September 2, 2010 | 
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Kerala has been voted as the best Asian holiday destination ahead of even the blue chip tourist destinations like Bali, Phuket and Maldives. Kerala’s enviable coastline , the tranquil stretches of emerald backwaters, misty mountains and diverse tropical fauna and flora has become a sure shot winning combo for Kerala in tourist circuits.
Kerala Tourism got a boost when a million strong users of the famous travel portal, SmartTravelAsia.com, placed the state as the best Asian holiday destination of their choice. The “Best in Travel poll 2010’ carried out by an independent online travel magazine Smart Travel Asia conducted between May and July in Asia (India, Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong, China, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, and the Middle East), Europe and North America, saw the emergence of Kerala as the best Asian tourist destination.
The poll was mainly based on on ‘aspirational” brands and travel trends in the region.Bali and Phuket were voted as second and third most favourite holiday destinations in Asia and the only other India tourist places that made their way to the top 10 list were Rajasthan and Goa at eighth and tenth spot respectively.
“This is phenomenal recognition for the state and the people who are in the tourism sector, delivering an inspirational experience. Keralites should feel very proud of their contribution to this fantastic international achievement”, says Secretary, Kerala Tourism, V. Venu. The awards are unique because they single out not just popular places but truly exceptional places that enthrall travellers and keep them coming back, he added.
Travelers voted Kerala based on their travel experience and information they sourced from ads and PR apart from word of mouth publicity. Voters also polled in 12 categories including Asia’s best business hotels, luxury resorts, spas, destinations, business cities, shopping spots, and the world’s best airlines and airports.
So, in case you have not been to God’s own country.’ pack your bags and get ready for an out of the world holiday experience.
Posted in Backwaters, Enviroment, Kerala, Kerala Destinations, Tourism News | 
Tags: Backwaters, best destination in Asia, karmakerala, kerala tourism, mountains | 
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Kochi’s newest art gallery is the prestigious David hall, which was built around 315 years back! Bult in 1695, it was the residence of a Dutch commander Hendrik Adriaan Van Reede Tot Drakestein, who is also the author of renowned book “Horticus Malabaricus” before becoming the home of a Jewish business man, David Koder,after which it was named.
Located near the parade ground in Fort cochin, the artgallery is now run by Tby CGH who has leased out the building for 25 years.The restoration work that span over 2 decades was undertaken with utmost care to make sure that the original character and aesthetic beauty of the building is fully retained instead of adding new structures to mar its originality.David hall will be a showcase for paintings and performing
arts to be a complete cultural centre in Cochin. David hall will focus more on propagating and promoting little known art forms and will be the right arena for the upcoming artists to exhibit their works. With a mission to make art more affordable for common people, David Hall has set a new precedent that will surely influence many other art lovers.
By incorporating a cafe into this art gallery, David hall is paving way for interesting coffee table discussions on arts and culture and more public participation. Now that the well cherished dream of David Hall art gallery becoming a reality, the Kashi Art gallery will have a competitor nearby, which will only do more good for the arts and cultural richness of Kochi.
Posted in Culture, Kerala | Tags: art gallery, Culture, david hall, Fort Cochin, Kerala, paintings | View Comments
Tourism, tourism, tourism everywhere! Kerala is known for its tourism in different sectors. The alluring charm and the unique serenity have made Kerala one of the best tourism destinations. One can find people from different countries and locations visiting this charming state in order to explore the various tourism areas, which it is highly known for.
Whether it is the high standard of food or the simple cooked puttu (steamed rice powder preparation), vegetarian dishes and fish curry, here comes the concept of Kerala being known for its culinary tourism. Though ‘idiyappam’, stew, puttu were influenced by the Portuguese cuisines, these food items are the customary dishes in every home in Kerala.
Now lately it is seen that film tourism has also been seen as a tourism ingredient that boosts Kerala tourism. With various films from Hollywood and Bollywood like Mistress of Spices, Dil Se, Bombay and most recently Ravan (Ravanan), being shot in Kerala, one can find that Kerala provides appropriate places for all these right shots.
Eco tourism- One of the fastest growing segments in the world, Kerala has joined in the race to show that it is nestled in the bounties of nature thereby attracting foreigners and travellers. Focusing on sustainable and eco tourism development with a rich biodiversity and unmatched natural stations makes Kerala a hot spot for eco tourism. This is a concept introduced in order to make people observe and understand more about the flora and fauna of Kerala.
Posted in Backwaters, Entertainment, Enviroment, Festivals, Kerala, Kerala Destinations, Tourism News, Travel, Work | Tags: culinary tourism, eco tourism, film tourism, Kerala, Kerala events, Kerala fun, Kerala News, Kerala places | View Comments
From being just a lip smacking item in Kerala cuisine, Karimeen or Pearl spot has become the official State fish. 2010-11 is being observed as ‘The Year of Karimeen.’ to boost the production of Karimeen (Etroplus suratensis). A bottom dweller that inhabits the fresh and brackish water habitats throughout Kerala, pearl spot is a delicacy that tops the menu at the restaurants and is extremely popular among foreign tourists and local population alike.
