TAMIL NADU: OF TASTES & TRADITIONS

Tamil Nadu is a tapestry of tradition which taste runs richly through in a splendid interweave of culture and cuisine. Each region of Tamil Nadu has its own particular interpretation of South Indian cuisine and regional specialities fascinatingly reflect the customs of communities inhabiting the provinces thereby serving up a narrative of culture through cuisine.

Chidambara Vilas- A Luxury Heritage Resort:

Partaking of the triumvirate of Chettinad’s heritage hotels that have garnered international recognition, this is the most ornate. Here, the unique architectural heritage of a Chettiyar home is immaculately preserved. Amidst grand old mansions streaming a grid of country roads striped by lush green fields, Chidambara Vilas’ roof magnificently topped with domed turrets above immense arched windows sets itself imposingly apart. The entrance gallery, where visitors were customarily seated in olden days, abounds in marble pillars and tremendous wood-sculpted ceilings. House guests process into the house, staggering as they advance before the profusely carved wooden framework of tall doorways. The house is centred round a handsome open courtyard enclosed by a colonnaded walkway gleaming with those patterned and resplendent Chettinadu tiles the region is famed for.

Whilst modern rooms have been created, notably around the first floor terraces overlooking the pool, they capture heritage with stained glass windows which are a mosaic of bright colours and antique furniture, notably those enviable four-poster beds the Chettiayrs were so fond of.

As remarkable as Chidambara Vilas’ architecture is its culinary heritage, GM Senthil Kumar conveys emphatically. At lunch wooden tables get tessellated with large bright green banana leaves for traditional Elai Sapadu. On the banana leaf quickly appears a fiesta of 18-odd items including assorted pickles, papadams and Chettinadu curries undulating with the nuanced flavours of home-ground, home-roasted spices that Chettinadu cuisine is legendary for. When you have finished, remember to fold the banana leaf towards you, betokening appreciation for the food. Folding the banana leaf the other way is supremely insulting to the host’s efforts!

And there’s nothing Chettiyars pride more than their kitchen. This is especially demonstrated over suppers at Chidamabara Vilas which comprise myriad intriguing creations, each as delicious as the other, be it vadai, idlis, dosas, idiappam, appam, uttapam etc etc all to be had with amazing chutneys and curries. Breakfast is no less a hefty session of hedonism and includes Chettinadu speciality kunipaniyaram, dainty dollops of dough fried golden in ghee making for delicious clouds of batter crisp on the outside, soft inside. Breakfast culminates in sensational South Indian filter kaapi effusing out of small brass glasses called “dabras.” Local village ladies, groomed at extant Chettiyar homes where the halcyon style of grand living is sustained, cook at Chidambara Vilas, thus ensuring authenticity.

The grandeur of Chettiyar homes is emblematic of the wealth amassed by enterprising Chettiyar merchants who traded abroad and their kitchens, which in days of yore were bedecked with massive cauldrons, elaborate cooking contraptions and esoteric paraphernalia, attest to a flair for the gourmet which translated into a way of vaunting wealth. The wealth of your kitchen signified the health of your bank balance. You can, however, bankrupt your health after a few nights at Chidambara Vilas and Mr Senthil would feel right royally affronted if you didn’t!

It’s no secret that Chettinadu cuisine is Chettinad’s pride. However, the savvy Mr Senthil also presents you the “hidden gems” of these rich environs. The Thirumayam Fort, whose complex boasts 2 ancient temples dedicated to Shiva and Vishnu, is exactly 1 KM from the hotel, a picturesque walk past country fields. But Mr Senthil curates journeys of discovery to the lesser-known 9th Cent Pallava period Narthamalai, a miniature version of the UNESCO Heritage Mahabalipuram, showcasing some of the oldest rock-cut cave temples and the longest rock-hewn edicts resembling Asokan edicts, a veritable rarity in South India. This unsung jewel stands forlorn perched on a rock overlooking vistas of water and green fields. Mr Senthil strives to ensure it receives due recognition. The Pilliarpatti temple, with its gigantic statue of Lord Ganesha cut into a solid rock wall of a cave, is massively famous. But the Athmanathaswamy Temple dedicated to Shiva is a stupendous treasure of architecture, pure poetry in stone. Would you believe it was built from money intended for war horses after the king became a Shiva devotee? Mr Senthil can also organise trips afar to legendary temples like the Thirukadaiyur Temple where Sage Markandeya is said to have clung to the Shiva Lingam and escaped death forecast on his 16th birthday.

One forecast you can’t escape is that if you check into Chidambra Vilas you will gain immensely in culture and 7 kgs of flesh- at least!

