Kerala Tourism is wooing tourists who might be scared by the news of infectious diseases in the state: Webcast Kerala live to the world.
“What better proof than a live screening of the daily life to show Kerala remains healthy,” a top tourism department source said.
The 60-day webcast, which began on June 6, is available on www.keralatourism.org [1]. There will be three screenings a day, for three time zones (6 a.m. – 10 a.m., 2 p.m.– 6 p.m., 10 p.m. – 2 a.m.); two of them repetitions.
Each screening will be four-hours long and the content will be different every day. It is technically incorrect to call the screening a 'live webcast'. “It uses the live webcast technology but the content shown is recorded.
But, like in live webcast, the same images will be seen by persons accessing the web site at a particular time from any part of the world,” the source said.
Rare monsoon-related festivals and rituals form the largest chunk of the four-hour screening. The ‘adi’ ritual of the Mavilakkavu temple in Kannur, where 20-odd pairs of bare-bodied men are carried on the shoulders of their partners and surrounded by a sea of shouting, screaming, bobbing heads fight each other, the Kottiyoor festival in Kannur where elephants are made to walk backwards, and the Moolam boat race were some of the festivals that were already web cast.
The footage will be raw with natural sounds sans commentary. Five film crews have been dispatched to various parts of the state to shoot the festivals and other unique Kerala sights.
The department, whose server has inadequate bandwidth, has partnered with YouTube. The content is first uploaded on YouTube and from there, through a player developed for the purpose, it is shown on the tourism department’s web site.
Links:
[1] http://www.keralatourism.org