At night the traditional lamp [ Ranthal ] is used to light the interior .Modern house boats uses generator sets or solar power to provide lightinig and other power requirements inside the house boat.

The modern type house boats have all the luxuary hotel facilities like furnished bed room, dinning hall, kitchen and in some cases even a balcony for angling. Most of the house boats are powered by in board diesel engines and solar energy for inside power requirements. The interior furnitures are either of cane or wood , floor carpented with coir mat or wood panels.

The roof covering is made of bamboo poles and palm leaves. The outside of the boat is painted using cashew nut oil , which acts as a protective coating.

HOUSE BOAT or KETTU VALLAM

Kettu vallam literally means bundle or package boat. A house boat is about 70 feet in length and has a width of around 15 feet in the middle. The boat is made up of wooden planks joined and stiched together using coconut fiber ropes.

Kumarakom house boat cruise passes through the traditional villages situated along side the back waters.

History of Kumarakom

Mr. Henry Baker purchased some land from the erst while Raja of Travancore and build himself a grand kerala style home.After independance , they left India, taj hotels group purchased the home and transfered it into a resort .After that the kumarakom placed a seat in world tourism map.

The beauty of the kuttanad lies in its coconut palms, paddy fields,lagoons, back water and kumarakom bird sanctuary on the vembanad lake. The vembanad lake which attracts a variety of migratory birds and water birds. The back water at kumarakom offer a variety of fauna and flora.

Vembanad lake is the largest of the lakes in kerala, covering an area of 200 sq.km and bordered by Alleppy, Kottayam and Eranakulam districts.

R block and Kainagari are the two small islands on the Vembanad lake .Kumarakom is situated in the banks of Vembanad lake. Alleppy and Kumarakom are the starting point of the boat cruise through these back waters.