Kottayam is a city in the Indian state of Kerala. It is located in central Kerala and is also the administrative capital of Kottayam district. The town is an important trading center of spices and commercial crops, especially rubber. Kottayam, among the state's more mountainous districts, provides some of Kerala's finest natural scenes sandwiched as it is between serene palm-fringed backwaters on the west and the Western ghats on the east.