Kerala Village Festival

Celebrating the Pastoral Traditions and Way of Life, the Kerala Village Fair is a 10 day festival that attracts a lot of visitors to this state in the month of January. 

The New Year is around the corner, and festivities and celebrations break out everywhere. In Kerala, January is the month of the Kerala Village Fair. This fair, held every year at Kovalam and also in Ernakulam, recreates a tiny traditional Keralite village and cultural performances are held in this arena. It attracts several thousand tourists very year.

Gramam- The Village Fair in Kerala

The Kerala Village Fair meticulously reconstructs the settings and atmosphere of a traditional Kerala village, including the houses. Even the ubiquitous Kerala Tea Stalls, called Chayakkada, are recreated here. The tharavadu and Nalukettu houses, representative of the residences of the lower and upper classes of Kerala are put up here. The thatched houses and the mansions of timber are constructed with care, and are decorated exquisitely in traditional style. The mansions have massive pillars, open courtyards and corridors.

Inside the houses, the ethnic crafts of Kerala are on display – woodwork, ethnic jewelry, jewel boxes, sandal wood carvings, paintings, musical instruments, furniture, swords and shields and more are on display.

The outside of the houses are decorated with exquisite Pookkolams, the lovely traditional flower arrangements of Kerala.The whole creation has an enchanting effect, transporting the visitors back to an era that appreciated beauty and elegance in every aspect of life.

The Festival

In the evening, cultural performances are held. Various dances like Kathakkali and Mohiniyattam and even other dance-forms from other states like Kuchipudi and Bharathanatyam are performed here. Folk art forms like Pavakkoothu, Villupattu, Kakkarisi Natakam and the famous Panchavadyam of Kerala are performed. Kerala’s famous Martial Art forms like Kalaripayattu and Theyyam are other attractions.

Besides the cultural feast, feasts that satisfy the tourist’s palate are also on offer here.  Various sumptuous delicacies of South India, a wide and varied choice that leaves the tourist confused as to what to choose and what to leave, are on display here. Some of the dishes include theeyal, meen moilee, malabar porotta, mutton biryani, fish stew drowned in coconut milk, avial, appam, idiappam, Vellappam and Kallappam

Visit the Kamalagramam, the special crafts and arts section, to view and buy the magnificent arts and crafts of Kerala. Here, you can even watch the artisans at work as they create their masterpieces.

The Kerala Village Fair, called Gramam Fair, is held for a period of ten days every year in January.  This festival is usually held at Kovalam Beach. This is one more reason to visit the ever enchanting Kerala, ‘God’s Own Country’.

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