Poovar

Overview

Poovar is the last village at the bottom of Thiruvananthapuram district, set on an estuary where the Neyyar, a backwater lake and the open sea run into one another. It is about 30 km from the state capital and suits people who want a quiet half or full day on the water; the cooler months of November to February, at roughly 19 to 33 C, are the comfortable ones.

Boats are how most visits work. Channels fringed with mangroves lead across the lagoon to a golden-sand beach with no road access, which keeps it uncrowded. Along the way, watch for kingfishers, brahminy kites, night herons, sea egrets and cormorants; the route also passes fishing hamlets and small islands. Floating cottages built into the backwaters are one of the stay options here, so an overnight can be as much a part of the trip as the cruise.

The place has an older story. The name is usually traced to the Travancore king Marthanda Varma in the 18th century, who is said to have noticed flowers drifting in the river, with poo meaning flower and aar meaning river. Before that Poovar shipped out timber, sandalwood, spices and ivory, and local tradition attributes its central mosque to Malik Deenar, an eighth-century preacher, which would place it among the earliest mosques in India.

The coast around Poovar is worth a look before or after the boats. Kovalam is about 12 km to the north, and Pozhikkara beach lies close by. Vizhinjam's harbour is near, and the Aazhimala Shiva Temple at Pulinkudi, set about 0.8 km off the Vizhinjam to Poovar road beside a cliff, has an 18 m sculpture of Shiva as Gangadhareshwara that was opened to the public on 31 December 2020. The Neyyar itself runs 56 km before it enters the sea near Poovar.

Getting here is straightforward. Thiruvananthapuram International Airport is roughly 25 to 26 km away, Thiruvananthapuram Central station 23 to 28 km, and National Highway 66 passes about 6 km from Poovar. Rain arrives with the south-west monsoon from June, when the Neyyar's deposits reshape the estuary.

Known for

River, lagoon and Arabian Sea meet in one place