Given the predominance of farming and allied activities in Kerala, almost half of the state’s population is said to be dependent on farming either directly or indirectly. Cash crops like rubber and pepper are produced in large volumes by the state, with other agricultural produces like cashew nuts, coconuts, ginger and cardamon also being major export items. However, despite the variety of agricultural produces cultivated, Kerala is not self-sufficient when it comes to its food requirements. Neither is the agricultural sector vast enough to employ all employable persons in the state. Fisheries is another arena which employs a large number of people- either directly or indirectly. A vast population from the state also works as unskilled laborers in foreign countries, especially the Gulf countries. In certain districts, it’s hard to come across any household which doesn’t have at least one member or a close relative being employed somewhere in the Gulf. A large migration to the Arabian countries has been true since the initial decades since Kerala became a modern state, and it continues unabated. But Kerala is also a completely literate state, and the average education levels are high. This means that many from the newer generations are finding occupations in advanced technological fields, especially in the IT realm. Many of them work abroad in different countries in Europe and the UK, as well as in US. The foreign exchange that such emigrant workers bring in is typically substantial. However, the most coveted job for the average Malayali is a government job. It doesn’t generally matter what department in the government you get in. As long as you gain employment with the government, they are happy. Only, the problem is that the government is not a huge employer. In fact, the number of people who turn up for the exams for government jobs far surpasses the number of jobs being offered. As for industries, Kerala has many- from handicrafts to hydro-power to general engineering and more. These industries also employ a large number of people though compared to some of the other states in India, Kerala is yet to build an industrial base that could be termed substantial.

You don’t have to look far to see how culturally significant elephants are to Kerala. You just need to look at the state’s official emblem which has the majestic beasts on it. While elephant populations in the wild can be found in places like Munnar and Tekkady, perhaps the most visible form of elephant-craze in the state is found in its Hindu temple festivals. More precisely, in the processions that form a central part of the festivities. It is customary for prominent members and organizations of a land to which the temple belongs, to sponsor an elephant. The more majestic-looking an elephant is, the better the sponsorship reflects on the sponsor. But it’s not just for their magisterial presence that elephants are a part of temple festivals. They are also considered an auspicious presence in such occasions. In certain places in Kerala and the neighboring Tamil Nadu, it is even considered auspicious to have an elephant ‘bless’ you. This involved the pachyderm raising and its trunk and then touching someone with it. During the annual temple festivals, it is customary for men on elephants to carry the deity’s idol while they circumambulate the temple. The elephants are adorned in gold colored plates that cover their foreheads, called nettipattams. Large fan-like umbrellas are held aloft by men who are perched atop elephants, while artists playing rhythmically on the percussion instrument, chenda accompany the elephants on their procession towards the temple. In certain temples, the regalia associated with the elephants are quite extraordinary. For instance, in the Kudalmanikyam temple, a total of seventeen elephants are put together for the ceremonies associated with the annual festival, each of whose nettippamman is constructed out of gold. The rest of the adornments of the elephants are made of silver. Elephants are also a ubiquitous presence in some of the biggest cultural festivals in the state- often associated with one temple or the other. For example, the Vrishchikolvasam festival at the Tripunithura poornathrayeesa temple- touted as the world’s largest temple festival boasts fifteen elephants being used for the ceremony of Seevalli. Elephants are also an iconic presence of the world-famous Trissur pooram- a celebration that’s accompanied by some of the biggest fireworks displays. As you may have guessed, this wide a use of elephants also means they need to be taken care of well. Typically, in Kerala, every elephant is entrusted to the care of three separate mahouts. They are the ones who feed and bathe the elephants, and also responsible for their general welfare. The profession of mahouts goes a long way back in Kerala’s history with mahouts beings classified in to three in old Sanskrit texts. According to this classification, there are mahouts who control their elephants with their loud voice, with affection and those who control with the aid of logic. Whatever method they adopt, it is a common sight in Kerala to see elephants being cared for and led for processions by mahouts- or pappan as they are called in Malayalam.

Despite people belonging to all the three major religions in India being accounted for, Kerala still boasts a largely harmonious religious life. The biggest religious denomination is the Hindus- making up over fifty four percent of the population with Muslims following suit, with a population count of over twenty six percent. Out of the three crore or so people in the state, about eighteen percent are Christians. Many migrant Jews have made Kerala their home down the centuries. However, the count is scant in the present day- less than a hundred, according to some accounts. The religious pluralism has enriched Kerala’s cultural landscape immeasurably. This is visible in not just the festivals celebrated in the state, but also in its cuisine. Not for no reason are some dishes associated with certain religious sects- like the chicken stew with Christians, and dum biryani with Muslims while the sadya is usually a Hindu specialty . As for the festivals, it’s common enough for a festival of one particular religion being partook in by those of other religions. For instance, you could see Christians and Muslims enjoying the processions common in Hindu festivals while it’s typical practice for Muslim households to share delicacies they prepare for Ramzan even with neighbors who belong to other religions. The major religions also have members of different castes living in the state. Among Hindus, Brahmin, Ezhava and Nair are some of the major castes that people in Kerala belong to. In Christianity, you find variants like Latin, Roman and Syrian Catholic, as well as Marthoma among other castes. Sunni, Salafist and Shiia Muslims live together in Kerala.

