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Kerala is a southern most state of India. Kerala can largely trace its non-prehistoric culturalgenesis to its membership (around the 3rd century CE) in a vaguely-defined historical regionknown as Thamizhagom ² a land defined by a commonTamil cultureand encompassing theChera, Chola, and Pandya kingdoms. At that time, the music, dance, language (first DravidaBhasha ² Dravidian language [1] ² then Tamil), and Sangam (a vast corpus of Tamil literaturecomposed between 1,500±2,000 years ago) found in Kerala were all similar to that found in therest of Thamizhagom (today's Tamil Nadu). Later, Keralite culture was elaborated upon bycenturies of contact with overseas lands ² yet all through this time, its cultural heritageremained defined by its antiquity and organic continuity. [2] Costum e s of Kerala Kerala's people are very simple, and this innate simplicity is reflected in their costumes. Thetraditional costum e s of Kerala are simple and decent. Women of Kerala are not loaded with make-up.Mundu and neriathu are the traditional dresses for both men and women of Kerala. Saree and blouse isanother popular traditional costume for the women of Kerala. The mundu forms the lower garment, whileneriyathu is the upper garment. The mundu is worn around the hips, below the navel. This hand-wovencotton cloth is very comfortable during the summer. It is generally cream or white in colour with thecoloured border or kara.The traditional attire for men is Kasavu Mundu. It is more popular in the rural areas. It is 3-4 meter longcotton twin cloth with the silk border. Kaily or lungy is the informal dress for men. While going outdoors,the men wear shirt and mundu along with a small neriyathu on the shoulder.They apply the sandal paste on their brows and chest. It endows them with a dignified look. The Muslimswear a cap in addition. The style of the Muslims wearing mundu is quite different from that of the Hindusand Christian Keralites.The Christian women fold the mundu in the fan-like multiple folds and hang at the back. The women wear a special type of blouse on the top of the mundu. The blouse covers the navel. The neriyathu is worn over the blouse and its one end is tucked inside the mundu, and the other long end is worn across the fronttorso. It resembles the sari. The mundu and neriyathu are starched and the blouse that matches thecolour of the border is worn.Mudu, neriyathu and saree are integral parts of the costum e s of Kerala . On the special occasions andfestivals, it has an ornamental kara with copper, golden coated or artificial coloured designs of peacock or temple. The colour of the blouse is associated with age and marital status of the woman. Unmarried,young girls wear the green blouse while the red blouse is worn by the married women.Like everything, the costum e s of Kerala are also undergoing a change. Now-a-days, this traditionalcostume of mundum-neriathum is being replaced by the set-sari among women. The set-sari is similar tomundum-neriyathum, the only difference being that it is a single piece of cloth. Today this set-sari is wornon the occasions like Kerala Day or Onam. With the changing trends in fashion, the dress code hasremarkably changed. The Keralite men are seen in the modern T-shirts, and trousers or jeans. Thewomen also prefer to wear the churidar kurta as well as jeans-top. These traditional and elegantcostumes are slowly yielding space to modern trends. Kerala is becoming more trendy, but at the sametime, losing some of its class. P o li t i cs of Kerala In the po li t i cs of Kerala , socialism has a democratic face. Kerala is one of the world's few regions where thecommunist parties are democratically elected, through the parliamentary democracy. Kerala has single-chamberedlegislature. P o li t i cs of Kerala is dominated by two major political alliances, such as the Left Democratic Front andthe United Democratic Front. The former alliance is led by CPI(M), whereas the later is led by the Indian NationalCongress.Presently LDF is the ruling coalition. The Malayali people are politically conscious and they are aware of the politicalhappenings of the state. Kerala's government includes executive, legislature and judiciary. The judiciary includes thelower courts, the tribunals and the High Court. The High Court has the offices of the Chief Justice, 26 permanent and2 additional justices. The legislative assembly of Kerala consists of people's representatives. These members belongto different political parties.The leader of the majority