Welcome to Kottayam, the land of letters, legends, latex and lakes. This is one of the fastest growing districts of Kerala that plays an important role in the economy and literature world of the state. Several publishing houses and Newspaper dailies are head quartered in this district contributing 80% share of book publishing in the state. Also, Kottayam was the first one to be declared as 100% literate city in India. Some of the eminent personalities of Kerala literature world hails from this district.In addition to this Kottayam is famous for different varieties of spices and commercial crops. Natural rubber is the main commercial crop and a major portion of India’s Natural rubber is originated from this district. Other valuable crops such as Cashew, coconut, pepper, tapioca, and vegetables are also cultivated in large scale.Presence of lakes, back waters, religious places, hill stations and popular tourist destinations attract a large number of local as well as international tourists here. This is the first town in India, selected by the central Ministry of Environment and Forests to be transformed as an eco-city.In this tour, I will take you to 6 major attractions in Kottayam to introduce the district. You can explore more and I have listed other attractions for your reference.Nature & wildIllikkal KalluKattikkayam WaterfallsMarmala WaterfallMuseumsBay Island Driftwood MuseumDiscs & Machines - Sunny's Gramophone MuseumMozart Art GalleryCulture & HeritagePoonjar Palace        Religious placesVaikom Mahadeva TempleSt. Mary's Church, Kottayam (Kottayam valiyapally)Saint Kuriakose Elias Chavara MannanamAruvithura Vallyachan MalaReferences:        Acknowledgements:We express our sincere gratitude to the Director of Kerala Tourism, for the support and to grant permission for using Kerala Tourism content and photographs for the production of this audio tour. We also give due credit to the photographers in Wikimedia for using the photographs listed under Wikimedia commons collection for some of the attractions with appropriate citation.Content Provide Details:Content Author         :Ms. Ambili Prabhakaran, Kannur & Ms. Bharaty Menon, KottayamEditing & Scripting    :Mr. Ummer Sahib, PalakkadVoice Over Artist       :Ms. Bharaty Menon, KottayamDisclaimer:The content and photographs used in the audio tour are aggregated from Kerala Tourism website and from various other published sources, written, edited and scripted by the respective authors and does not reflect Kerala Tourism's official position in any way. Informap and its authors disclaim any direct or indirect harm, loss or injury caused by using this audio tour.