Hindu Life in and around
a Wonderful Old House

When: Any time in the year. Monsoon is during June to August and summer is in March to May.

Length: As long as the visitor desires

Number of guests: one to several

Fee:

• Thekkini (South Block): Single US$ 40 and Double US$ 60
• Kulappura (Wood house): Single US$ 25 and Double US$ 40; that's it at the right, atop the car porch
• Rate includes all meals, tea/coffee and snacks.
• Off-season rates (March to August) will be 50% off on the above rates.
• For additional bed US$ 10/-
• Children below 12 years are provided free accommodation.
• All Sundays are free if the guest is staying for a week (pay for 6 days instead of 7 days).

THE HOUSE:
Our home is approved by the Tourism Department of Government of Kerala, under the Grahasthali project to protect and preserve the old houses in its original glory. This was the home of famous Malayalam writer Malayattoor Ramakrishnan, and we bought it from his nephew in 1994. The house is more than 100 years old and after the great flood of '99 (1921-22) it got renovated.

Thani Illam (short form of Thannikkatt Illam, my family name) means the original home of a Brahmin family. We got a portion of our grand parents' house at Kottayam which is more than 500 years old. And we are making a separate room with it which is fully wooden. This room is called the Kulappura.

We offer Kerala vegetarian cuisine and no liquor is allowed inside the house. We are very flexible about the visitor's activity program. It depends entirely on the visitor's interests and needs.

We offer two rooms. The first room, Thekkini, is a part of the house and located on the South side and hence the name Thekkini (Thekk means South). The second room, Kulappura, is situated on top of the car porch and it is the one rebuilt from the ancestral house at Kottayam. Originally, it was the room above an internal pond specifically for ladies of the house. Kulam means pond / pool and pura means room / house.

SERVICES OFFERED:

• Kerala Vegetarian Cuisine (No eggs, no fish and no meat),
• Travel Assistance,
• Daily site seeing trips,
• Washing machine at disposal (for laundry services),
• Direct international dialing from rooms,
• Doctor on call

Services that are NOT offered:

• Non-vegetarian cuisine,
• Alcohol, Beverages, Wine or Beer.
• Room Services,
• Credit Card payments

Below, just to suggest the possibilities, is a proposed itinerary:

ITINERARY

Day 1:
Airport transfer through the narrow roads of the Village (18 kms), if time allows, take a dip to make the body fresh in the Periyar River. Periyar River flows unpolluted through the village since there are no industrial activities in the up streams of the village.

Day 2:
A walk / cycling in the village. Visit Lord Dhanvanthari Temple (Lord of Ayurveda), [non-Hindus are not allowed to go inside] Visit River Periyar and its branch Moozhi Thod,

Day 3:
6 am - a trekking to Malayattoor Church, pictured at the left. It is said that in AD 52 St: Thomas came to Kerala and established this church on top of a hill. Except during the Easter time in April, the church is relatively deserted during all the other months. Take a trip in the country boat (vallam) to reach the hill valley.

Day 4:
Auto-rickshaw trip to an Elephant Kraal (Training Centre), Visit Kallil Temple, shown at the right (supposed to be a Budha Temple later converted to a Bhagawathi - Hindu - Temple)

Day 5:
Site Seeing:

• Visit to Kalady (birth place of Sree Sankara Acharya - The Advaitha Philosopher and Hindu reformist), shown at the left.
• Visit Iringole Kavu, shown at the right (temple in tropical rain forest in the middle of a town)
• Visit Ayurveda Treatement Centre at Kalady.

Other activities:

• Bird watch with the help of a manual on common birds that can be seen in the village.
• Learn cooking from the hosts - Idly, Dosha, Puttu, Ada, Upma, (breakfast items) Poori, Chapathi and rice with various side dishes (meals / dinner).
• Have an appointment with an astrologer
• Do library based Research (or discussion with host) on Kerala culture, history etc. from the own Library.
• Watch selected Malayalam / Other Indian Languages movies (VCD)
• On request, cultural programme (Mohiniyattam / Bharathanatyam / Kuchupudy / etc.) by the girls from the village.