party or coalition is invited by the Governor to become the Chief Minister. The Chief Minister and his Council of Ministers carry out the executive functions.The Panchayats and the Municipal Administration constitute Kerala's arm of self governance. The local governmentof Kerala consists of 991 Gram Panchayats, 14 District Panchayats, 152 Block Panchayats, 5 Municipal Corporationsand 54 Municipalities. There are a total of 1214 local self government bodies. The self government plays an importantrole in the implementation of developmental works and the formulation of policy.Kerala sends 20 members to Lok Sabha and nine members to the Rajya Sabha. The Lok Sabha constituencies arespread across its various districts such as Kannur, Manjeri, Ernakulam, Kasaragod, Adoor, Kollam,Thituvananthapuram, Ottapalam, Kottayam, Idukki, Alappuzha and Ponnani. Ottapalam and Adoor constituencieshave the reservations for the candidates of scheduled castes and tribes. Out of the 140 seats in the legislativeassembly, 126 seats are open for the general candidates and 13 are reserved for the scheduled castes, and 1 seat isreserved for the scheduled tribes. The Returning Officer conducts the elections in the assembly constituencies. TheDistrict Collectors of Kerala function as Returning Officers during assembly elections.When Kerala was merged with Travancore to form a separate state, the state was under the rule of the President.The first assembly election in Kerala took place in March 1957, which saw the first democratically elected Communistparty of the world. EMS Namboodiripad was the first Chief Minister of Kerala. His government signaled the beginningof five decades of Marxist influence in the politics of this vastly religious state, which clearly shows that the people inKerala firmly segregate religion and politics. Handi c ra fts of Kerala Kerala is one of the wonderful and most crowded tourist destinations in India. Besides its natural beauty,beaches and backwaters,Keralais famous for its incredible handicrafts. The tourists to Kerala are flooredwith choices for shopping, that ranges from golden bordered white silk sari to colourful wall hangings,from decorative lamps and coir products to beautiful gold and silver jewellery in traditionaldesigns. Handi c ra fts of Kerala are the most popular face of its glorious cultural heritage.The handi c ra fts of Kerala also have religious manifestations. The idols of Goddess Sarswati, LordGanesh, Lord Krishna, Goddess Lakshmi and the Natraj are carved in the sandal and rose wood. Themasks of the Kathakali dancers, and the models of Kerala's popular snake-boats are geared to inspireawe and amazement. Bra ss and Bell M e t al Wo rk s Kerala is also well known for its bell metal art. Having religious and cultural roots, the bell metal is usedfor casting numerous mythological events such as the 'T andava D an c e ' , popularly known as the 'GajaTandava' or 'Gajasamhara' in intricate art forms. We can find these Kerala trademarks at Payannur, Tiruvananthapuram and Kasargod. Bell metal is the alloy of tin, copper and brass. Besides making theidols of deities, it is used for making beautiful lamps and household utensils. Co ir and C ane P r o d ucts Along with Tripura, Kerala is popular for rattan and coir mattresses, floor furnishings, adorned mats andother colourful, eco-friendly goods made of coir and cane. The exquisite coir products have developedone of the most important cottage industries of Kerala. Calicut and Kollam are well-known for the coir products. I v o ry Wo rk s The ivory carving is one of the traditional handi c ra fts of Kerala . The carving of mythological charactersis predominant. Besides that, you can find a large variety of ivory carved showpieces. The craftsmengenerally use the buffalo horns for the art of ivory carving. A group of highly talented artists showcasetheir skills in the wood, which is borrowed from the music and dance tradition. La cqu er W are The combination of woodcraft and metal gives rise to some intense lacquer ware. The sandal wood androse wood are carved out in various sizes and shapes. Later on, they are given the lacquer finish and thefinal showpiece is decorated with the precious metals. The Ernakulam district is popular for this type of art. Sandalw oo d C arving The beautiful products like decorated boxes, figures of elephants, ashtrays, Kathakali dance postures,candle stands and rhinoceros are carved out from the fragrant sandalwood. Just like the Rosewoodindustry, this sandalwood carving industry is also predominant in