Kerala Backwaters: Alappuzha and Kumarakom

The kettuvallam, whose name joins the Malayalam words for a dwelling structure and a boat, was for generations a working cargo vessel. According to Kerala Tourism, these boats carried rice and spices from the Kuttanad region to the port at Kochi, their jackwood planks stitched together with coir rope and sealed with a black resin made from boiled cashew kernels. When road transport took over the trade, many old boats were refitted with bedrooms, kitchens and sundecks, and the houseboat industry was born.

The landscape itself is partly man-made. Kuttanad, known as the Rice Bowl of Kerala, is one of the few places in the world where farming takes place below sea level, on polders reclaimed from the lake and protected by dykes. Vembanad Lake, into which several major rivers drain, is the largest lake in Kerala and part of a wetland system recognised under the Ramsar Convention. The Thanneermukkom salt-water barrier divides its brackish and freshwater sections to protect the paddy fields.

Life in Kuttanad is shaped by water. Homes, churches and temples face the canals, and many families still travel by small boat for errands. The region's Christian, Hindu and Muslim communities share festivals and food traditions, and toddy shops, coir making and duck farming remain part of the local economy. The snake boat races (vallam kali), held around the Onam festival season, are a source of intense village pride: each long boat, crewed by dozens of rowers, represents a community, and the Nehru Trophy race on Punnamada Lake draws huge crowds.