What would you do if you were ousted out of your royal abode that gave you access to your favourite temple and deity? Build a new one for yourself and a temple for your God, but naturally! Forced to shift his capital from Perumpadappu to Tripunithara, the Raja of Cochin did just that: built an elegant palace for himself overlooking the backwaters of Cochin and a temple for Lord Krishna that would rival the one in Guruvayoor, part of his old kingdom that he had lost in war. Today, the 14th century palace still flaunts a regal air in the guise of a one-key heritage resort.

Here, guests get to play at being raja, rani, prince and princess for the duration of their stay. Only one family—even if it’s just a couple—may reside, at any given time, in the three-bedroom palace with wraparound verandahs, framed by lush lawns.

Yes, the welcome we received when our boat docked at the palace’s private jetty was one the rajas of yore would have approved of. The entire staff—manager, housekeeping staff and lady chef—had assembled to receive us under a royal palm-thatched umbrella. We sipped tender coconut water as we sat in a thatched pavilion with gauzy curtains that snuggled in one corner of the green lawns that rolled out in front of the pillared, one-storeyed structure with a red-tiled roof.

It set the tone of our stay: we were deemed royalty. Even our meals—pure vegetarian in deference to the rajas who came here to pay obeisance to the Lord—were a royal repast, flavoured with local spices that skipped like bumble bees on our taste buds.

That evening, we set off on a backwater cruise and nibbled on savouries as the setting sun painted the sky in fiery colours, highlighting the silhouette of spider-like Chinese fishing nets and palm trees. Back at the resort, temple priests sang bhajans as they once did for the rajas of Cochin.

www.cghearth.com/Chittoor-Kottaram

Photo: 123RF.com
Featured in Harmony — Celebrate Age Magazine
January 2018

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• NILAMBAG: AN OASIS
• NALKNAD: TRAGIC TALE
• DATIA: PROMISES UNKEPT
• BY GEORGE: AN ENGLISH CASTLE!