Southern India: The
Malabar coast of Kerala
When Millennia ago, Aryan
peoples invaded India from Central Asia, the indigenous Dravidian population was driven
southward, away from the plains watered by the Indus and Ganges rivers onto the Deccan
Plateau and the fertile lands of the South.
There, more than in any other
part of India the ancient brahmanical traditions remained intact and the subsequent Moslem
invasions from the eleventh century onwards never achieved the hegemony that they did in
the north. Contemporaneously the trade in spices to the Malabar and Coromandel coastal
ports brought foreign influences in the form of religions and secular ideas which have
left a permanent legacy on the culture of the region
The lush tropical south with its
warm, friendly people markedly with the sights, mountains and deserts of Northern India,
and introduces the visitor to a new range of delights and fascinations in this most
diverse of nations.
Bombay is the gateway to the
Deccan and the South, a vital and exciting city. The financial capital of the country it
contrasts markedly with bureaucratic and historical Delhi. A visit to Bombay either at the
beginning or end of a tour is thoroughly recommended. |
