Kerala is a slender strip of land in the southern tip of Indian subcontinent. Beautiful and benign, this Indian state lies along a sun drenched coastline flanked by the Arabian Sea on the west and the mountains of the Western Ghats on the east. Cascading delicately down the hills to the golden coasts covered by verdant coconut groves, Kerala is located between north latitudes 8 degree 18' and 12 degree 48' and east longitudes 74 degree 52' and 72 degree 22'. Encompasses 1.18 per cent of the country, this land of eternal beauty is the abode of more than 31.8 million Malayalees