(D) The Ashtamudi Kayal,known as the gateway to the backwaters, covers about 30 per cent of Kollam in Kerala.Sasthamcotta Kayal, the large freshwater lake, is 28.5 km from Kollam city. The Kerala back waters are a chain of brackish lagoons and lakes lying parallel to the Arabian Sea coast (known as the Malabar Coast) of the Kerala state in southern India. The network includes five large lakes linked by canals, both man-made and natural, fed by 38 rivers, and extending virtually half the length of the Kerala state.