History of Houseboats in Kerala.

Origin: Kerala is blessed with back waters and rich with man made and natural canals. Vembanad lake covering an area of 200 km and boarded by cities like Ernakulam (Cochin), Alappuzha (earlier it was known as Alleppey) and Kottayam. There was water route from Cochin to Kollam (Earlier it was know as Quilon) around 200 km. Kettuvallams were used to transport goods in bulk quantity from city to city. It has a carrying capacity of three truck load of goods. It would take 10 days to a full month to complete the journey. These cargo boats were mostly depend on wind. When there is no wind the boatman use long bamboo pols to move the boat. Normally there will be three to four boatman in a boat during the voyage. One stand in the front and the other in the back to push the boat forward. The other two will be preparing food and taking rest. Once the two get tired, the other two take charge and continue the voyage. If there is wind they put up the rig and open the canvas for sailing. This is a temporary arrangement and can be dismantle the same if there is no wind or if the wind is in opposite direction. There was no machine powered boats in that time. This mode of transportation was very cheap and convenient as most of the cities can be reached through canals. These cargo boats played a vital role in the economical development of ancient Kerala. There were approximate 5000 Kettuvallams which were used for moving cargo from different cities. “Kettu” means tie and “vallam” of “Vallom” means boat. The hull is a series of wooden planks, long cut and carved by the expert hands of the carpenter, tied together using coir with coconut fibers stuffed in between.

Due to the development in the road and rail transport facilities, these traditional slow mode of water transportation came to and end. People preferred speed over charm. Big size boats were of no use and many of the employees were losing their job as boatman. These boat repairing men and boat builders were out of work and those who were depend on these industry were in fear of losing their job. At this time someone came with the idea of turning this boat into Houseboat. At first it was in Alappuzha the houseboat came into life. It gradually developed and the tourism in Kerala came with the idea of house boat and turned these big boats into house boats equipped with diesel powered engine. It turned to be a success and found more profitable than the traditional water transportation. Many old boats which were useless bought from the boat owners in a cheap rate and transformed it into Houseboats. Also many boat owners turned their boats into houseboats. Houseboat designers came with new designs like one bedroom, two bedroom and three bedroom houseboats. Also the inside and outside of these houseboats transformed to match the five star hotel rooms to attract foreign tourists. Now it become the one of the major business in the Alappuzha District. Many travel agents in and outside India earning commission for promoting these Houseboats.

During the course of time it turned out to be a multi million dollar business and many depend on this business for their livelihood. The rich backwaters, lakes and canals in Kerala and the beauty of “god's own country” attract many foreign tourists for boating and cruise overnight in the backwaters.