New book to promote Kerala as holiday destination

A comprehensive book on Kerala that includes some 1,300 pictures has hit the market.

The 816-page volume, claimed to be the first of its kind among destination books, captures the beauty of the land, the people, their culture, dances, festivals and everyday life.

The National Geographic Traveller has rated Kerala as "one of the paradises of the world".

"I always thought Kerala is beyond description, beyond explanation... it is impossible to capture the extraordinary beauty of Kerala... through books, pictures or even cinema. But, now, Stark World has done the impossible through their book Stark World - Kerala. This is a book that makes me proud of being a Keralite. This is a book that I can proudly gift to my friends across the world as the finest portrayal of Kerala," actor Mohanlal said while releasing the book in Kochi last week.

According to P N Shanavas, publisher of the book, it took 24 months to put together some 60 writers, 12 consultants and 12 photographers to finish the work.

"A team of designers and imaging experts has worked with great devotion to produce this book divided into 11 sections," he said.

The book has 27 maps that follow international cartography norms, with five types of maps covering the state, city, district, destination and circuit along with a detailed backwater map.

"We have also been successful is gaining 48 impressions of Kerala from renowned personalities like writers Shashi Tharoor, M T Vasudevan Nair and Anita Nair; journalists Ramachandra Guha, C P Ravindran and Anita Pratap; actors Mohanlal, Mammooty and Meera Jasmine; painter Yousuf Arakkal, and Arne Walther, secretary general of the International Energy Forum," he said.

The sponsors of the book include India Tourism, Kerala Tourism, CGS Earth and Geojit Securities. Partnering the book are Adobe and The Blue Yonder.

Part of the proceeds from the book will go towards four non-profit organisations: Lullaby@Varkala, a socio-tourism project involving play schools and tourists; Thanal which spearheaded the internationally acclaimed Zero Waste Kovalam (ZWK) programme; Nila Foundation which aims to revive and regenerate the River Nila, and the World Environment Protection Programme whose legendary founder Abdul Kareem created his own forest out of barren wastelands.

"Though Lonely Planet and others had published interesting books on Kerala and Kerala Tourism’s own publications are widely acclaimed, it was important to have a book that would comprehensively address the interests of the casual reader well as that of the deeply serious as traveller," Stark Communications chairman T K Harshan said