Independence of India, Maharaja Chithirai Thirunal of Travancore and his Dewan C. P. Ramaswami Iyer toyed with the idea of Travancore as an ­independent nation. on July 25, someone had assaulted Iyer with a knife, and on July 30 the Maharaja informed Mountbatten, the last British viceroy, that he would sign the instrument of accession to India. Kerala Varma Thampuran popularly known as Aikya Keralam Thampuran mooted the idea of a unified Kerala state in India for the Malayalam speaking population and stood for the merging of British Malabar, Cochin and Travancore. Fukyali Kerala (meaning united Kerala), was a popular movement, for the formation of the State of Kerala. On 1 July 1949, Travancore and Cochin merged, Travancore-Cochin State came into existence and Darsanakalanidhi Parikshith Thampuran was the last official ruler of the Cochin princely state. Malabar derived from the Malayalam word "Mala-Baram" (hill-slop or side of hill), earlier refeed to India's Southwest cost from Goa to Kanyakumari; but British Malabar was confined to the present North of Kerala, with minor differences. On 1st Nov. 1956, Kerala Varma Thampuran's dream was fulfilled, these three states were unified and finally the present day Kerala was formed.

Kerala has been, and will be always unique, showing this uniqueness in all spheres, whether it be in politics, culture, social achievements, quality of living, tourism, religious harmony, electoral franchise so on, and so forth. People here wish to be away from main stream pandemonium and wish to be cocooned in their south west India coastal comfy zone, flashy homes earned by sheer individual hard work at home or outside Kerala. Sipping a peg in evening and indulging in conversations, looking mainly on local visual media evening debates and aggressively posting all sorts of comments in social media as well! The greatest ever uniqueness was in 1959, when Kerala elected a communist government through ballotbox, and elsewhere communists came to power through gun barrel. It is fascinating to see Malayalees from rest of India visiting Kerala, more frequently these days, to taste good beef to their fill which makes Kerala the state still enjoying the freedom to eat. How can democracy be justified, when there is a restriction on what one should eat, press has been made parochial. The election results, made us wonder if South will always remain a separate kingdom. When rest of India voted for and arrived at a singularly contentious political party, here it was different; to the extend that the attitude towards the winning party was of anger, sometimes violent dissensus.

Most of food common in rest of India is not popular here especially those made of wheat, festivals like Holi and Diwali are not enthusiastically celebrated in this part of globe though at Trivandrum and Palakkad there is a bit part of national festivity due to the presence of Tamil community. Kerala has her Onam which is celebrated by all irrespective of caste, creed or religion, wherein is her beauty. She has her Kathakali a 400 year old, classical dance form combining facets of ballet, opera, mosque and pantomime explicating events and stories from the Indian epics and puranas, with an unparalled array of colour, music, drama and dance. It is accompanied by facial expressions and sophisticated sign languages, and Mohiniyattam literally interpreted as the dance of Mohini, the celestial enchantress of Hindu mythology noted for its graceful and sensuous movements with no tense footwork, reminds one of the gentle swaying of the green paddy fields and coconut fronds that dot the length and breadth of Kerala. There are many other unique and special art forms too. She has her unique place in sports as well. A race, which teaches a valid management lesson, loved by all is the boat race of Vellam Kalli - filled with songs, rhythm and energy. She would have given maximum number of nurses to the world; for fun, it is said, even if you go to moon, you will find 'Nair's' (The term Nayar is believed to be derived from the word ‘Nayak’ which means a leader of people and is, therefore, allied to the Dravidians term Naicker of Naidu. Some say the word is derived from the term Naga, as the worship of snake has been a characteristic of the community.) tea shop. One of my friends said, if a dog is born, it should be in US, for they are loved so much. So are elephant's in Kerala.



It is the state animal of Kerala and is featured on the emblem of the Government of Kerala. Thrissur being the cultural capital of India, Thrissur Pooram, is an especial events full of elephants. There are very few places in the world as beautiful as Alappuzha, the Venice of the East. Every district here has something special, few being Kottayam the land of 3L's - Latex, Letters and Lakes; wandering through Idukky and Wayanad gives you a feeling of eternal bliss, mesmerizing mother nature, hill stations without railways.

She lets you be you, let us allow her to be her. Let us not destroy the symbolic Chinese fishing nets, her natural beauty, or make Hadiya's out of Akhila's ; let us stop her people including couple and children joining Islamic State, Keep her clean with proper waste management system, complete her development projects on time rather than taking ages and becoming outdated, above all have worthy roads and not repair them when someone meets with an accident. Unfortunately what we have is a vision-less leadership, toothless-law and senseless-people who show no prick of conscience in dumping waste at public places and destroying public property..!! At times wonder where God's own country is heading to?


Being one of her, there is so much more that could be written on Kerala, there would be many with different views, but for me, God's own country,' Ente Keralam' is always 'Manoharam'. My enchanting Kerala, Thank you for all that you have given me.