The villages around Kumarakom and across the wider Vembanad region are the centre of Kerala's coir industry — the fibre extracted from coconut husks and spun into rope, mats, and matting. Husks are soaked in the brackish backwaters for months before the fibre is teased out, washed, and spun.
Walk inland from the lake along any of the small lanes and you will almost certainly come across women spinning fibre on hand-cranked wheels under shaded verandas. Visitors are welcomed at most workshops; small mats, rope, and door mats are for sale at honest prices. Several cooperatives run short visits with a demonstration of the whole process from husk to finished rope.