Cochin, Trichur, Thiruvananthapuramand Ernakulam. T ex t ile s Kerala, the land of coconuts and Kathakali, has established itself on the world's map for its distinctcollection of textiles. You must buy the wedding cards, Kancheepurams and the flowing silks, wheretextiles is manifested as exquisite art forms. Woo den To y s The wooden carvings not only give rise to mythological characters, but also to magnificent wooden toys.You can't prevent yourself from buying these fascinating wooden toys as your mementos from Kerala. B us ine ss and Eco n om y of Kerala The bus ine ss and e co n om y of Kerala has been showing an encouraging growth trend, which isreflected in the overall prosperity of the state. The per capita GDP of Kerala is Rs.11,819, which is muchhigher than the national average. The main parameters of the business and economy of Kerala areagriculture, livestock, fisheries, forestry & wildlife, industry & infrastructure, minerals & energy, banking &finance, Kerala tourism, real estate, healthcare and the IT sector. Agri cu l tu re The business and economy of Kerala is dominated by agriculture. Nearly half of the population of Kerala are dependent on agriculture for their livelihood. Kerala is the producer of 96 percent of India's total yieldof pepper and 91 percent of natural rubber. Other major crops in the state are coffee, tea, coconut,cashew and the spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla and cardamom. Rice is grown in abundance inKerala, and it is the staple food of its native people. Home gardening is very popular in Kerala. Thecitizens give significant contribution to the agricultural produce by this pleasant and productive hobby. Live stoc k Animal husbandry and livestock is equally important aspect of the state's economy. It is a prevalentoccupation in rural Kerala. It is supposed to be an ideal earning opportunity for the unemployed womenand economically weaker, landless people. A significant percentage of Malayalian people are busy in managing the livestock. They are engaged inactivities like milking, feeding, cattle breeding and its healthcare, and livestock management. TheGovernment of Kerala offers lucrative incentives to such professionals and promotes the livestock. Thegovernment also arranges educational programs for such people. The introduction of new breeds of cattlesuch as 'Sunandini' has given an impetus to the milk production in Kerala. Fi s herie s Kerala accounts for a huge output of freshwater and marine fish haul every year. Fishing and relatedactivities such as processing, drying, packaging, transporting and exporting fish are the major occupations of about 10.85 lakh people in the state. The Department of Fisheries implements the variousschemes for the welfare of these fishermen and workers. The state yields about 6.75 lakh tonnes of fisheach year, which create a significant boost to the business and economy of Kerala. F o re st ry & W ildli f e The dense forests have occupied about 10,336 square kilometers area of Kerala. Kerala is the home to awide variety of flora and fauna. The forestry and wildlife play an important role in the economy of thestate. The tax revenue obtained from the export of herbs and herbal byproducts has made a greatcontribution to the foreign exchange earning. The byproducts include ivory, oils, rosewood, teakwood,sandalwood, natural incense, tree barks, scents and hides of the animals such as fox, jaguar andelephants. Various industries like leather products manufacturing units, sandal and ivory carvingbusiness, fragrance and incense preparing cottage industries are well established in the state, which areall products of a thriving forestry and wildlife scenario. I nd ust ry & in f ra st r uctu re There are numerous industries flourishing in Kerala. Textile and electronics industries are abundant inKerala. Tea, coffee, pepper, ginger, coconut and cardamom are the main export items in Kerala, whichhave spawned a variety of industries. The state has about 1.8 lakh small scale industries and 511medium sized and large industries. Tourism and business process outsourcing are also playing major roles in the industry of Kerala. M ineral s & energy Kerala has a high output of hydel power. The state is India's second largest generator of diesel-basedthermal electricity. The state has a rich source of mineral ores including silica, quartz, bauxite andsillimanite. Moreover, the finest variety of China Clay is available in Kerala. IT s e cto r Kerala has a booming software, e-business and e-commerce industry. The state has emerged as a major
