Enjoy the beauty...

...of various flowers in form of exotic rooms named Champa, Crossandra, Marigold, Hibiscus, Lotus, Jasmine & Ixora in Presa di Goa a beautiful country house located in Nagoa decorated in an Indo-Portuguese colonial style.Amazing decor in 'Champa' Check out the antique four-poster bed in 'Crossandra' 'Marigold' has to be my favourite room, especially love the Victorian style settee or is it 'Lotus'??

or 'Hibiscus' with it's rust walls...

or Jasmine...

or Ixora...I really can't make up my mind. Can you?

A Palace for Ayurveda.

Kalari Kovilakom or the Palace for Ayurveda is located in the old princely capital town of Kollengode in the foothills of the Annamalai range, Kerala, India.

Kalari Kovilakom was built in the 19th century and the name 'Kalari', comes from the fact that it was built on a site that contained a ritual space for 'Kalaripayattu', Kerala's ancient martial art.Hand painted wooden fresco in the 'mandapam'

Today it has been restored by the CGH Earth Group into an unique experience of wellness. The palace has two main wings the Old Guest Wing with old colonial western styled rooms & Palace Wing which has traditional Kerala architecture.
A typical room in the Old Guest wing, a section of the palace built specially for visiting European visitors and see the lovely four poster beds and 30's style floor tiles.Amazing carved wooden panels on the ceiling with vegetable dyes. Kalari Kovilakom with beautiful hills in the background.
Kalari Kovilakom's breezy dining area with plenty of light and fresh air. Look at the red oxide flooring:-)

The empty spaces have been converted into beautiful bedrooms retaining the charm of carved doorways.Go in for the ayurvedic experience, learn yoga or Kalaripayattu, de-stress with many herbal massages, eat simple & healthy food prepared in the ayurvedic kitchen.
So what are you waiting for?
Start planning your next 'Ayurvedic Holiday' soon.
De-stress, rejuvenate, relax and forget about your worldly worries while you are treated like royalties in the Palace of Ayurveda.

( images from http://kalarikovilakom.com/)

Heritage Madurai.

Last week saw us visit the beautiful Meenakshi Temple in Madurai, devour traditionally prepared South Indian lunches served on banana leaves and get lost in a tropical haven created by Geoffery Bawa.

Heritage Madurai is a 17-acre resort originally called the Madurai Club and was designed by the famous Sri Lankan architect Geoffery Bawa. Bawa's style of blending indoor & outside spaces is evident through out the resort.

Locally sourced materials and natural elements makes this place very unique. Bawa's disciple Vinod Jayasinghe has restored this resort to it's former glory by blending tradition with modern luxuries.

Granite used liberally at the resort.

Intricately carved door at the reception area.

Reception area with antique wicker work chair.

Entrance lobby with fresh floating flowers in a granite urli.

Lotus leaves growing tall at the entrance area.

'Frangipani' trees framing the Luxury Villas.

Granite pillars and furniture at the Luxury Villas.

Our room.

Traditional wooden doors and granite formed the main design in the room.

Our very own plunge pool with Frangipani tree!

Do we really need to head back home?

Temple Tank inspired pool at dusk.

Dining area at dusk.

Geoffery Bawa~ I really adore your style. Madurai ~ I enjoyed your rich culture.

(Images by Arch)

Tranquil, Wayanad.

I was going through some old photographs from a few years ago and was hit by a huge wave of nostalgia.

We had gone to Wayanad, Kerala for a holiday during the monsoons and stayed at a beautiful home-stay called Tranquil nestled in a private coffee plantation. The lush green surroundings with meticulously maintained garden, the hospitality of the family, homemade jams & jellies, the friendly dogs and those chilly evening conversations with amazing company left us feeling completely warm and fuzzy inside.

What I wanted to share with all of you is the fantastic variety of flora & fauna (eeks, sounds too technical;-) and how the indoor and outdoor spaces blend so beautifully into each other.

Raindrops drenching the bright red petals...

There was a gurgling stream inside the plantation!

A treehouse where we spent hours reading...

Peperomia(?) Plant lovers, help me here:-)

Flowers floating in traditional Kerala Urlis and stone mortar & pestle..

Floating cabbage varieties...

Lovely stand with natural garden accessories...

The open dining area surrounded by lush greenery.

Table set for breakfast, with home-made preserves and jams:-)

Plants curling themselves around pillars & pipes...

Magical chimes on display...

Anthoriums and other exotic plants line the outer wall...

Sigh* Hope all of you liked this Monsoon getaway!

Enjoy the rains.

( Images by Arch)