The Kuttanad region in Alappuzha district is considered the home of this fish species. It is a popular item in the menu served during camping and house boats and very often the boat crew procure the fish straight from men and women who collect it using gillnets from the waters.
It is cooked in various styles. Fried, cooked in spicy and tangy coconut gravy or slowly grilled in charcoal with spices, pearl spot is tasty and hence pricey as well, which is well beyond the reach of ordinary people. The signature dish of Kerala could well be the delicacy, ‘Karimeen Pollichathu”, fish sauteed with masala and cooked over low fire in coconut milk, wrapped in plantain leaves. Kerala produces 2,000 tonnes of Karimeen at present and efforts are on to step up its production to 5,000 tonnes in a year. Though the plight of the state animal, elephant and the state bird, hornbill is far from satisfactory, we can earnestly hope that Karimeen, the state fish of Kerala, thrives and flourishes in Kerala waters, bringing laurels and precious foreign exchange in the process.
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Here goes… a few candid confessions from a not-so-traditional Keralite…
Even though I enjoy sadhyas I am yet to learn how to cook the entire spread and serve people for lunch. I get by with Onam kits or better still with invitations from great cooks like my aunts or mother.
I buy flowers, the ones that come from Tamil Nadu, for Onam, and as they are quite expensive I keep them packed neatly in a Tupperware container for the next day.
The flower-carpet centre flower I sometimes steal from gardens on the way-side and bolt without looking back… and that I think is traditional – pookallanmaar and pookallikal (flower thieves) are traditional.
Have never had Onathappan kept in the middle of the flower carpet, and not sure about the significance. Gulp!
I relate to the Maveli story more than the harvest significance of Onam, even though Maveli is a mythological figure of whom Amar Chitra Katha has a great comic about.
Growing up my mother and sisters were always making elaborate pookkalams and we did have shankupushapam, chembarathi, nanyaarvattam (indigenous flowers) and ferns to our pookkalam. The flower carpets looked very much from Kerala and not the market fare from Tamil Nadu. Ah nostalgia!
However, I do know certain things only a traditional Keralite knows:
I do know that inji thaiyiru (raw ginger curry in curd) is equivalent to a 1000 curries, so it’s always on the menu for me.
Also kurukkukaalan (coconut curry with sour buttermilk) made during Onam gets tastier as the days go by.
Thumbapoovu (flower) used to be the traditional way one does pookkalam on Onam day (at least in my part of the state).
Onakodi or the new dress needs to be of that Kodi (off-white) colour traditionally, so yes a new mundu or set-mundu in cream colour is the traditional way to do it.
So, Onam has evolved from a harvest-mythological festival to being Kerala’s identity and cultural festival today. The Kerala tourism significance the festival has and the shopping fairs that play out have all but swallowed the traditional Onam. And perhaps it is the way to be… as tourism continues to bring in huge amount of money into the state and prompts a lot of us to ponder and wonder the significance, traditions and the not-so-traditional truths about our state festival.
Music has the magic to pierce the hearts and minds of all human beings. Whatever is the celebration we have music to enrich the gala mood. This year too the music lovers had their thirst quenched with the Onam songs in their ears.
Before the season was on the music directors, play back singers and the music studios started preparing a variety of music dishes to offer to the world and when the season was on, the music industry was all set to enlighten the hearts of all malayalees not only in Kerala but also those staying outside the state or even the country.
When the beautiful girls of Kerala wear their traditional costumes, ‘setum mundum’ and sing different songs like ‘maaveli naadu vaaneedum kaalam maanusharellaarum onnu pole….’ (When our great King Mahabali ruled this country all the men were treated as equals), all the listeners especially the old would have many Onams flash through their minds. The music has the nostalgic tint in it to keep us mesmerised for long, throughout the festive season or even after that.
The rhythm of the Onam songs give us a grand treat to cherish along with all the other delicacies offered by Onam.
Onam celebrations at Karma Kerala held on 19th August 2010 was by far the best. A smart mix of trend and tradition, it offered ample scope for fun, frolic and fiesta. It seems that the traditional Malayalee attire of set mundu has overtaken sari in popularity as many of the ladies chose to wear this simple two piece attire. The fusion song rendered by an enterprising team of our boss Tejal along with Amjath, Unni and Sharaz stood out for its fresh theme. The zip and zap of Vanchipattu was blended well with the English rendition of the lore of Mahabali, which was brought out well by Sharaz.
The Kaikottikali was the specialty of this year’s Onam celebrations as it was the first time that it was included. A team of girls under the able leadership of Nita mam enthralled us all by their subtle steps to the tune of a popular Malayalam song. After a sumptuous Onam feast, it was the turn of the sports events.
From the funny sports events like popping the baloons and thread and needle to the innovative bomb blast – an improvised version of musical chairs, it was a hotly fought contest where everyone vied for the top spot and Amjath, Tejal sir , Aji, Deepa and Shola were some of the winners who emerged after a couple of tough preliminary elimination rounds. Thanks for the management for the support and encouragement that unveiled the hidden talents amongst many of us.
Our hunky cabbie, Ratheesh spiced up the whole affair by his antics and rib tickling jokes and one liners. Onam is indeed a time to rejoice and we at Karma Kerala had our fair share ( and even more 
of it.