Your Tour 
Backwaters of Kottayam
Temperature: Maximum: 33 C, Minimum: 15.5 C Clothing: Winter: Woollen, Summer: Cotton
Altitude: 800 to1200 metre above sea level
Area: 2204 square kilometre
Rainfall: 2200 mm
Some of Kerala’s finest natural scenes can be enjoyed in Kottayam backwaters. This mountainous district borders the Vembanad Lake and the paddy fields of Kuttanad on the west and the Western Ghats on the east. Panoramic backwater stretches, lush paddy fields, highlands, extensive rubber plantations and a totally literate people have given this district the title: the land of letters, latex and lakes. Much of the natural beauty adorns the road which winds through plantations of rubber, tea, coffee and pepper from Kottayam to the Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary in Thekkady.
Kottayam is equally known for its cultural achievements. It was the first town in India to attain total literacy, an eventwhich triggereda mass movement to make Kerala the country’s first totally literate state. Kottayam is also the mecca of Kerala’s publishing scene, home to dozens of Malayalam newspapers and magazines, including the state’s earliest, The Deepika (founded in 1887) as well as the country’s largest selling daily and weekly from the Malayala Manorama group.
Kottayam is also the birthplace of a unique institution, the Sahitya Pravarthaka Sahakarana Sangham, perhaps the first-ever co-operative of writers. Most of India’s natural rubber originates from the acres of well-kept plantations of Kottayam. It is home to the Rubber Board, one of the country’s primary commodities board. As the headquarters of several ecclesiastical heads of Christian churches like those of the Syrian Christian community, Kottayam is proof of the cultural and religious plurality of Kerala. Today, as reminders of this facet can be found ancient churches like the Valia Palli, the Cheria Palli (1579) and the St. Mary’s Church at Manarcad (1585).
How to reach
- By rail: Kottayam railway station, 2 km from the town centre, is linked to most major Indian cities.
- By road: Motorable roads connect Kottayam to other important south Indian cities. There are two bus stations- the central KSRTC station which operates most long-distance services, and the private bus station near the railway station.>
- By ferry: The main ferry station is about 3 km from the railway station and offers ferry services that pass through the scenic backwaters to the following places: Alleppey, Mannar, Champakulam, Kavalam, Mankombu and Ambalapuzha.