Kandath Tharavad

Kandath Tharavad offers you a range of outdoor activities whilst your stay here. A visit to Parambikulam Wild Life Sanctuary, trekking at Neliyampathy Hills and Silent Valley National Park, fishing excursion to Siruvani Lake and house boat ride in the back waters are some of the activities that one can indulge in. One can watch the elephants being bathed and fed, take a visit to Kerala Kalamandalam and cycle through the winding roads in the countryside,

The guests can indulge in ayurvedic rejuvenation massage and watch Kathakali, Mohiniyattam, Kuchipudi performance etc. The Kandath house was built in 1794 by Bhagwaldas's Great Great Grandfather, Mr. Kuppavelan, a landowner and money - lender. Situated in Thenkurussi Village in Palakkad, the nearest town, an equidistant two-hour drive from Cochin airport to the West or Coimbatore to the East. Five generations have lived here, as evidenced by the five ancestral stools in the Puja Room.

The most striking feature of the Kandath Tharavad is the frontal raised area ("Purathalum") with grand bulbous pillars fashioned in teak at each corner rising to glorious carvings of elephants, snakes, fish and dragons. The floor is covered in natural dyed tiles of ochre, terracotta and blue. It was here until Bhagwaldas's Grandfather died in the seventies that the serious business of money - lending took place - most of it tiding the locals over between rice-crops. No more than twenty feet away from the front purathalam where the men would congregate is another raised area at the rear of the house for the ladies to gather. It was acoustically contrived that no word spoken by the women could be heard by the men and vice-versa.The two areas are diagonally separated by a reception chamber in which there is a "Nadumuttam" or open area in the center. You can stand under this and see the stars. It is created by four roofs (now tiled but once palm thatched) descending into the room to shoulder height allowing monsoon rains to plash into a central sunken area below. Kandath Tharavad is an Ettukettu (Ettu-eight: Kettu- Block) structure having not one but two such areas.