A holiday in the state of Kerala, that too God's own country with lots of greenery through out the year, has become a fashion for the local as well as the foreign tourists. A holiday of cruising in the houseboat through the numerous network of backwater canals have become very popular and loved by one and all.
These houseboats were Kettuvallams of the yesteryears and have become one of the most important attractions and the money earners for Kerala Tourism.
Kettuvallam literally means a bundled boat or a knotted boat, in which jack fruit tree planks were knotted together with coir and shaped in to a boat. These boats were used to carry agricultural produce from one place to another in the interiors in the absence of roads in the early days. Nowadays these kettuvallams have become houseboats of Kerala for cruising the beautiful, calm, tranquil backwaters of Kerala.
These typical kettuvallams which were used for carrying Cargo from one place to another, were about 20 - 25 meters long and 4-4.5 meters wide. They could carry loads up to 30 tonnes and that is about 2 or 3 truckloads of cargo.
These kettuvallams were old and traditional carriers which used to
carry goods like rice, coconuts and spices through the inland waterways
in the western lowlands of the state of Kerala. These boats were made
of different capacities, shapes and sizes and were just used as inland transport for carrying
loads from one village to another, where roads were not available.
Now that the roads and the road transport are available, these boats have become useless and are lying waste. These boats had enough space and facilities for cooking and sleeping for boatmen and their family. The songs they sung during their trips were also very famous as well as their cooking. The recipes and the ingredients they used were simple as they stayed away for a long time from their homes on boats altogether. They had developed their cooking and living by adapting to the conditions inside the boat where they stayed months together at a time.
Classification of Houseboats in Kerala
The Department of Kerala Tourism has brought about a scheme to classify the houseboats in Kerala just to evaluate the safety and service standards. To sustain the houseboats tourism, the Tourism department has brought about some guidelines on how to to classify them.
These houseboats are classified into three categories namely Gold star, Silver star and Green palm certificates.
Golden star houseboat - AC Deluxe and luxury houseboats
Silver star houseboat - Non AC standard houseboats
Green Palm Kerala houseboats - Non mechanized Punting / Electric Engine houseboats, those are NON polluting
In no time Alappuzha emerged as the nerve center of the Houseboat industry. The earlier houseboats were pooled together and the present ones came up with fitted engines. These are inboard engines which run on Diesel as fuel.
Facilities in Houseboats in Kerala
Earlier in the houseboats, the rooms available were small and cramped but now in the recent times they have undergone a big change. The small dingy rooms have given way to spacious and luxurious rooms which can match the comforts of a hotel room like air conditioning, attached bath etc. You can also find big houseboats operating which have several bedrooms and a conference hall having a seating capacity of about 150 persons at a time.
More than 10 houseboats are getting launched every year, according to Mr Tomy Pulikattil , the Houseboat owners Association Secretary. The number of tourists always goes beyond the availability of Houseboats in the peak season. The ratings for the houseboats are fixed according to the facilities it can offer and around 25 Golden Star houseboats are there in the backwaters of Kerala.
You can find single to five bed roomed houseboats and you can choose the one in which you would like to spend your time cruising along the backwaters of Kerala.
To know more contact
DTPC House boat Pre-paid Counter
For booking houseboats, travellers can make use of the House Boat Pre-paid Counter 'Trusted Service, Trusted Rates' managed by the District Tourism Promotion Council (DTPC).
Contact details
Alappuzha - House boat pre-paid counter
Mobile: 09400051796, 09447483308,
Tel : +91-477-2251796, +91-477-2253308.
You can also book through Coco houseboats
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