Natural Beauty - Munnar

 The green of the tea plants, along with the mountains reminds me of parts of Ireland,

Christmas Lights of Kochi

Kerala Folklore Theatre and Museum

Example of the intricate face painting

 Opened in the year 2009 as a non-profit organization, the museum showcases the rich heritage that Kerala exudes through its numerous art and dance forms. Artifacts that  like masks, sculptures, in wood, stone and bronze, costumes of traditional and ritual art forms, musical instruments, traditional jewelry, manuscripts of rare medicinal and astrological secrets, and Stone-Age utensils are all preserved in this museum.  It's three stories are packed with all of these wonderful and sometimes overwhelming artifacts. 

Elephant costumes for various festivals

Kerala Folklore Theatre and Museum

 Traditional Kerala house The entrance to this marvelous structure is constructed from the remnants of a 16th century temple in Tamil Nadu and wooden carvings collected from across Kerala. The entrance door is decked with an attractive manichitratazhu (a traditional ornate door lock of Kerala). 

Chinese Fishing Nets in Kochi

Legend has it that the famous Chinese explorer, Zheng He, introduced the Chinese Fishing Nets to the fishermen in Kochi over 500 years ago.Over four fishermen operate one of these nets which are constructed of bamboo and teak poles.Certain teak poles have lights on them that are supposed to attract fish.

Kerala Kathakali Centre

In the process, he laid on the stage for an hour to have this makeup applied

Final Costume from above - he is an old monkey

Kathakali emerged as an individual style of dance-drama into a "people's theatre" from the traditional dances of the past. The plays were performed by the Rajah's own company of actors, not only in temples and courts, but from village to village and house to house.

Kathakali Centre

a traditional arts center showing masked Kathakali dance shows. We were able to witness the putting on of the makeup prior to the performance.  It took each actor about an hour to create the "look". Here is one such transformation.