Luxury Heritage Room from USD 150

La Villa:

The latest offering from the team behind Villa Shanti fame. Villa Shanti’s France-meets-Pondicherry ethnic chic reinterpreted with refreshing originality promptly fetched rave reviews and packed houses. La Villa takes the same ethnic chic to another level of refinement in exclusive purlieus. This new number is Pondicherry’s most hush-hush address.

Expect but a clutch of suites, each individually decorated, but all upholding Pondicherry-born French national Ségiyane Paquiry’s visionary ethos. If Villa Shanti imparted vitality and vibrance to a heritage building infusing contemporary vibe, La Villa is serene, sedate, subtle.

The commitment, however, is the same: preserving Pondicherry’s unique heritage by restoring dilapidated colonial structures that might be demolished to cede to lucrative high-rises. And this project isn’t just about restoration but sensitive restoration dashed with style. Mr Paquiry points to bits of the original plastering on walls and ceilings that meld unobtrusively with the restored villa.

Tradition marries trendiness on the villa’s facade where original walls on the ground floor kiss the top floor’s gleaming white new visage. The effect is elegant, arresting. Deploying the 4 Cardinal C’s: Conservation, Culture, Chic and Contemporary Cool, Paquiry captures the nostalgia of an heirloom era and makes it relevant and commercially viable in today’s context. Indeed, he even inculcates this vision in his staff whom he whisked for a weekend of reflection to an ultra luxe resort in UNESCO World Heritage Mahabalipuram where he exhorted his team to present maverick ideas to sustain Pondicherry’s heritage, urging inspiringly, “Don’t you want to write the history of the future?” Monsieur Paquiry is nothing if not dramatic and as poignant in his endeavours.

Pondicherry’s unique culture would be conserved if UNESCO stamped it with their presence and you wonder why UNESCO isn’t protecting this extraordinary narrow strip of the old sea-facing White Town with its French-style cobble streets slumbering under big shady trees and buildings exuding French colonial charm, many still in ochre and white as during colonial times. Rumour has it that politicians don’t want UNESCO in Pondicherry as razing old buildings to erect modern constructs is a profitable enterprise. And so with invigorated zeal Paquiry is amassing whatever he can to conserve, contemporise and render commercially sustainable.

La Villa exemplifies how- by creating a gourmet getaway! A garden terrace arcaded in trees is where meals happen at La Villa. Continental breakfasts offer a bread basket with baguettes and viennoiserie fresh-baked at the local French bakery and cheeses made in Pondicherry by French residents. Jams and marmalade are La Villa’s own. A highlight is premium French coffee that the lovely young stewardess Lupin shakes into Pondicherry’s coolest iced lattes, best had in the gardens, unless you’re in the dapper poolside Timeless Suite accoutred with a private terrace hanging over the gardens.

Lunch is when to avail of Buttered Tortellini, delicate pouches filled with potato and mascarpone complemented by zucchini cream. For supper, a flurry of starters herald mains on a menu implementing local ingredients in fine European cuisine. Unmissable is Vegetable Coconut Curry presented exotically in a coconut shell. But why not venture Chef Ebenezer’s 13-course dégustation menu paired with wine or cocktails?

Cocktails, however, are best at Le Spot, a majestic 18th Century colonial edifice presiding over the celebrated Pondicherry Promenade which Paquiry has converted into THE lunchtime hotspot. The Spot’s terraces gaze at vast stretches of azure waters lilting under brilliant sun-filled skies. But the charming gardens are where to sip signature cocktails including lychee-based Pink Passion and Berry Whisky Sour swirling with strawberry sorbet. The Spot presents artisanal Italian gelato made by a succesful Auroville-based Italian. But La Villa’s homemade French-style ice creams and sorbets are finer BY FAR.
As for tandoori cuisine, Villa Shanti remains the rage of Pondicherry and even travellers from Delhi marvel at the excellences of the naan. If you plan having some on a Sunday prepare to combat a crowd vying for a table.

That’s why it’s best to reside and relish in the romantic quiet of La Villa, as secretive as its sister is flamboyant.

