View of Kollam City from Asramam Adventure Park

City of Kollam or

Quilon Kollam (), also known by its former name Quilon , is an ancient seaport and city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is north of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. The city ...

is a Port city in

South India South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union territ ...

and was the commercial capital of erstwhile

Kingdom of Travancore The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...

. It is situated on the

Laccadive Sea The Laccadive Sea or Lakshadweep Sea is a body of water bordering India (including its Lakshadweep islands), the Maldives, and Sri Lanka. It is located to the southwest of Karnataka, to the west of Kerala and to the south of Tamil Nadu. This war ...

coast of South Kerala. The city is known as the "Gateway to the backwaters of Kerala". The city lies on the banks of

Ashtamudi Lake Ashtamudi Lake (''Ashtamudi Kayal''), in the Kollam District of the Indian state of Kerala, is the most visited backwater and lake in the state. It possesses a unique wetland ecosystem and a large palm-shaped (also described as octopus-shaped) ...

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

's second largest lake, on the Arabian sea coast. Major parts of Kollam city are covered by

Geographic Location

The city of Kollam lies at with an average altitude of 3 metres. The average rainfall is 270 cm yearly. The city is surrounded by

Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea ( ar, اَلْبَحرْ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Bahr al-ˁArabī) is a region of the northern Indian Ocean bounded on the north by Pakistan, Iran and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channel ...

in the west,

and

panchayat The Panchayat raj is a political system, originating from the Indian subcontinent, found mainly in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal. It is the oldest system of local government in the Indian subcontinent, and historical men ...

s of

Neendakara Neendakara is a suburb of Kollam city in Kerala, India. The twin harbours, Neendakara and Shakthikulangara are located here. , url=https://www.tourmyindia.com/states/kerala/neendakara-port-kollam.html Trawling ban and withdrawal of the state off ...

and

Thrikkaruva Thrikkaruva is a village in Kollam district in the state of Kerala, India. Thrikkaruva is the short form of Thiruvudal karuvaya desham(തിരുവുടൽ കരുവായ ദേശം ).The name orgin is related to the Thrikkaruva sree ...

in north, Mayyanad

in the south and Thrikkovilvattom and Kottamkara

s in east. The Kollam coast is a blessed coastal belt with the best mineral sand deposit of the country. The backwaters of Ashtamudi, thick mangroves on its coasts, beaches, estuaries, scattered

islands An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

and pleasant climate are making Kollam as one of the best sea side tourist destinations in

Climate

The maximum average temperature of the city in the summer season is 31 degree Celsius and the minimum temperature recorded is 23 degrees Celsius. Under the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

, the city features a

Tropical monsoon climate An area of tropical monsoon climate (occasionally known as a sub-equatorial, tropical wet climate or a tropical monsoon and trade-wind littoral climate) is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification category ...

Landforms and Waterbodies

Kollam is known as the ''Prince of Arabian Sea''. Several beaches, estuaries, backwaters and islands are there in the city. In 2015, Kollam got selected as the least polluted city in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. The mineral sand deposit in Kollam coasts worth several thousand

crores A crore (; abbreviated cr) denotes ten million (10,000,000 or 107 in scientific notation) and is equal to 100 lakh in the Indian numbering system. It is written as 1,00,00,000 with the local 2,2,3 style of digit group separators (one lakh is eq ...

Indian rupee The Indian rupee ( symbol: ₹; code: INR) is the official currency in the republic of India. The rupee is subdivided into 100 ''paise'' (singular: ''paisa''), though as of 2022, coins of denomination of 1 rupee are the lowest value in use w ...

Islands of Kollam

A good number of scattered islands are there in

in Kollam. These islands are the real beauty of Kollam backwaters. Most of these islands are potential tourism spots in the

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

. Even

Indian Railways Indian Railways (IR) is a statutory body under the ownership of Ministry of Railways, Government of India that operates India's national railway system. It manages the fourth largest national railway system in the world by size, with a tota ...

also planning to develop one of the islands in Kollam for a tourism project. There are big as well as small islands which are inhabited and uninhabited by human beings. The important islands in Kollam are: A top view of Ashtamudi backwaters

* Munroe Island * Chavara Thekkumbhagom * St. Sebastian Island * San Thome Island * Vincent Island * Our Lady of Fatima Island * Pezhumthuruth * Kakkathuruth * Pattamthuruth * Paliyanthuruthu (''Palliyamthuruthu'') * Neettum thuruth * Puthenthuruth * Poothuruth * Pannaykkathuruth * Veluthuruth * Neeleswaram thuruth

Beaches in Kollam

Kollam is land of serene beaches. The white sand beaches take the prime spot in Kollam’s tourism map. Popularly known

Kollam Beach Kollam Beach, also known as Mahatma Gandhi Beach, is a beach at Kollam city in the Indian state of Kerala. Kollam Beach is the first 'Beach Wedding Destination' in Kerala. The beach also features a park of international standard, the Mahat ...

Thirumullavaram Beach Thirumullavaram Beach (Malayalam : തിരുമുല്ലവാരം ബീച്ച്), is one of the popular beaches in the city of Kollam and a tourist destination in the state of Kerala. The beach is situated at Thirumullavaram, an i ...

and Mundakkal Beach are the three important beaches in the city. Several other small beaches are there on the coastline of Kollam namely

Tangasseri Tangasseri or Thangassery is a heavily populated beach area on the shores of the Arabian Sea in Kollam city, Kerala, India. Location Tangasseri is located about from the city centre and from Thiruvananthapuram, the state capital. Archaeologi ...

, Vaddy, Thanni etc.

is on the south-west area of the city. The beach also features a children's park, the

Mahatma Gandhi Park Mahatma Gandhi Park (also known as ''MG park'') is a public park situated near Kollam Beach in the city of Kollam, Kerala, India. It is about 2 km away from Chinnakada - The city centre of 'Kollam, Cashew Capital of the World'. It is one o ...

and an under construction Marine Aquarium. Kollam beach is one among the few beaches in Kerala with a lifeguard outpost.Move to post lifeguards on Kollam beach
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is on the north-west coast of Kollam city. The beach is ideal for early morning walksThirumullavaram readying for Vavubali
/ref> Thirumullavaram beach is very famous for conducting the Karkidaka Vavubali rituals. Thousands of devotees arrive on the beach to perform the Vavubali Tharpanam every year.

References

{{Kollam , state=expanded
Kerala Tour Packages