Destination Kerala

Kerala attracted the notice of people in other parts of India even from time immemorial. It is evident from the many reference to the land of in ancient Sanskrit works. The Aitareya Aranyaka is the earliest Sanskrit work, which specifically mentions Kerala. The great Epics Ramayana and Mahabharatha, show awareness of Kerala on the part of their authors. Katyayana (4^th century B.C.) and Pathanjali (2^nd Century BC) show their acquaintance with the geography of Kerala. Kautilya's Arthasastra mentions Kerala. The puranas also mention Kerala. Kalidasa's Raghuvamsa has given a beautiful description of Kerala.

Kerala looms large in the accounts of classical writes of Greece and Rome. The anonymous author of the Periplus (1^st century AD) and Ptolemy (2^nd century AD) are the most outstanding classical writes who give information about Kerala. Later foreign writes like Sulaiman (9^th Century AD), Masudi (10^th century AD) Al Kazwini (13^th century AD), Marco Polo (13^th century), John of Monte Corvino (13^th century), Friar Jordanus of Severic (14^th century) Ibn Batuta (14^th century), Ma Huan (15^th century), Nicolo Conti (15^th century) and Abdul Razzack (15^th century) are some of the other foreign travellers of the early period who give interesting glimpses of trade and other aspects of Kerala.

Education and Learning
Kerala stands in the forefront of Indian states in the matter of literacy and education. According to the census of 1991 the rate of literacy in Kerala is 94.59 per cent. This literacy rate is more than double that of the country. It is significant that Kerala is almost on a par with the most advanced countries of the world in point of literacy.

Royal patronage
The rules of the local dynasties of Kerala have made significant contributions to the progress of education. Under the famous ruler Ravi Verma Kulasekhra (1299-1314), Kollam the capital of Venad, became the great centre of Learning and culture. The rulers of other kingdoms like Tekkumkur and Vadakkumkur also patronized education and learning. Calicut under Zamorins became one of the reputed centres of learning in South India. In the 14th and 15th centuries under the Kolathiri Rajas, North Kerala also became a centre of enlightenment and culture. The Travancore court of the 18th century became the centre of attraction for scholars and men of letters. Marthanda Varma (1729-1758) and his successor, the Dharma Raja (1748-98), were also equally famous as patron of learning.

Sabha Mutts
The Sabha Mutts or Temple universities of North and Central Kerala were the centres of Vedic education. The system of education conformed to the Gurukula ideal.

Village Schools
The Ezhuthupalli seems to have had its origin under Buddhist influence. Each Kara had its Patasala or Ezuthupalli under the Ezuthachan or Asan. The formal ceremony of initiation (Vidyarambham) took place under solemn auspicious either in the third year of the child or not later than the seventh year. The traditional system was that Asan sat cross-legged by the side of the child after making offerings to God wrote on the child's tongue with golden coin the letters " Hari sree, Ganapathaye nama". The child was then made to write the letters of the alphabet in rice kept in a plate.

Kalari
The Kalari also had a place of Importance in the system of education, which prevailed in the ancient Kerala. It is worthwhile to remember that Kalari has played a decisive role in Kerala on many a crucial occasions. It supplied the best fighting materials against many an invading horders.

Seminaries and Theological Education
Kerala has a record of its own in the field of theological education. The Muslims had their Madrassas and Arabic Colleges. The curriculum of Madrassas laid special emphasis on the learning of Quran, the life of the prophet, worship and the tenets of Islam. The credit of initiating theological studies of the churches goes to Portuguese.

Western Education
The beginning of Western education in Kerala may be associated with the work of Christian missionaries. The foundations of English education were firmly laid in Kerala. This led to the establishment of institutions offering professional and technical courses as well as those devoted to the promotion of oriental studies and fine arts. Institutions like Law College, Thiruvananthapuram (1874), the Ayurveda College, Thiruvanthapuram (1889), the Sanskrit College, Thiruvananthapuram (1889), the Engineering College, Thiruvanthapuram (1939), the Swathi Thirunal Academy, (now College of Music) (1939), the Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram (1951), the Agricultural College, Trivandrum, (1955), and the Veterinary College, Trichur (1955) were started.

Universities
In 1937,the University of Travancore with headquarters in Trivandrum was set up. In 1957 following the birth of Kerala State (November 1, 1956), the Travancore University was recognised as Kerala University with jurisdiction over the whole of the state till 1968 when the new University of Calicut was established to cater the needs of North Kerala.The Cochin University of Science and Technology, the Kerala Agricultural University, Trissur, The Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, the Sree Sankaracharya Sanskrit University, Kaladi, the North Malabar University Kannur were established later. The Christian Missions, the Nair Service Society, the Sree Narayana Trust and the Muslim Educational Society have a chain of colleges and schools under them.

Language and Literature
Malayalam as a distinct language had its origin in the ninth century AD. Till then the people on either side of the Western Ghats spoke the same language, with dialectal variations with in itself. There is general agreement among ethnologists that the first component of the word, viz., and 'mala' means hill or mountain, but in regard to the second component, viz.,'alam' there is a difference of opinion, According to one view the word is identical with 'azham', meaning "sea" or "deep", which would make Malayalam the land lying between the Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea. In the other view Malayalam means "a land abounding in hills". The earliest literary works in Malayalam are believed to have been the folk songs and ballads of popular origin. Kerala scholars have by their learned works enriched the diverse branches of Art and Science. Histrionics, Dance, Music, Mimamsa, Philosophy, Tantra, Architecture, Grammar, Mathematics, Astronomy, Astrology, and Medicine are some of those fields, which have been enriched by the literacy contributions of Kerala.

Social Heritage
The coming of the European powers gave a boost to the economy of Kerala in certain fields and this also helped in the gradual emergence of a new economic order. The Portuguese, the Dutch, and the British have contributed to the economic development of the state. Kerala's participation in the freedom struggle is also significant. There were a number of social and religious movements in Kerala, the contributions of Chattampi Swamikal and Sri Narayana Guru is important in this context. Improvement of intercaste relations, movement of Christian unity, Indianisation of the Church, Muslim reform movements and Land reforms in the state have made significant improvement in the social and cultural heritage.

People
A state with 100% literacy, world standards of health, and a hard working, determined, dedicated population is always setting standards in all most all the spheres of its activity. In more modern times the Keralites have migrated in large numbers in search of employment to several foreign countries like United States, Malaysia and Singapore in South East Asia as well as to several countries of Africa and West Asia. The professionals of Kerala are among the most wanted experts in the fields of medicine, Information Technology etc.

Religion
Kerala is known for its communal harmony and it is achieved by Kerala's interaction with varied cultures and ways of life, both indigenous and foreign. Originally its people followed the Dravidian way of life and religious practice. In due course many indigenous religions and philosophical systems from North India made their appearance on Kerala soil and competed with one another for the loyalties of the people. The story of the synthesis of Dravidian and Aryan cultures and the rise and fall of religions like Jainism and Buddhism in ancient Kerala is of particular interest to those engaged in the study of the story of cultural synthesis. At the same time Kerala's commercial contacts with foreign countries, world religions like Christianity, Judaism and Islam were also introduced in the land and they helped considerably in shaping the composite culture of the land.