JOIN USThis is ethnic chic at its best — large metal bowls filled with bright red flowers, Yaalis, Ganeshas adorned with flowers below gargantuan banyan trees, stone lanterns, vibrant Kerala murals with their natural dyes in orange and ochre depicting myths and legends livening up walls, fountains that look like lingams, heavy wooden doors carved with intricate details and large plantation chairs to watch the sea.
The salty tang of the sea is in the air, as I walk through the green lawns, looking at honey-coloured pristine stretches of beaches framed by coconut palms, polished dark wooden cottages, stunning stone yoga pavilions between two bays and a view of a church and two domes of mosques in the distance... I have driven here from Trivandrum, Kerala and am near the coastal hamlet of Pulinkudi.
My resort is dotted with typical teak wood low slung Kerala houses called tharavadu with wooden pillars, terracotta roofs and tiled floors built from recycled wood from transplanted Kerala homes. Long ago, this was the winter home of a German professor at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. Today, his original house called the Octagon House still lives on in the property dotted with coconut, jackfruit and banana groves.
On the shore
At all times the sea forms the central theme — at night I am lulled by the waves pounding the rocks, and in the morning I wake up to yoga on the pavilion overlooking the beach and ‘pre-dawn tea on the beach’ with the waves lapping my toes. Luxuriating in the atmospheric spa with water bodies and Balinese style pavilions is the most relaxing thing that I do here. I have a simple abhayanga snanam with earthy smelling herbs and oils. Therapists gently wash my feet before making me lie supine on a wooden table placed in a bamboo curtained therapy room.
Come nightfall, we watch a Kathakali performance, feasting on the best of Kerala food doused with coconut milk — appams, creamy Kerala curries, spicy fish and seafood. Originating in northern Kerala, Kathakali combines classical music and intricate eye movements that has, for centuries, brought alive gods and demons from the Mahabharata and Ramayana for simple village folk.
The most important part of this dance is the tutu-like costumes and the make-up with vibrant colours like green and electric red, applied to the face like an artist’s canvas. Being the culture vulture that I am, the next evening I enjoy a fiery performance of Kalaripayattu, one of the world’s oldest forms of martial art, on the beach, with a sundowner in hand. With smooth strikes, kicks, grappling, preset forms, weaponry practiced by lithe men in traditional dhotis, it ends with fire eating! Legend goes that this 3,000-year-old art form originated with Sage Parasurama — the master of all martial art forms and credited to be the re-claimer of Kerala from the Arabian Sea.
The days fall into a predictable, relaxing routine — I start my morning with pre-dawn tea on the beach with the waves lapping my feet and follow it up with a swim in the pool carved out of natural rock which segues into the sea. For a change of scene, I take a backwater cruise through verdant mangroves with overhanging branches and gargantuan roots spilling into the waters, to Poovar estuary where the bird life is prolific — we see egrets, waterfowl and white herons.
The simple life
Canoeing through the mangroves we see scenes from the locals’ daily life — some young men boisterously washing an elephant, a pistachio green mosque and men in prayer caps, women bathing on the banks and washing their clothes, and the prolific bird life — a snake head bird, a sea eagle gliding and soaring and fierce cormorants diving to get their fresh meal.
Long ago, Poovar was a trading centre for timber, sandalwood and spices and it is believed that ships owned by King Solomon landed here. Our boatman tells us how the name ‘Poovar’ originated. During internal riots in Travancore, the king escaped to Poovar. It was spring season and the trees on either sides of the river were in full bloom. These fragrant red flowers fell into the river and Raja Marthanda Varma commented that this was poo-var, the words for flower and river. Arriving at the point where River Neyyar breaches the sand banks and connects the estuary with the ocean at high tide is a sight that I cannot easily forget... The ferocity of the waves, the balance of nature that ensures that the backwaters don’t flood the homes on it... the golden sand bank with tender coconut sellers and brightly dressed locals.
We are treated to a picnic hamper set up on the sand bank and as we tuck into sandwiches and juice, we watch the scene unfold around us with cinematic élan — floating cottages on the waters, a pieta style statue of Jesus and local fishermen boats piled carelessly on one side. I muse on the fact that this is what I love about Kerala — the ordinary life set against a most exotic background! We are just in time to see the sun set on the golden waters, turning everything a burnished orange… I file the moment in my memory chip forever.
Fact file
HOW TO REACH: Fly to Trivandrum and drive from there.
What to do: Visit Trivandrum’s famous Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple.
Take a cruise to Poovar. Have Ayurvedic massages and yoga sessions. Spend some time on the Kovalam Beach. Visit the local fish market to see the catch.
Shop for: Fresh pickles and preserves, Kerala murals, coconut art, spices.