Kovalam

Kovalam was brought to the public eye by the Maharaja of Travancore.The European guests of the then Travancore kingdom discovered the potentiality of Kovalam beach as a tourist destination in the 1930s. However, Kovalam shot into limelight in the early seventies with arrivals of the masses of hippies. That started the transformation of a casual fishing village of Kerala into one of the most important tourist destinations in the world- the Kovalam beach.

Kovalam has three crescent shaped beaches separated by rocky outcroppings. Shallow waters stretching for hundreds of metres are ideal for swimming. The beaches have steep palm covered headlands and are lined with shops that offer all kinds of goods and services.The normal tourist season is from September to May.

Thirty years ago, Kovalam was a hippy idyll: a picture perfect tropical beach; a traditional fishing village providing fresh fish, fruits and toddy (coconut beer). Today this tiny beach is the focus of a multi-million dollar business, drawing thousands of tourists for a week dose of ozone, UV and a refreshing Indian Experience.

Birds and 330 butterfly species, 37 of which are endemic to this region. Many believe that after the Indian subcontinent detached itself from the African continent about 100 million years ago, and before it collided with Asia (80 million years afterwards) it had no butterfly fauna of its own. Although once connected to the African continent, India now is a part of the oriental Zoogeographic region. Its flora and fauna have their origin and present distribution in the tropical areas stretching from India to Southern Chinas and from there South to Malaysia, Philippines and Indonesia. Though there are quite a few species that are found only in the Indian subcontinent, they really belong to oriental groups. A good example is the Common Sailer (Neptis hylas) which is found in India and throughout Asia. Another is the prettiest visitor to Kerala's gardens - the Common Jezebel (Delias eucharis). The delicately winged Map butterfly (Cyrestis thyodamus) is yet another but it is found only in reasonably wet jungles.