Mal: ആലപ്പുഴ ālappuḻa
‘Broad River’ [Alleppey] City/District, Kerala
From Mal: ālam, ‘broad’; and puḻa/puzha, ‘river’
The Kerala backwaters are a complex 900km network of brackish/saltwater lagoons, lakes, rivers and canals.
Lord Curzon called Alleppey, which is at the heart of the waterways, the ‘Venice of the East’.
The city sits at the base of Vembanad Lake, a wetland system spreading over an area of more than 2,000 km².
It is the longest lake in India or, perhaps, the broadest river.
Alleppey Backwaters Himanshu Sarpotdar