Due to its location in the heart of Kottayam Town within walking distance to the railway station and bus stand, Fenn Hall is ideally suited to be your base as you explore Kerala. We would be glad to help you plan your vacation in kerala. Here are a few suggested things you could do…..
Explore Kottayam
Kottayam grew up as a trading town under the Thekkukur Kings. The spices and other “hill produce” was brought down from Kumily and Peermade to kottayam by Bullock Cart along the Kottayam-Kumily Road (K.K. Road, NH 220). The spices used to reach the market near the river-front called Thazhathu (lower) Angadi (market). It is here that you will find some of the oldest Syrian Christian homes and churches in Kottayam. The main traders at the market were Christians. Legend has it that St. Thomas arrived in Kerala around AD 50 or so…. but some researchers doubt this and suggest that the person was likely to be an Armenian or Syrian monk called Thoma. ( Read more about Kerala Christians here. )
Hence Kottayam developed as the link between the hills in the west and the waterways in the middle of Kerala. A system of rivers and large lakes referred to as the Backwaters of Kerala. Some of the places to visit within Kottayam are given below:
Local Attractions in Kottayam Town, within 5 km radius:
- Two of the oldest churches in Kottayam dating back to 16th century, less than 3km away
- Valiyapally completed in 1550 (The Persian cross, believed to be one of the seven brought here by St. Thomas, and the Pahlavi inscriptions of this church are famous.)
- Cheriapally, completed in 1590 ( the church walls, wooden carvings on the roof and the paintings of the alter are worth seeing!)
- The 1300 yr old Juma Masjid of Thazhathangadi, 2nd oldest Muslim mosques of Kerala. (See a video of it on youtube)
- 500 yr old Thirunakkara Mahadeva Temple, less than a kilometer away.
Visit the famed backwaters of Kerala at Kumarakom, 15km away:
- Kumarakom and some other parts of Kottayam belong to a region called Upper Kuttanadu. Kuttanadu was historically the rice bowl of Kerala, its situated on the banks of the famed Back Waters of kerala. A tour of Kumarakom should include the Kumarakom Bird Sanctuary.
Visit Thekkady Wildlife Sanctuary on the Western Ghat Hills, about 100km away:
- The Eastern part of Kerala is where the Western Ghats (mountains) lie. These mountains gives Kerala its local name, Malayalam. Mala (mountain) Aalam (land) …. hence it means the Hilly Land. Kottayam is the ideal place from which to explore the Ghats. A 100km trip along KK Road puts you at the top of the hills. Kumily is a border town between Kerala state on this side and Tamil Nadu on the other side. Thekkady is 5km inward from Kumily. It is a centre for spices and other hill produce. Given the altitude the hills are relatively cooler than the plains. Watch the scenery changes as rubber and other plantations give way tea plantations and then to the thick jungle of the Reserve Forest… it reminds you that Kerala was basically a tropical forest.
Meet the neighbours, relatives of ours.