Ernakulam district has an history backing to the ancient times, the Arabs, Chinese, Dutch and Portuguese seafarers have come to the kingdom of kochi through the sea route. They have gifted their culture and their tradition to this place. It still remains in some part of the district. Ernakulam district was formed on 1958 by the concatenation of Aluva, Kunnathunadu, Kochi, Kanayannur, and Paravoor, which were the parts of Thrissur District. The district headquarters of Ernakulam is at kakkanad, earlier it was at Ernakulam town,. Ernakulam town is known as the 'Queen Of The Arabian Sea'. There are many places to visit in Ernakulam district, some of them are

• MATTANCHERRY PALACE

mattancherry palace is one of the oldest palace in Kerala which was built in the late 1555 AD, it was built by the Portuguese and which was later gifted to the kochi raja. Another name of mattancherry palace is dutch palace. The interesting thing to note is that, it was neither been used by the Dutch nor the Portuguese for staying, but it is lavishly decorated and some of the lively displays of royal costumes and palanquins are still present.

• JEWISH SYNAGOGUE

It is one of the oldest synagogue in the area, it was built in the late 1568 AD, the synagogue is built in mattancherry. Inside the synagogue there are lots of impressions of the kings of kochi, the main attraction of the synagogue are the painted Chinese tiles which are made by hand. The ancestors of the Jews migrated from Jerusalem in 72 AD and their remains are found in these places.

• ST. FRANCIS CHURCH

St. Francis church is one of the oldest and well preserved churches in Kerala, it is a protestant church of 1510 AD and the same was built by the Portuguese when they came to kochi, Ernakulam is blessed with lots of monuments and left overs of the Portuguese, Dutch and The Chinese. Vasco da Gama's body was first buried in this church and later it was taken to Portugal.

• ST. FRANCIS ASSISI CHURCH

About 180 years old, St. Francis Assisi church is again one of the oldest in the region. It is unique by the design of its roof, the church was built by the Portuguese in 1828, the main attraction of the church is the concatenation of Portugal and Kerala architectural design. The roof is made to stand only on the central pillar. There are many visitors for the church.

• CHINESE FISHING NETS

Another important site when you come to Ernakulam are the huge fishing nets. It is said that these nets were used by the Chinese traders, another foot print of foreigners on the land. These nets are now used by the local fishermen, they are fixed to the land near the sea and are immersed down for trapping the fish. They are used at the time of high tide.

Ernakulam also has a good tradition in the festivals and celebretions, shivarathri is one of the main celebration in the district. Ernakulam is rich in shiva temples, the main celebration is the maha sivarathri which comes in the maha month, two days before the Black moon, people await the coming of the maha sivarathri with prayers and fasting for peace and unity and for the take down of evil things.

There are many other celebrations in the church also, the churches celebrate the fests in the holy days of the heavenly saints. People of every religion come and take part in the celebration, St. Antony's church at kannamaly is famous for the vasts number of people who are fed during the festival on march 19^th on the feast of St. Thomas. The other attractions in Ernakulam include the 'Cherai Pooram' at the island known as Vypeen, the celebration mainly has two reasons, one is the happiness that people get after fields are ready for cropping, and the second reason is that it is the time when people are ready to go to the sea for fishing.