It’s an evident truth that the clothing style of people across the world has been largely homogenized in the twenty first century, thanks in large part to the virtual hegemony of western media and visual culture. Shirts and tees with shorts or jeans- that sums up the breadth of dress code these days- whether for men or women. That state of affairs is true with Kerala as well. But you would still find a certain population in the state wearing traditional attire. For men, this would mean the mundu or lungi. While both are large single pieces of clothes that men wear around their waists, the mundu is purely white in color while lungi could be of any colors; sometimes they even come with patterns. The mundu and shirt are considered a ‘respectable’ combination of clothing items for men. The lungi, on the other hand, is usually confined to be worn inside the house. For women, the most popular traditional attire is the mundum naritahum. It’s the latest iteration of an old variant of the saree that used to be commonly worn by women in the royal houses of the past when Kerala was yet to become a modern state. The mundum neriyathum is almost always purely white in color, with the border of the saree being lined with golden embroideries. It’s not an everyday attire. Rather, it’s worn for festive occasions. Another traditional attire for women is the chattyum mundum. It’s essentially a long blouse worn with a mundu, and is typically used by elderly Christian women.

The state of Kerala as we know it today was born in 1956. The land was an agglomeration of small chiefdoms for centuries before that. And it is in the history of these chiefdoms that you could find the significance of boats in Kerala’s culture. Traditional Kerala canoes or vallams were commissioned by chieftains and kings to be used in the wars they waged against each other. Among the most prominent feudal kingdoms of old was Kayalamkulam(which in present day is a town). Back in thirteenth century, Kayamkulam engaged another kingdom named Chembakassery in a war. That’s when the then king of Chembakassery had a chundan vallam created- arguably the most legendary of all war boat models devised in ancient Kerala. Roughly translated as ‘snake boats’ chundan vallams have a helm that approximates a snake’s hood in appearance. Though first conceived some eight centuries ago, the chundan vallam still remains popular. Though the days of chiefdoms and waging wars are long in the past, boat races still remain an active passion for many in the state- both as spectator sport and also to participate in. The sight of chundan vallams paddled by teams of men, surging through one of the many water bodies in the state, even as they vie to win the race is a heart-pounding spectacle to witness. It is usually around the Onam festival that the vallamkalis- or boat races- are held in the state. Though different types of boats partake in these races, it’s the race of chundan vallams which draws the biggest crowds.

Malayalam is the official language of Kerala, spoken from one end to the other of the state, albeit with vernacular variations. The language is believed to have evolved sometime between the nineth and thirteenth centuries AD from the Tamil language. But then, that’s only one theory, another being that both Tamil and Malayalam have a common root language which is no more in popular use. No matter the truth of its origins, Malayalam is among the linguistically richest languages in India- with fifty seven alphabets. It has been enriched by a rich literary tradition going all the way back to the seventeenth century when Thuncath Ezhuthachan created the landmark work ‘Adhyatmaramayanam’ which arguably birthed the modern Malayalam language. Before that, a variant of the language called Manipravalam was the dominant written form. Like the rest of India, Kerala too has had its fair share of interactions with foreigners, thanks to trade relations and colonialism. This is reflected in the language which has many words with distinct foreign influence. For instance, the words for table, chair and paper- mesha, kasera and kadalas, respectively- all have Portuguese roots. But such influences are rarely a one-way street, as is evidenced by Portuguese words like jaca and jagra- for jackfruit and jaggery respectively- being derived from Malayalam words. Following colonialism, many Europeans contributed- inadvertently or otherwise- towards the propagation of the modern Malayalam language. For instance, the Governor of Dutch Malabar, Henrick Van Rheede, was the first person to publish the first book published in the Malayalam script. Called ‘Hortus Malabaricus’ it came out in 1678. The language got its first dictionary, thanks to a German scholar named Herman Gundert. As for the written script, different communities have adopted the language to create different forms. For instance, the Muslim community uses an Arabic variant of the script, whereas the Syriani Malayalam is the script used by the Syrian Christians in the state. Usually, these scripts are used for liturgical purposes.