Kumarakom Backwaters

Kumarakom lies on the shore of Vembanad Lake, about 76 km from Kochi. The lake is the largest in Kerala and goes by several names: Kochi Lake near Kochi, Punnamada Lake in Kuttanad, and Vembanad Kol or Kayal among people in Kumarakom. Around it spreads a web of canals, rivers and lagoons lined with coconut palms and dense vegetation that supports many plant and animal species.

The usual way to see the area is on a kettuvallam, a traditional wooden boat now fitted out as a houseboat with bedrooms and a kitchen. Routes pass villages where fishermen work their nets and farmers tend rice fields, with herons, kingfishers and sometimes otters along the banks. Kumarakom Bird Sanctuary sits on the same lakeshore.