Historical Interest

History beckons you at every turn in Kerala. Ancient cave art, museums and colonial architecture to centuries old churches, mosques, temples and palaces – even a 16 century Jewish Synagogue, the oldest active in the Commonwealth – all standing in eloquent testimony to Kerala’s rich and many layered history across the ages. From the vast 13th century keyhole shaped Fort Bekal in the far north of the state to the regal 16th century wooden Padmanabhapuram Palace in the extreme south, from the simple chapel that marks the spot where St. Thomas first landed in 52 AD on Kerala’s eastern shore and the very first mosque to be built in India in 629 AD (and rebuilt in the 11th century AD) at Kodungallur, near Thrissur, to the cuneiform and hieroglyphics covered cave walls in the hills to the west – historic Kerala beckons at every turn.