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Kerala Guide » Alleppey

Alleppey

Alleppey City GuideAlleppey (also known as Alappuzha) is a city famous for its boat races, houseboats, fishes and lakes. Alleppey is one of the most important tourist spots in Kerala, and because of its network of inland canals have earned itself the title of "Venice of the East". These large network of canals acts as Alleppey's lifeline. Even today Alleppey is famous as the centre for Coir carpet industries and for prawn farming. Alleppey acts as an ideal place to start on your backwater adventure as well as for visiting churches of Kottayam. Alleppey has always been a must visit on the tourists diaries when they visit Kerela. Snake boat races are one of the major reasons to visit Alleppey as close to alleppey is the town of Aranmula which is famous for its Aranmula Snake Boat Race which is an annual event. It is excitement all around this otherwise calm and quiet place when snake boats, each loaded by over a hudreds of oarsmen, cuts through the waters. The event is a tremendous success for tourists and the local population as they participate with the oarsmen by chanting the name of their favorite teams.

The boat cruise along the backwaters of Alleppey gives one a first hand experience of the typical Kerala life style which has been unchanged over the past hundreds of years. Apart from being an enchanting backwater destination, Alleppey also offers its guests other leisure options like boating and fishing. Alleppey provides a picturesque world of beautiful backwaters, thatched houseboats (whch can be hired for excursions), swaying palm trees and almost extinct Chinese fishing nets. Nature has offered its best to provide Alleppey with a state of perfection.

"Kuttanad" in Alleppey is one of the few places on earth where farming is done below sea level. Kuttanad is a place where lush green paddy fields welcomes guests, and is also famous for being the 'Rice Bowl' of Kerela. Kuttanad stretches for 75 Km and is sandwiched between the sea and the hills. Kuttanad is ome of the many most beautiful backwaters region in Kerala.

Time to visit Alleppey is from November to August when slight drizzles welcomes guesta and ensures that this beautiful place is covered with greenery.

Places to Visit:

Ambalapuzha Temple:
Is situated 14 kms. away from Alleppey. Its architectural features, the Sreekrishna Temple displays the the typical historical Kerala style. The temple is famous through out Kerala for 'Palpayasam', a sweet dish as that of milk porridge.

Karumadikkuttan Village:
Situated 3 km east of Ambalapuzha, this village is known for its 10th century Karumadikkuttan statue that is a black granite figure of the great Buddha. There are many interesting legends connected to this idol and the friendly people will be more than intrested in offering you the story behind this statue.

Champakulam Village:
Champakulam - the water logged village is also the place of oldest angadi (market) known as Kalloorkkadu angadi. The St. Mary Forane Church is another major tourist attraction for its beautiful mural paintings. In Champakulam guests can see and enjoy Nadubhagum and Champakulam (type of snake boats) which take part in the annual snake boat races.