This is a journey that I had done recently across the the state of Kerala, Southern India. I live in the district of Trivandrum also called as Thiruvananthapuram, which is the southern most district of Kerala State where I was born. I had a wonderful opportunity to travel across the State of Kerala to a place on the other side of the state or northern most part of the state, which is the district of Kasaragod. So it is a cross Kerala travel or it can be called as the trans-Kerala travel.
Photo credit: maps.newkerala.com
The travel was by train and we boarded the Netravati Express that starts from the Trivandrum Central Station. We departed from Trivandrum at morning around 9:00 a.m. and we arrived at Kasaragod around 11:00 p.m. about a full-day journey. The journey was very pleasant and enjoyable, a wonderful experience to get a birds eye view of many places in Kerala.
Kerala State is topographically shaped like a shoestring just like the country of Chile on the western South America. Just like Chile situated on the west of the continental South America, Kerala is situated on the western edges of the peninsular Indian land mass and similarly on the western slopes of the Western Ghats, just like the Andes ranges of the Chile. Likewise, it is also bordered along its western side by an ocean, the Indian ocean similar to the Pacific ocean of Chile. Like Chile being often called as the shoestring country, being a state Kerala can also be called as a shoestring state because of its shape.
The State of Kerala is a wonderful hot place on the south western region of India along the Indian Ocean coast. Kerala is also called as Keralam in native tongue, the land of the coconuts. It is bordered by the states of Karnataka on the north and northeast and Tamilnadu on the east and southeast. It is a small plain carved along the western edges of the the Western ranges of India, the Western Ghats. To the west is the Western Ghats that runs the entire length of the state with a small pass in Palghat district.
The Western Ghats rise on average about 1500 meters above sea level in height, and its highest peak being Anamudi around 2695 meters high. The other important peaks are Nilgiri Hills, Palni Hills etc. Towards the west lies the Indian Ocean, which straddles across the entire length of the state. The entire coastline is around 590 km in length and any place in Kerala is not more than 125 km from the coastline. Between the western ranges and the eastern shorelines of the Indian Ocean lies the narrow stretch of hills and plains of Kerala.
The Western Ghats of Kerala is the lifeline for the State, which enriches a number of rivers that flows from the western slopes of the Western Ghats mountains. It is one of the old fold mountains which has considerably worn down due to the action of weather as well as by man. Western Ghats acts as a barrier for the moisture in air and the clouds to precipitate its water content as rain and mist along the slopes of the Ghats. The higher the height of the ranges, the more precipitation it receives from the clouds as well as the moisture laden winds from the Indian ocean and more it sustains water in the dry summer months. Unfortunately a lot of human activity is denuding and destroying the ranges along the entire length, which affects the water flowing capacity along both sides of the ranges.
The weather of Kerala is hot and humid equatorial tropic climate, however it is somewhat cool during the months from December to February. It is evergreen with lush green vegetation for most part of the year, with a small dry season during summer months. There are rains on the months of January till June to August from Southwest monsoon and September to December from Northeast monsoon. The rains feed a number of rivers, canals, lakes, and estuaries.
Most of the land is tropical wet evergreen forests with thick green vegetation cover with a diverse of flora and fauna. The typical tree is the coconut tree which is seen in almost all places in Kerala. The important animal species is the Indian elephant, which is an important animal of Kerala. The symbolic bird of Kerala is the Great hornbill. The symbolic flower of Kerala is the Golden Shower tree flower.
The travel was by train and we boarded the Netravati Express that starts from the Trivandrum Central Station. We departed from Trivandrum at morning around 9:00 a.m. and we arrived at Kasaragod around 11:00 p.m. about a full-day journey. The journey was very pleasant and enjoyable, a wonderful experience to get a birds eye view of many places in Kerala.
Kerala State is topographically shaped like a shoestring just like the country of Chile on the western South America. Just like Chile situated on the west of the continental South America, Kerala is situated on the western edges of the peninsular Indian land mass and similarly on the western slopes of the Western Ghats, just like the Andes ranges of the Chile. Likewise, it is also bordered along its western side by an ocean, the Indian ocean similar to the Pacific ocean of Chile. Like Chile being often called as the shoestring country, being a state Kerala can also be called as a shoestring state because of its shape.
The State of Kerala is a wonderful hot place on the south western region of India along the Indian Ocean coast. Kerala is also called as Keralam in native tongue, the land of the coconuts. It is bordered by the states of Karnataka on the north and northeast and Tamilnadu on the east and southeast. It is a small plain carved along the western edges of the the Western ranges of India, the Western Ghats. To the west is the Western Ghats that runs the entire length of the state with a small pass in Palghat district.
The Western Ghats rise on average about 1500 meters above sea level in height, and its highest peak being Anamudi around 2695 meters high. The other important peaks are Nilgiri Hills, Palni Hills etc. Towards the west lies the Indian Ocean, which straddles across the entire length of the state. The entire coastline is around 590 km in length and any place in Kerala is not more than 125 km from the coastline. Between the western ranges and the eastern shorelines of the Indian Ocean lies the narrow stretch of hills and plains of Kerala.
The Western Ghats of Kerala is the lifeline for the State, which enriches a number of rivers that flows from the western slopes of the Western Ghats mountains. It is one of the old fold mountains which has considerably worn down due to the action of weather as well as by man. Western Ghats acts as a barrier for the moisture in air and the clouds to precipitate its water content as rain and mist along the slopes of the Ghats. The higher the height of the ranges, the more precipitation it receives from the clouds as well as the moisture laden winds from the Indian ocean and more it sustains water in the dry summer months. Unfortunately a lot of human activity is denuding and destroying the ranges along the entire length, which affects the water flowing capacity along both sides of the ranges.
The weather of Kerala is hot and humid equatorial tropic climate, however it is somewhat cool during the months from December to February. It is evergreen with lush green vegetation for most part of the year, with a small dry season during summer months. There are rains on the months of January till June to August from Southwest monsoon and September to December from Northeast monsoon. The rains feed a number of rivers, canals, lakes, and estuaries.
Most of the land is tropical wet evergreen forests with thick green vegetation cover with a diverse of flora and fauna. The typical tree is the coconut tree which is seen in almost all places in Kerala. The important animal species is the Indian elephant, which is an important animal of Kerala. The symbolic bird of Kerala is the Great hornbill. The symbolic flower of Kerala is the Golden Shower tree flower.
