Vembanad Lake

Covering an area of 200 square kilometres, Vembanad is the largest of the 29 lakes which, together with rivers, canals, and tiny islets form the Backwaters’ ecosystem. All along its shores, leaning at improbable angles, palm trees line coves of unimaginable tranquillity, where tiny communities live encircled by water.

Fed by the rivers which descend from the Western Ghats, the waters of Vembanad Lake teem with life. Birds dart in and out of its waters in search of fish, while fishermen row their boats to the centre of the lake, where they dive for molluscs; closer to the shore, neck-deep in water, others slide their bodies along poles to channel their catch into the nets.

The waters of the Lake support an abundance of species of crustaceans and fish, some which are found nowhere else in the world. Amongst them, the 'Kumarakom Karimeen' figures prominently – and deliciously - in the local cuisine.

Kumarakom is the name given to a small group of islands stretching on the eastern shore of Vembanad Lake. Their lushness brilliantly evoked in Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things, the islands are surrounded by mangrove forests and renowned for the fertility of their soil.

It is here, a wing-beat away from the Kumarakom Bird Sanctuary, that we will stop to savour the peacefulness of this environment in the secluded comforts of the Coconut Lagoon. Set amongst a former coconut plantation, the Coconut Lagoon can only be reached by boat and offers the best vantage point from which to observe the life of the Lake.