Kollam

Kollam District is situated on the South west coast of kerala. The District is bound on the north by Alappuzha and north east by Pathanamthitta Districts on the east by Thirunelveli District of Tamilnadu, on the South by the Thiruvananthapuram District and on the west by Arabian sea.. The remnants of the Dutch forts can be found at Thangasseri. Velu Thampi Dalawa of Travancore, worked towards the improvement of the Kollam town

Thenmala is the meeting point of Kollam-Shencottah road and Trivandrum-Shencottah road, surrounded by dense forest, 66 kms east of Kollam. There are a large number of rubber and tea plantations in Thenmala. Sasthamcottah is an attractive village situated about 19 kms. from Kollam Town. It is a beauty spot, a health resort and a centre of pilgrimage. The extensive freshwater lake here, is said to be the biggest of its kind in Kerala. Water supply to the Kollam town is met by purifying the water from this lake. Situated ,32 kms north of Kollam on the Kollam Alappuzha National Highway and on the boundary of Kollam district, Oachira is a unique pilgrim center. The peculiarity of the temple here is that there is no temple building as such nor is there any idol. All classes of people workship the presiding deity the parabrahmamThe important institutions under this project are the boat building yard at Sakthikulangara the Fisherman's Training Institute, the ice factory and the refrigeration Plant. Neendakara Port, the hub of fishing activities is here. Kadakkal in Kollam is known for Kadakkal Devi Kshetram, kadakkaldevi temple comes alive during Thiruvathira festival held in March, and is one of the prime festivals of the region.Places close to city centre include the calm and scenic Thirummulavaram and Tangasseri beaches

The Sastha temple here, situated amidst dense forest. The idol of Sastha is supposed to have been installed several centuries before the Christian Era. The two important festivals of this temple are Mandala Pooja (December-January) and the festival held at 'Revathi'(January-February). The two notable features of the festival are the Therotam (chariot festival) and Pushpabhishekam (offering of flowers).

Kollam like other districts in the state is moderately industralised. Kundara was known as an Industrial area with Alumnium, Ceramics, Starch factories, but all are closed or on the verge of closing. The district is covered by 132 km of railway tracks, of which 51 km are broad gauge and 81 km metre gauge. There are almost 22 railway stations of which 9 are on broad gauge line and 13, on the metre gauge line. Kollam is an important railway junction. The Thiruvananthapuram - Ernakulam (via Kottayam and Alappuzha) line passes through Kollam. Kollam is the terminal junction for Chenkotta - Kollam metre gauge line. Electrification of the Broad Gauge railway lines towards Thiruvananthapuram from Kayamkulam is complete