---Kettuvallam

-- Motor Launch

-- Chinese Fishing

-- Society

-- Village Procession

-- Coir1

-- Coir2

-- Copra

-- Market

-- Kochi (Cochin)

-- Dance

-- Kovalam

-- Fish Dinner

-- Watertravel Home Page

-- Copyright © Don Douglas
-- http://www.dondouglas.com

Once it leaves Kerala’s villages, the raw coir rope is taken to the state-run coöperative plant where it is dyed and woven into a variety of products. The doormats are familiar enough to people in the West, but coir in the form of carpet in vivid colors is much less so. Here it is shown being dyed, woven and finished.

In the Western Ghats, Kerala’s mountain range, other products are grown which are more suited to the higher elevations. Here at sea level, though, coconuts are everywhere and employ a large fraction of the population in one way or another. Because there is a limit imposed on land ownership of two hectares, or five acres, a very high proportion of the population owns land. Combining coir and copra, a few acres of coconuts can produce tens of thousands of dollars of income and support a fair number of people.