Culture of Kerala

Located at the tip of the peninsula, Kerala is a traveler's paradise, for it is a repository of a wealth of culture and heritage that imparts to the state much of its personality. The culture of Kerala - its civilization, art forms, beliefs and worldview - are primarily Dravidian.

Kerala has a rich and fascinating culture. It is the place where people meet from a rainbow of societies, communities and religions that are housed in this small state along the west coast of southern India. Here, one brings to mind the story of the twins from a small village in Aleppy in The God of Small Things by Booker winning author Arundhati Roy. A majority of the people of Kerala are Dravidians. The chief religion is Hinduism with a certain percentage of the population being Muslims and Christians.

The culture of Kerala comprises the dance form called Kathakali, which is a 300 year old activity that is exclusively Keralite. It combines the performing art forms of the opera, ballet, masque and the pantomime. Kathakali dancers coalesce color, dance, music, drama and facial expression. Other dance forms comprise Krishnanattom, Mohiniyattom, Thullal, Koodiyattom, Kolkkali, Thiruvathirakali, Kakkarishi Natakom, Oppanna and Chavittunatakom. The music forms that have evolved down the ages in Kerala include Panchavadyam, Nadanpattu, and Omanathinkal Kidavo.

The cultural events of Kerala are the Onam, the Temple festival at Thrissur, the annual snake boat races at Alleppey etc. Id and Christmas are also observed. A variety of steamed rice cakes and pancakes make up the culinary delicacies of Kerala. Mussels are a favorite seafood dish. Eshtew with appam is a must for every Christian marriage reception. Some of the fermented beverages are kallu - toddy and patta charayam - arrack, the latter being consumed with spicy pickles and boiled eggs.