Venice of the East

Alappuzha :, also known as Alleppey, is a town in Alappuzha District of Kerala state of southern India. It is the administrative headquarters of Alappuzha District. Alappuzha is considered to be the oldest planned town in this region and the lighthouse built on the coast of the town is the first of its kind along the Laccadive Sea coast (reference encyclopaedia of Kerala in Malayalam language). As per 2001 census Alappuzha is the sixth largest town in Kerala with an urban population of 177,029. Alappuzha is situated 62 kilometres (39 mi) to the south of Kochi and 155 kilometres (96 mi) north of Trivandrum.^[ A town with picturesque canals, backwaters, beaches, and lagoons, it was described as the one of the places known as the "Venice of the East" by Lord Curzon. Malayalam is the most spoken language. Hindi, English and Tamil are also widely spoken in the town.