If you thought that dusty cantonments and misty hill-stations were the venue of choice for the erstwhile British pastime of building Raj style bungalows, you’ve got to visit Kumarakom. Baker’s Bungalow, home to four generations of the eponymous family of missionaries, is in the best traditions of the Raj. At the head of a lagoon set back from the enormous Vembanad Lake on Kerala’s backwaters, the bungalow owes nothing whatever to local architectural traditions, and everything to the architecture of the British in India.
Kumarakom has been catapulted onto the tourism map of the elite, and it’s probably all because of the Bakers. After all, Kumarakom is but one of the many fishing villages in Kerala, pleasant but hardly exceptional. When the last of the Baker family moved back to England, and sold the house, Kumarakom patently lacked the fine climate of Munnar, and fresh water, supplies of which had to be fetched by bullock-cart.
The Taj Group, into whose hands the property eventually fell, created a resort worthy of visiting Prime Ministers. Cottages stud the side of the lagoon, an ayurvedic centre and swimming pool lie directly opposite Baker’s Bungalow. Light years away (about 100 metres as the crow flies) is the real world. In these parts, even the real world is not lacking in charms. The lake stretches into the distant horizon on one side, and narrow canals typical of the backwaters exist on the other.
Kumarakom’s local architecture is unique in Kerala. Sliding doors and windows of dark wood occupy most of the façade, the rest being white plaster. It’s dramatic and ethnic, and not entirely unlike the houseboats of Kashmir, so it’s a mystery that the Bakers didn’t use a modified form in their own bungalow. It’s charming, but awe-inspiring acreage and the obvious history in the 120-year-old edifice are no compensation for a fine view. And I was glad to be back in my cottage, lounging interminably on the verandah which overlooked the lagoon.
There’s not a whole lot you can do in Kumarakom .The property embodies the clichéd get-away-from-it-all resort. Once you’ve sat out on your verandah and listened to the sound of cicadas at dusk, you’ve explored just about every avenue of entertainment there is in Kumarakom.
On the other hand, after your langorous pizhichil massage at the ayurvedic centre and before your dinner of karimeen pollichathu, it’s entertainment enough, thank you.
Getting there: The resort, earlier knowns as the Taj Garden Retreat is now called Vivanta by Taj-Kumarakom and is 14 km from Kottayam, on the banks of the Vembanad Lake. The nearest airport is at Kochi, 80 km away; Kottayam is also well connected by train. There is a bird sanctuary near the resort.
Contact: 0481-524 377, Fax 091-481-524 371 www.tajhotels.com