In 1878, the marshy mangrove on the bank of the Vembanad Lake was cleared and replaced by coconut plantations. The person in the wake of this maneuver was one George Alfred Baker of Essex who had arrived in India sixty years earlier to take up missionary work in Kottayam. The Englishman was so awestruck by the splendor of Kumarakom that he settled here and made Kumarakom his abode.

Positioned 14 kms from Kottyam and around Kuttanad region lies Kumarakom popularly known as the rice bowl of Kerala. A huddle of tiny islets on the Vembanad Lake, Kumarakom is a pictorial, unsoiled village. An incredibly stunning ecstasy of mangrove forests, pea green paddy meadows and coconut coppices intermingled with enthralling waterways and canals. Kumarakom, located on the Southern coast of India enjoys a proportionate tropical weather. Nature has poised its magic to perfection here. Copious luxuriant coconut palms lining the rivers bow to look at its likeness on the shimmering rivers. Ubiquitously, nature is unsurpassed.

The flourishing pastures and the countryside life are interspersed with the beautiful Kumarakom Bird Sanctuary. Stretched across 14 acres, the bird sanctuary is a desired haven of migratory birds and a bird lover’s paradise. Teals, egrets, darters, herons, teal, waterfowl, cuckoo, wild duck and migratory birds like the Siberian stork that live there in teems are an enthrallment for guests. The finest way to watch the birds of the Kumarakom sanctuary is a boat trip round the islets 16 km west of Kottayam on the Vembanad lake. The Sanctuary teems with local waterfowls and over wintering migratory birds such as the Siberian storks. Boats are available for backwater cruises in the lake.