Maranat Mana:)- Splendour and Simplcity!

Each trip to the native land ,encompasses us in warm splendour. Each visit intrigues us to know better of the place we were born. We are also letting that to be an eyeopener to our children to make them rich with life's experiences which will take them along way. Only when we move away from our native land do we realize the value of the  experience down south we have,we had and what not,living close to the parents too!

We are always  undecided upto the last moment,this was one of a kind of its trip to the Northern most part of Kerala,,the Malapurram district.

A travel in to the heart of the Malabar region, the famous  Maranat Mana,a 170 year old house managed and maintaned by a family of brothers for generations.

We were just in awe as the car went past their wide compound road.Totally excited on seeing the rich red loamy soil,red hand cut bricks on the boundary walls,lush green colocasias,trailing lush green violet flowered creepers on the walls,the huge old house emerged as if it was from an old vintage era,Mangalore tiled roofs,the inhouse ganesha temple,pretty corridors,the huge granary,the wooden steps,the huge mango tree the nagalingam tree and lush green yellow flowering hibiscus shrubs all over,green moss wherever you could see,..and lots more!

This home is a "pathiraukettu" which meant it had 4 courtyards,and so can we imagine the boisterity of the house,we had a glimpse of their house which even had the nagar kavu(snake temples) in one of their courtyards.I hear this house and surroundings had been in many a regional movies shot in the yesteryears.

It was a  feel,which we could never get elsewhere,living in their century old home, to see them hold strong their  part of the traditions. It was always wonderful to see a family strongly believing what the ancestors believed at a  time, still living and practicing it to the chore.When we struggle to make our children understand the values of our culture and traditions,the Mana stands as a testimonial to the past.This isn't a story of the past,but this is the  present .This visit and stay made for a lovely lesson in why traditions begun in the first place – possibly just to bring people together. Praveen and Vidya were the hosts,as the  stay were arranged by them above the granary which is theirs.

It was an absolute wonderful  experience, of yesterday intertwined with today, of splendour encased in simplicity. It was a lesson in warmth and togetherness in this increasingly isolated world. It was simply beautiful.

a lesson in simplicity

as it rained

a walk in the rains

crowded colocasias

thinking about the simplicties of life

as she sat like a painting

as he cycled 

.

All images courtesy:Lakshmi Arvind

Its all in love and memories,the old home!

This post is about a very old home built in the early 1900 or earlier than that :)-The home is of my Husbands Grand Mother's.Recently it got renovated to become even more beautiful with all old photos hanging on the various walls,the black oxide turned into cool blue chettinad flooring :)-

The love it holds for me ..my husband...his mom...his dad..and Chechi. and all other dear family!
I still remember the first time I went there as a newly wed bride,the countless blessings received from the grandma, the grandma's loving felt like hands, almost all Sunday lunches when we are there in town with grandma,my first onam lunch as a new bride and a going to be mom,the many shots I took there,the pink and white hibiscus flowers

I still remember the old windows,the cracked cool blackoxide floors,the books we read lying on the floor,the mangoes  we ate ,the cool summers under the tiled roof  and the countless memories that cannot be penned..the amazing loving stories weaved in mind by the mom in law..its only love in mind..the love to memories and nostalgia!    What more in life than that!

Hoping to gather  more memories and love here.....

loved the small windows..and the light that came from them

a look up

its all in the wind:)- a little blurd

the grand entry

the cool blue chettinad

my mom in law pointing out to the photos 

the courtyard with its tulsithara

an old cot

the house warming day

the cool black oxide ..years back

i only know how much i loved the pink and white hibiscus flowers!

                                        
                                            Please do not copy nor save images.its all copyrighted

Rajakkad Estate - Dindigul, Palani hills

The fragrant Dianthus and Arijit Singh's voice as I sit here happily getting embalmed in the memories of a beautiful travel...

Searching for something in particular and drifting away from it and finally landing up somewhere else:)- it has always happened to me. Search Engines do a wonderful travel therapy by not letting us move an inch and already we would have travelled  miles away..isnt it? It was that  kind of a day when I did a virtual


 travel to Munnar:)- searching for places to stay and landing up in "Rajakkad Estate". Falling in love at first sight:)- Not realising how many hours to drive, I had already fallen in love with this place. The traditional looks, the courtyards, the ambience, the simplicity and warmth of the place struck a chord.. I would repeat it a hundred times..if I ever build a house it would be in terms of this concept of flowing and connecting spaces. This Concept based on the Great Master Architect, my inspiration  "Geoffrey Bawa"!

Time for travelling during summer vacations has always been kept aside. This time it wasn't different either. A long tour which started from Trivandrum to Kochi and ended in the Palani hills.. Beautiful ghat roads through the tea estates, rains and finally the forests, winding paths and then on to Kumily, Thekkady and finally to the plains of Tamilnadu, Theni and then up the hills of Palani. The trip could have been planned from Trivandrum  via Madurai  and then to Palani Hills as well. That would have taken less time and effort. But the landscape is quite different the former way. The rains were a constant phenomenon during the travel and so we enjoyed it much more than usual.

No words is enough to describe a place like that.. You have to see it to believe it.. The Rajakkad Garden Estate. We indeed travelled, drove lots and were really tired by the time we started the climb up the Palani Hills. We were travelling for nearly nine hours at a stretch by the time we started climbing and were quite unprepared for the climb. Hesitantly we made calls to the hotel and were informed we were on the right track and then we needed to climb:)-At first there were growing shrubs and then the forest thickens and thickens.. Not even a person in sight and not even a vehicle on the way and then suddenly there wasn't any space for another vehicle also.. And then finally after a drive of 45 minutes we started passing through clusters of houses and then saw the board "Manjelparappu". We turned left and through the stony path we drove through the coffee plantations and  we reached the place. It left us astounded and amazed seeing the beautiful traditional structure atop a small hill. I really couldn't believe when they said this building had been rebuilt for the third time here. Its traditional architecture, the wooden pillars, the Mangalore tiled roofs, the simple black oxide floors, the Samarkand Carpets and so much more... The eye for detailing is evident. Of all the things what I loved most was the courtyards.. two of which were filled with water, fishes and plants.. exactly the one in my dreams.. am i a dream chaser.. i think so:)-

Rajakkad's Pallam Palace began life in a very different environment. It settles now with quiet authority upon its hill, having found its way here. Twice dismantled, twice transported, twice re-assembled, a living testimony to its wondrous construction.

Rajakkad would not have taken quite the same path without the considerable input and sensitive eye of Pio Coffrant, of the Rose Hotel, in Delhi and the exuberant spirit of Agathe Gaillard, who has established the Maison Rose, in Pondicherri.(Text courtesy... hotel site)

We lazed around.. lying on the green grass, went for endless walks.. yes with a ten month old in hand.. thats the spirit.. Thoughts of going to the close by Kodaikanal were there in the mind.. but we didn't budge from there. Scared  of losing a minute there and also the sight of light falling in the courtyards.. I just sat with my camera :)-can you all imagine..

interiors

light as you enter

reflecting pools

outdoors

flowing spaces

of Mangalore tiled roofs

the view

open courtyards

flowing spaces and corridors

cool granites

terracota floors

inside out from the room

  

black oxide floors and shadows

bamboos ..and colocasias

thoughts of Geoffrey Bawa

shadows and reflections

the detailing on the doors

courtyards and plants

from our room...

the room 

twinkling fairy lights

thoughts of coming back...pensive thoughts

Images and Ideas Conceived ...Lakshmi Arvind
Please don't copy images or use them in other sites without permission..