Photo credits: Ramesh Kidangoor

The lush paddy fields of Kuttanad are referred to as the “Rice bowl of Kerala”. It’s one of the few places in the world where farming is done below sea level. This one-time prosperous trading and fishing centre is today a world renowned backwater tourist destination.  

Sandwiched between Lake Vembanad, which stretches like an ocean as far as the eye can see and the parallel network of backwaters, the water world of Alappuzha forms only part of the Kuttanad region.

Paddy fields