Poovar
'Poovar Tourist Village' the southern most tourist place in Kerala
Important Info
- Open Hours : 8:00 am - 6:00 pm
- Best Season : August to May
- Boating Fee : Rs.1200 - Rs.2000
- Time Required : 2 to 3 hours
Poovar is the southern most tourist spot in Kerala. Next to Poovar village is the Pozhiyoor village which marks end of Kerala. It is located at a distance of about 28 km from Trivandrum Central. Fifty Six kilometer long Neyyar river which flows through Neyyattinkara Taluk meets the Arabian sea at Poovar.
Poovar is a place known for its undisturbed natural beauties like back waters, lake, river and sea. From the back waters of Poovar one can travel through the Mangrove Forests of Poovar Village in a boat.
Various sight seeing places like Mangroves forest, Mother Mary statue, Elephant Rock, Coconut Island, Floating Restaurant, Floating Cottages, etc are available during the 2 hours of boating.
As Poovar is an estuary of Neyyar river, it has its natural beauty and splendour. The beach and backwaters attracts tourist through out the year.
Travel Tips
- Nice place to enjoy beach and boating.
- Travel during the summer time is not recommended.
- There is no fixed amount for boating, so negotiate well before confirming the ride.
- Most of them provides 3 different packages of 1hr, 1.5hr and 2hr.
- Can enjoy the floating restaurants, though its very costly.
- While riding through the mangrove forests one can buy tender coconuts from stores operated by local people.
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Detailed Information
Poovar beach is always famous for its beauty. The shore of the beach is filled with glittering sands called Golden Sands. We can see an Estuary at Poovar beach. It is formed between the Neyyar River and Arabian Sea. During heavy rainfall the lake and the sea merges together.
History
The early name of Poovar was Pokkumoosapuram. Pokku Moosa Marikkar was a merchant who lived in Poovar during the 18th century in a house called Kalarikkal Tharavad. This house gave shelter to Marthandavarma, king of Travancore from his enemies.
After escaping from the enemies the Ettuveetil Pillamar (Lords of the Eight Houses), Marthandavarma reached Poovar. It was a spring season. The trees from either side of the river Neyyar were full of flowers. These flowers fell into the river making it more beautiful and attractive. When Marthanda Varma saw this, he called the river poov-ar. It’s a Malayalam term meaning flower(poov) and river(ar). This is the story behind the name Poovar.
There is a central mosque in Poovar which was constructed by Malik Deenar. He was a Muslim preacher during the eighth century.
Poovar was a major port during the reign Chola Dynasty.
At the time of Marthanda Varma, Poovar had trade relation with international markets. At this time he had some ships and a well trained army.