Kumbalangi

India’s first eco-tourism village, where the water can glow blue at night.

Kumbalangi is an island village on the backwaters about 12 km from Kochi’s city centre, and India’s first eco-tourism village. The village is in Ernakulam district and is well connected by road to the mainland. Kumbalam lies to its north. Its name records how the land formed. It was once called Kumbalam Vilangi, for an island that formed between Kumbalam and the sea. The name later shortened to Kumbalangi.

The main work here is fishing, and more than 100 Chinese fishing nets stand in the backwaters facing the village. Expect nets, boats and village life rather than a set attraction.

The Kumbalangi project was set in motion in 2003, the same year the state selected several villages as model villages. The island covers 16 square km, and the 2011 census counted 42,367 people living on it.

Kavaru, the sea sparkle, shows when the microscopic plankton Noctiluca scintillans is dense in the water. Sightings depend on conditions, so the glow is never guaranteed. The months after the rains, September and October, are the most likely time.

Did you know

The organism behind kavaru is a single cell about the size of a pinhead, with no eyes, no brain and no legs.
The kavaru glow comes from a dense concentration of the microplankton Noctiluca scintillans.
Kumbalangi island covers 16 square km and had 42,367 people in the 2011 census.
The island was first called Kumbalam Vilangi, because it formed between Kumbalam and the sea.
The Kumbalangi project was set in motion in 2003, the same year Kerala selected several villages as model villages.
More than 100 Chinese fishing nets stand in the backwaters facing Kumbalangi village.
Kumbalangi is India’s first eco-tourism village, according to Kerala Tourism.