Kerala Tourism wins the PATA award for its Muziris Heritage project

Kerala Tourism’s efforts towards heritage conservation have won it the top Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Award for its Muziris Heritage Project.

PATA had earlier honoured Kerala Tourism for its Responsible Tourism initiative in Kumarakom and Kerala tourism’s popular e-Newsletter in 2014. This time the award came for the state’s trendsetting efforts in reinventing the millennia old Spice Route heritage, an official statement said on Tuesday.

The Muziris Heritage site in South India , stretches across from the two municipalities of North Paravur in Ernakulam District to that of Kodungallur in Thrissur District and includes four Panchayats in Ernakulam District, which are Chendamangalam, Chittattukara, Vadakekkara, Pallipuram, and two Panchayts in Thrissur District, namely Azhikode and Methala.

In 1341, the profile of the water bodies in the Periyar River basin, on the Malabar Coast in Kerala underwent a major transformation. The prosperous city-port of Muziris, at the mouth of the Periyar, overlooking the Arabian Sea, suddenly dropped off the map, due to a flood or earthquake, or both. Muziris was silted over and its site was left to speculation. The excavation by the Kerala Council for Historical Research (KCHR), in 2007 & 2008 unearthed valuable information that threw light on its location and more. The archaeological and historical data gathering on “Muziris” since then, provides further evidence to show that it was a veritable business and cultural centre, with far reaching international associations. It is found that, Through the Muziris trade channels, the people of South India were afforded connections and opportunities with many civilizations in Western Asia, the Near East, Europe and further. This excavation project has proved to be a turning point, as the wealth of information now available is not only on the port, but also on its hinterland, the whole Periyar Basin, and the historic towns of Kodungallur,Pattanam and Paravur.

‘The award is an acknowledgement of the initiative to bring back our tradition and history for the sake of the modern generation and through it achieve the goal of growth and development for our people,’ said Kerala Tourism Minister A.P. Anilkumar. Apart from India, countries including Afghanistan, Burma, China, Denmark, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Greece, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mozambique, Netherlands, Oman, Pakistan, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Syria, Turkey, UK and Yemen were part of this historic trade route.