Kathakali dolls

Kerala is an interesting mixture of cultures and religions. There are strong Dutch, Portuguese and of course English colonial influences. In religious terms, it splits into a third Christian, a third Muslim and a third Hindu. In 1957, Kerala had the first democratically elected Communist state government in the world. You still see hammer and sickle motifs everywhere, and the long period of communist rule is credited with giving Kerala the highest literacy rate (99%) in India.

These souvenir dolls are dressed in Kathakali style, an ornate dance form originating from the 17th century. They were on a stall I assumed was aimed solely at Western tourists, but just after I took the photo a busload of Indians arrived to have a look - the domestic tourism market is growing all the time as Indians become wealthier.

Crime is very low here and someone told me I needn't worry about my camera being stolen as the Indian tourists all have better cameras anyway!