Kovalam is a beach resort situated in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India, approximately 12.6 km (7.8 miles) southeast of the city center. The area’s beaches attract numerous tourists from both India and abroad.
History
Kovalam began to gain prominence when Regent Maharani Sethu Lakshmi Bayi of Travancore built her beach resort, Halcyon Castle, in the late 1920s. Her nephew, the Maharaja of Travancore, further spotlighted the area. In the 1930s, European visitors to the Travancore kingdom recognized Kovalam beach’s potential as a tourist spot. The transformation of this once quaint fishing village in Kerala into a major tourist destination accelerated in the early 1970s, as many hippies traveled through on their way to Ceylon via the hippie trail.
