KERALA , AN ENCHANTING KALEIDOSCOPE

Colourful Kerala is an enchanting kaleidoscope,full of breathtaking surprises. This fabled land is believed to have legendary origins. It is said that sage Parashuram,the sixth incarnation of Lord Vishnu, was looking for a piece of virgin land to perform scarifice, thus he threw his axe into the sea from Gokarna and the sea retreated, resulting in formation of the beautiful land of Kerala. The antiquity of the state can be traced as early as 5000 to 3000 B.C. People have been sailing to Kerala in search of spices,sandalwood and ivory for atleast 2000 years. The coasts of the state were known to the Phoenicians,Romans and later on to the Arabs and Chinese, long before Vasco --da Gama came to India. Christainity and Islam were introduced to Kerala much before the rest of India.The present day state of Kerala came into being on 1st November 1956,by merging two princely states, Travancore and Cochin and the Malabar,which was under the Madras Presidency.