Place · brackish lagoon system · India
Vembanad Lake / Kerala Backwaters
Also known as Vembanad Lake, Vembanad Kayal, Kerala Backwaters
The 2,033 square kilometre brackish-water lake system of central Kerala, the subcontinent's longest lake, and the central landscape of the Kerala Backwaters — a chain of brackish lagoons, canals and inlets running 500 kilometres from Kollam north to Kochi, parallel to the Arabian Sea coast. The backwaters have been Kerala's primary transport system from the medieval period through to the twentieth century, carrying rice, coir, cashew and spice between the Western Ghats and the port cities. The Alleppey-Kottayam-Kumarakom region's houseboat tourism from the 1990s has made the backwaters Kerala's defining tourism geography. Ramsar site 1214.
- Function
- Landscape & environmental change
- Patron dynasty
- Indian Union
- Tradition
- Standard reference; INTACH, ASI and municipal records; institutional histories.
- Confidence
- Established / referenced
- Location
- 9.600, 76.400
Connections (1)
- Site adjacencyKochi
The Vembanad Lake and the Kerala Backwaters stretch 500 kilometres along the Arabian Sea coast parallel to Kochi — the Vembanad's northern end lies in Kochi municipality itself. The backwaters have carried Kochi's port trade from the medieval period and the Alleppey-Kottayam-Kumarakom houseboat tourism from the 1990s radiates out of the Kochi hub.