About the Pamba
The Pamba is Kerala's third longest river and perhaps its most sacred — the river flows to the ancient Sabarimala temple, the world's most visited Hindu pilgrimage site (over 30–50 million pilgrims annually), high in the Western Ghats. Pilgrims bathe in the Pamba at the sacred Triveni Sangam below Sabarimala before ascending to the temple. The river's source in the Periyar Tiger Reserve gives it outstanding ecological credentials — the upper Pamba catchment is pristine Western Ghats rainforest.
The Pamba's lower course through the Kuttanad region is one of India's most unusual agricultural landscapes — the famous 'rice bowl of Kerala' where paddy cultivation happens 1.5–3 metres below sea level, in a landscape of waterways, backwaters, and houseboats that is entirely unlike the rest of India. The annual Nehru Trophy Boat Race on the Pamba near Alappuzha (Alleppey) is India's most spectacular river festival, with snake boats carrying 100+ rowers racing in a spectacle that draws hundreds of thousands of spectators. The Pamba estuary at Vembanad Lake is an important wintering site for migratory waterbirds.
Kakki · Azhutha · Kallada