Suite To Book: Timeless from USD 340

Indeco Hotels Swamimalai:

This is as eccentric and eclectic as a hotel can get. But owner, the very idiosyncratic and wildly original Steve Borgia, might take umbrage at the appellation “hotel” for this is not a hotel, it’s an experience. Set in Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu’s epicentre of Hinduism, and quite specifically at a holy site in Swamimalai where 8th cent Indian poet philosopher Adi Shankar sojourned, not only is Indeco an ideal base from which to access almost 40,000 temples, many millennial, that gravitate around Kumbakonam but it is a destination in itself. Expect a frenzy of antiques, strange knick-knacks, fascinating vignettes of history all jostling together in a mad jumble of rooms and suites of extremely varied styles scattered around gardened expanses. It almost seems you have wondered into a fairytale village full of quirks and a chaos of artefacts. The set-up seems an extension of the inimitable Steve’s marvellous imagination. Nobody tells a story better than Steve does and he has astonishing insight into the region’s hoary history and tremendous spiritual heritage from esoteric knowledge about culture and historic punctilio to temple architecture and tradition to extravagant legends surrounding the temples drawn from mythology and ancient texts. Once Steve gets started he is irrepressible and it would be difficult to juggle the temple tours with consecrating endless hours to Steve’s encyclopaedic knowledge which he shares with eloquence and panache, and even mischievous wit.

Whilst rooms are disposed around grounds evoking rural charm, the ones to book are suites in the Museum Wing for they combine heritage furniture with a contemporary vibe and have striking golden yellow, emerald green or ruby red walls which accentuate the antique furniture.

Tradition, temples and TASTE convene ineluctably in Tamil Nadu and INDECO Swamimalai is no exception. In hallowed Brahmin territory, the hotel is vegetarian, respecting religious sensibilities. Well, mostly. It is dismaying that Steve has adulterated his principles to cater to huge flocks of foreigners who take up his hotel but who can’t brook vegetarianism even for a couple of nights, the hotel’s culinary endowments notwithstanding. Breakfasts are simple but so good and food comes fresh off live counters. Things get joyously banquet-like when the hotel is sold out and breakfast, arrayed in the gardens, encompasses a terrific variety of dishes. Suppers can get equally lively over garden buffets but are otherwise à la carte. The nimbly flavoured thali is a must for lunch. For breakfast always ask the astute young restaurant manager Tamil to personally oversee your filter coffee and masala-filled golden ghee dosa! Then off you go to the temples.

Although Steve will argue Indeco is the temple and he the Lord of Lore!

Rates in USD unavailable

Courtyard by Marriott, Thiruchirappalli:

Set in ancient Temple Town Thiruchirappalli, better known as Trichy, the up-to-speed new Courtyard by Marriott deftly integrates temple motifs into the decor so the hotel sports a smart modern feel whilst paying homage to the city’s old temple tradition.

Suites are compact but surprisingly stylish and the service is as polished. No service slips here. Veteran GM Mr Venugopal runs a tight ship.

The hotel’s X factor is its cuisine. The pool-facing dining room devours almost the entire ground floor and dwarfs the lobby, which suggests how very seriously this hotel takes its F&B! Over swards of dining space are assembled counters dedicated to themed cuisine: South Indian, North Indian, Continental and indeed Arabian. The Arabic tapas are so fabulous, you investigate into the Executive Chef’s credentials leading to the felicitous discovery that he was honed at Dubai’s 5 Star hotels. The Continental offerings too are superb, even if nobody from the culinary brigade trained in Europe, only confirming the immense talent of home-groomed chefs in provincial Tamil Nadu. North Indian food here could well surpass what you’d get in North India but in South India local cuisine trumps.

However, the hotel’s star feature is its Prasadam Thali, a stunningly unique creation exclusive to the hotel. Celebrating not just the city’s temple heritage in particular and Tamil Nadu’s temple culture in general, the hotel’s young chefs present this unbelievable thali, a collation of specialities inspired by prasadam (sanctified offerings) served at famous temples to devotees which no 5 Star can match. It’s so fresh, clean and divinely delectable. But this hotel’s canny rendition leaves one marvelling.

The thali, however, doesn’t serve prasadam specific to the city’s 3 most renowned temples. Sri Rangam is the foremost with its stupendous rock-carved Lord Vishnu reclining on a coiled python, His head shaded in the canopy of the snake’s 5-headed hood, for a glimpse of which one must queue 5 hours- if lucky… Queues serpent endlessly betokening the snake’s name “Ananta,” meaning “endless,” like the Universe.

The city also features one of the 5 Pancha Bhuta Shiva temples dedicated to the Elements, this one to water, where the lingam signifying Lord Shiva lies in a receptacle fed by a natural source that miraculously doesn’t dry even when the scythe of drought slashes water supplies in this scorching Deccan state.

And then there’s the Rock Fort temple of the Lord of Wisdom Ganesh, also the Lord who removes obstacles. He doesn’t, however, remove obstacles from gluttonous ventures on the hotel’s food, in case you plan climbing up to the hilltop temple…

Executive Suites from USD

TRAVELDIA crafts unusual itineraries across Tamil Nadu’s cultural circuit with a focus on trajectories of temples & taste. Speak to Sankar for expert advice on personalised itineraries. WhatsApp: +9177770 04900. traveldia.com