Alappuzha is a town in the middle of the kerala state and it is famous for it’s backwaters and House boat among the tourists . In older days this backwaters were used to transport goods from the south to the north . With the backwater you can enjoy the beach , some museum , temple and local karinin fish . Fish here are very tasty and you must try it . You also must go to the coir Museum , which is a unique things to visit in this area .
Light House :
This is the first light house in the arabian sea established in the year 1862 . Building of the light house started in the time of the travancore king Martanda varma and completed in the time of Rama verma .
For going to the top there is a teak wood spiral stairs . First , for lighting in the light house coconut oil lamp is used and it continued until 1952 . After that it was changed into gas lamp and later in 1960 it was converted into 1000 watt electric bulb .
The famous Jawahar trophy boat race take place near to this area in the backwater .
Opening time of the light house for the general public is between 9 am – 12 pm and 2 pm – 5 :30 pm . Entry ticket price is 20 INR and 10 INR for mobile camera .
Alappuzha beach :
This beach is famous for a old 150 years pier which was build by Captain Crawfort . There is a local children park named Vijaya beach park inside this beach .
This beach is lonely so you can enjoy a little peace and the sunset is very beautiful . In the two time in the year people organise two festivals Alappuzha beach festival and sand art festival .
International coir museum :
This is one of my favourite place in Alappuzha little far from the city but worth to visit it . Here you can see big ganesha , mouse , different animals , human face , cloths , carpets , portraits and items made from the different parts of the coconut tree .
This is also a factory make different types of coir products which were established by Mr James Darragh and Henry smail in 1859 supported by two technician from the Bengal jute industry . By the success of this industry many Europeans merchants start making their own company in this area . Later royal family of travancore also joined in this business and joined in some of the company which Europeans have made . That much of coir factory has been established here that it was called coir capital of the world .
Entry ticket price of themuseum is 20 INR and camera ticket 50 INR and the museum is opened from 9:30 am – 5 pm . only monday is closed
Ravi Karuna karanari Memorial Museum :
Mr Ravi karuna karan is a famous person in the development of the coir industry in kerala . After his death in 2003 his wife Betty karan intiates to make this museum and it was completed in the year 2006 .
This museum has rare collection of the ivory and Swarovski crystal collection . The museum was build to showcase his art collection and in the Kerala room of the museum there is all together 3800 paintings . Mostly vegetable colours were used to make this paintings .
This museum is opened between 9 am – 5 pm and only monday is closed . Entry ticket of the museum is 200 per adult .
Mullakkal Rajarajeswari Temple :
Mullakkal Rajarajeswari temple is a 500 years old temple build in the traditional kerelan style . This temple is also known as the Mullakkal Bhagawati Temple . In tamil and Malayalam language Mulla means Jasmine tree . As it is situated inside a jasmine garden so it is named like that . The main deity of this temple is godess Durga but there is also lots of other deities like Hanuman , ganesha , subramanya , Nagraja , Navagraha , krishna and ayeppa .
Main festival of this temple is Mullakkal Chirappu . This is a 41 day festival where the last two days has been the crucial and on those days there was elephant procession and fire cracker burning .
The temple is opened from the 5 am – 12 pm and 5 pm – 9 pm daily .
Our lady of Mount Carmel:
I see this church near to the Ravi Karuna karanari Memorial Museum . This church looks great but I don’t know much about the history of this church .
This church is opened from monday to saturday in the morning and the evening but due to mass prayer sunday it opens much more time .
Backwater travel By Government boat :
Backwaters are the most beautiful place to experience in the whole kerela and alappuzha is the gateway to this backwaters in kerala . You can see that , there is lined up house boats with ac and luxury facility . In this house boats all meals and everything is included but most probably it was made for a group or family who are in a kerala backwaters tour but for solo travellers like me it will be very expensive . like the minimum charges for a houseboat will be 5000 – 6000 INR .
In this backwater tour you can see the village life , coconut trees and the villagers washing their cloths by the side of the back water canals . You can see little children playing and swimming in the backwater . This villages are only connected by this boats . The scenery from the boat is magnificent .
The boat staffs are very efficient . in a small jetty within minuted they board and deboard the passengers and start the boat again .
So you can board a govt boat which are destined for the different area in the Backwaters and come back by taking a another boat toward alappuzha . There is a tourist boat with the upper deck in the 10 : 45 am which will make a round trip within 2 hours . As there is upper deck so the view will be magnificent , I take this boat .
Summary :
Alappuzha is a small town mostly famous for it’s backwater trips . Although there are other things to see inside the city and it’s outskirts . Coir industry in this area is famous among the country and the coir museum is very famous . If you are in Alappuzha you must visit this place . There is lots of House boats in the backwater but if you are a solo traveller like me then take a govt boat and choose any route .
