The Houseboats of South India are
giant country crafts, measuring up to 80 feet in length, retrieved from
being lost to the State altogether. Once they ruled the backwaters, poled
along by one or two men, heavily loaded with rice, coconut and other
commodities. But in the recent times, the kettuvalloms have been replaced by
more and modern modes of transport, relegating them to neglect and decay.
The
houseboats of today - huge, slow moving, exotic barge used for leisure trips
- are the reworked kettuvalloms of olden times. The original kettuvalloms
were used to carry tonnes of rice and spices - a standard kettuvallom can
hold up to 30 tonnes - from Kuttanad to the Kochi port. The kettuvallam or
'boat with knots'- was so called because the entire boat was held together
with coir knots only - not even a single nail is used during the
construction. The boat is made of planks of jack-wood joined together with
coir. This is then coated with a caustic black resin made from boiled cashew
kernels. With careful maintenance, a kettuvallom can last for generations.
A
portion of the kettuvallom was covered with bamboo and coir to serve as a
restroom and kitchen for the crew. Meals would be cooked on board and
supplemented with fresh fish from the backwaters. Today, the tradition is
still continued and the food from the local cuisine is served by the
Kuttanad localites, on board. When the modern trucks replaced this system of
transport, some one found a new way that would keep these boats, almost all
of which were more than 100 years old, in the market.
By constructing special rooms to accommodate travelers, these
boats cruised forward from near- extinction to enjoy their present great
popularity. Now these are a familiar sight on the backwaters and in Alleppey
alone, there are as many as 120 houseboats. While converting kettuvallams
into houseboats, care is taken to use only natural products. Bamboo mats,
sticks and wood of the aracanut tree are used for roofing, coir mats and
wooden planks for the flooring and wood of coconut trees and coir for beds.
For lighting though, solar panels are used.
Today, the houseboats
have all the creature comforts of a good hotel including furnished bedrooms,
modern toilets, cozy living rooms, a kitchen and even a balcony for angling.
Parts of the curved roof of wood or plaited palm open out to provide shade
and allow uninterrupted views. While most boats are poled by local oarsmen,
some are powered by a 40 HP engine. Boat-trains - formed by joining two or
more houseboats together - are also used by large groups of sight-seers.
South India lives along these backwaters. They snake over the
state physique, bestowing paddy fields with good harvests, and provide the
whole village with drinking water and other facilities. The backwaters refer
to the large inland lakes of Kerala. Today these backwaters act as vital
water ways for the transport of people and produce.
South
India Backwaters & Houseboats
Trivandrum
Backwater
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