Welcome to a one-of-a-kind digital window into the Lakshadweep, India’s smallest Union Territory.
Here, we bring you intimate portraits of life in the archipelago, covering everything from the unique skills of pole-and-line tuna fishers to the awe-inducing thousand-year-old coral formations that cradle these islands.
Dive into decades of scientific and archival research, learn about Lakshadweep’s rich but vanishing cultural practices, and understand how these remarkable islands are navigating the delicate balance between preservation and progress in a rapidly changing world.
Begin your journey here:
Explore.
The Natural World of Lakshadweep
Explore Lakshadweep’s stunning biodiversity, ranging from its interesting terrestrial features to the diversity within its coral reefs. Learn more about the archipelago’s ecosystem, its geological traits, and the intricate relationship between its flora, fauna and human inhabitants.
Reef full of recruits
While diving on the reefs of Kadmat Island in the Lakshadweep, two PhD students Rucha Karkarey and Anne Theo stumbled across a strange site: millions and millions of tiny fish swimming in giant shoals.
Lakshadweep’s Butterflyfish: Adapting to Coral Crises
Butterflyfish are important bioindicators of a reef’s health. Their survival hinges on the health of coral reefs. So, what happens when coral disappears?
The living cinema of Lakshadweep
With nature as the director, fish and animals as the cast, and the sea as the ever-changing set, there's no shortage of cinematic magic in Lakshadweep.
Preserving more than fish
In the simple, daily practices of catching, cutting, smoking, and drying, the islands preserve not just tuna, but a way of life that connects their past to their present.
Fishing for sustainability
Sustainable fishing practices, like the skipjack fishery of Lakshadweep, are necessary for a balance between long-term profitability and ecosystem health.
The unique characters of Lakshadweep
The Lakshadweep islands may appear as mere specks in the Arabian Sea, but each has its own personality, quirks, and stories to tell.
Between the Global and Local: Making Sense of Climate Change in the Lakshadweep Archipelago
As climate scientists, our task was to speak of a universal ecology using generalisable science to make a pressing case for global change. But in lived experience, there is no such thing.
The Historical World of Lakshadweep
Read about the islands’ rich maritime heritage, traditional practices, and socio-cultural evolution over centuries. This section comprises valuable historical perspectives, oral histories, and write-ups covering vanishing customs and knowledge systems.
The Lakshadweep of Tim Severin’s time
A remarkable British explorer's 1982 visit documented the last days of a unique island society that had remained unchanged for centuries.
Islands of steam and stillness
In Lakshadweep, tea is not just a drink. It is a way of being, of life itself distilled into a moment of warmth and connection.
What’s in a Name? The Lakshadweep origin story
The story behind the renaming of Lakshadweep and its islands holds layers of historical, linguistic, and cultural significance.
Broadcast away
In an age of instant digital communication, Lakshadweep holds onto a communication method that seems plucked straight from a bygone era.
How Islam came to Lakshadweep
Lakshadweep's current demographics, with its entire local population practicing Islam, are evidence of centuries of religious influence and continuity.
The Changing World of Lakshadweep
We examine how these islands are transforming in the face of modernization and climate change. Through scientific research, personal narratives, and documentary evidence, we track the environmental, social, and cultural changes shaping Lakshadweep’s future.
The ‘here and now’ of climate-change induced migration
Climate-vulnerable Lakshadweep islanders perceive environmental changes through local experiences rather than global climate change narratives.
Giant Clams from Lakshadweep remember the past
Dr. AA Fousiya, one of Lakshadweep’s first woman doctorates, studies past ocean temperatures through giant clam analysis.
Islands of environmental innovation
When you are living on tiny coral islands hundreds of kilometres from the mainland, necessity truly becomes the mother of invention.
Paradise has a waitlist
Be it through praying for permits, clear weather or tickets, Lakshadweep makes you earn your visit. Maybe that's why it remains paradise.
Islands between silence and sound
With each unnecessary honk, Lakshadweep’s quiet magic is being replaced by a relentless, chaotic cacophony.
Democracy at sea
Politics in Lakshadweep has evolved from a quiet affair to a full-blown performance, complete with its own unique flair.
The changing rhythms of Lakshadweep weather
For now, life in Lakshadweep still follows the basic pattern of sun and rain. But something about this ancient rhythm no longer seems quite right.
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Essential Readings
DID YOU KNOW?
Fact 10
Early Arab navigators referred to the Laccadives & Maldives collectively as Dibajat islands. On the basis of their produce, the north-lying Laccadives were further known as the coconut rope islands & the south-lying Maldives as the cowrie shell islands.
