One of the beautiful backwater houseboats places in the world. To label Alappuzha (The Malayalam name for Alleppey) The 'Venice of the East' might today appear a far-etched clichés of travelogue writers, but this quaint little town is certainly the Venice of the East, Alleppey (Alappuzha). Nowhere else will you find, spread out across the center of town, a unique crisscrossing network of canals & lagoons on which thatch covered country boats punt (houseboats) along leisurely. The proximity of lakes adds to the Venetian ambience.
But when Raja Kesavadasan, the Dewan of Travancore (king), founded the town in 1762, there was just one canal through the strip of sand between the backwaters and the sea. This soon grew into a bustling waterway, with shops, factories and commercial establishments springing up on either bank of the canal. This attracted merchants from other parts of the country from Europe, America and some other business countries.
By the mid-19th Century, the sea had receded a mile, offering more land along the sand strip. Trading vessels soon began to call on Alleppey (Alappuzha). In 1859 the first organized coir factory & products was started here and began producing matting from coir yarn on a loom developed by an English sea captain. Soon other British company -owned weaving establishments followed.
Meanwhile, in 1816, the Church Missionary Society set up its local headquarters in Alleppey(Alappuzha). (Christ society of India ) and three years later the first Anglican Church was built. In 1851 Alleppey had the honor of housing the first post office in the erstwhile Travancore State (kerala). The commercial importance of Alleppey (Alappuzha) began to decline after the late 1920s with the development of Cochin (queen of Arabia) into a major port.
However, today Alleppey(Alappuzha) is still a major center for trade in coir products, copra (dried coconut meat) and coconut oil for cooking and Ayurvedic products. Thanks to its long beach coast, Alleppey(Alappuzha). is also a center for fishing and marine products processing activities, have a good beach and looking to development for Tourist Ships.
Govt is taking steps for promoting tourism in Alleppey(Alappuzha).
For tourists Alleppey(Alappuzha) is the pivotal point for trips into Kerala's famed backwaters (houseboats & motor boats) and the state's lush rice bowl, Kuttanad, Between Quilon to the south and Kottayam to the east lie some of the most entrancing scenery of palm-lined banks, islands, quiet water-bound villages and little boats taking the local people to and fro-everything framed in green.
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