KOCHI, Jan. 4 -- Alappuzha in Kerala is known as the Venice of the East thanks to the rivers, placid backwaters and lakes dotting the region. The beach along the Arabian Sea and the canals meandering along the city has made it a popular tourist destination.

Unknown to most people, Alappuzha, the nerve centre of India's coir industry, is home to the world's largest collection of artefacts and art works made of ivory, crystal, porcelain and exotic wood. Not only that, the city has the largest private collection of Swaroski, Lladro, Capo de monte art works.

An initiative by Betty Karunakaran, who could be addressed as Kerala's cultural czarina, has evolved into a treasure house which outsmarts the best individual collection anywhere in the...