Kerala houseboats

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The house boats of Kerala are popular among travellers as a tourism product. One of the popular argument is that they are called 'kettu vallams' because they are made by tying wooden planks with ropes. However all the country boats of Kerala are made by tying shaped planks together with rope , but they are known by different names like 'kothumbu vallom', 'chundan vallam' Snake Boat etc. More acceptable argument is that 'kettu' is another word for edifice and 'kettu vallom' means 'vallom' with 'kettu' , which means 'boat with a living space'.The logic that 'Nalukettu' , the traditional houses in Kerala architecture literally means four edifices.

In the ancient days, Kerala , 700 km long land criscrossed with rivers and canals depended heavily on country boats for transport and shipment of goods from place to place. Since these journeys took a few days, simple edifices were added to the boat. The major component of these edifices were roofs thatched with coconut leaves. These edifices protected travellers , oarsmen who poled the boat , and goods from rain. They also used to cook their food in this boat. However, with the introduction of speedy transportation mechanisms like motor vehicles and railways, kettuvalloms were abandoned.

In the nineties, the new trend of modernising these boats and using them for backwater cruise began. Today most of the boats have air conditioned bedrooms, modern kitchen and dining rooms. Some of boats offer conference facility.

There are nearly 1000 houseboats operating across the state. These motor driven boats are equipped with generators for power supply. On an average , there are at least two bed rooms in a house boat and altogether these boats offer 2000 rooms. Being a major attraction for tourists visiting Kerala, these boats employing nearly 10,000 people directly or indirectly plays a key role in the tourism economy of Kerala.

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