On the lookout for the most productive homestays in Kanyakumari? Rajchandar Padmanaban and his spouse, Naga Jeyalakshmi, constructed Muthunandhini Palace as a heritage house the place sustainability meets Tamil Nadu’s conventional structure.
Sitting amidst the pretty hills in Pothayadi village close to Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu, is a house that was once as soon as a pair’s dream. A great mixture of Tamil, Venad, and Chettinad cultures and types, where, known as Muthunandhini Palace, is the affection kid of Rajchandar Padmanaban (35) and his spouse, Naga Jeyalakshmi.
Stuffed with historical artefacts and antiques from Kanyakumari, Tirunelveli, Madurai, and Karaikudi, the house stands as a testomony to the wealthy cultures of the world. The couple made up our minds to percentage their treasure of a house with others via changing it right into a homestay.
“Whilst you talk over with the homestay, you’ll be expecting serenity, tradition, and heritage. The character surrounding us will fill you with a way of peace, and our unique foods will nourish your soul,” says Rajchandar in a dialog with The Higher India.
The homestay isn’t just a wonder of tradition but in addition a really perfect instance of sustainability. From composting their waste to imposing measures to recharge groundwater, the dust homestay is elevating the bar for nature-friendly trip.
Inspiration from grandmother’s house
Born and raised in Kanyakumari, Rajchandar is a geo-data scientist who has spent nearly all of his lifestyles round environmentalists.
“Spending such a lot time round them, I sought after to make my house as aligned with nature as imaginable. I had all the time been involved in regards to the degradation of our surroundings and didn’t need to give a contribution to it,” he stocks.
Rajchandar fondly recollects his grandmother’s house, surrounded via greenery.
“Visits to her house have been my favorite section. At the moment, I used to be unaware of ways her deeply conventional and nature-friendly house would someday turn into an inspiration for my dream house too,” he says.
“Her house was once quite simple with minimum use of cement and really conventional in design,” he says.
Whilst dwelling within the town, he longed for a extra secluded position surrounded via nature.
“Once I first noticed the village and the piece of land which now holds my house, it was once like love to start with sight. I may just envision the way forward for where and therefore selected to shop for the land,” he says.
Rajchandar continues, “There’s a very fascinating tale that is going round in regards to the hills surrounding the world. It’s stated that after Lord Hanuman lifted the Dronagiri Parvat to take it to Lord Lakshman, a work of it broke off and fell right here. Therefore, those hills have numerous medicinal crops rising round.”
The couple didn’t need to disturb the biodiversity of the world and made up our minds to construct a house that blends into nature as an alternative.
In 2021, they began to paintings on their dream house and opened their doorways to the visitors in 2022. “Since we made up our minds to percentage our area with visitors, we now have hosted greater than 200 visitors up to now,” he informs.
Made with some dust and a number of love!
The homestay is a mixture of other architectures, combining a mix of Tamil, Venad, and Chettinad types that exhibit the wealthy cultural heritage of Tamil Nadu.
“I’m for my part a collector and love gathering artefacts from the world. I were gathering numerous artwork items and made up our minds to show them in the house. A few of these items are greater than 100 years outdated,” he says.
Something that Rajchandar was once transparent about from the start is that he sought after to make use of herbal fabrics to construct the house.
“We didn’t simply need to have sustainable practices. We would have liked to make the very roots of our house eco-friendly. We used eco-bricks product of limestone and crimson clay for the partitions,” he says.
List the entire herbal fabrics that he used, Rajchandar says, “But even so eco-bricks, we extensively utilized Athangudi Tiles. Those tiles are made up of sand discovered close to Athangudi River which is a lot more sustainable than commonplace tiles.”
For the ceiling, the scientist used a method known as filler slab method to minimise the usage of concrete. In line with Studio DCode, “Filler slab is another slab building generation the place a part of concrete within the backside of the slab is changed via filler subject matter.” The roofs even have clay tiles at the roofs too.
“We used crimson soil, lime, cow dung, rice nightfall, egg and jaggery to make a paste for building,” he stocks.
Moreover, the homestay options rainwater harvesting, and they’re within the means of putting in sun panels to harness the solar.
“We additionally make compost out of our kitchen waste, which is then utilized in our lawn. We develop all our crops and meals organically so our visitors can experience contemporary meals day-to-day.”
Where boasts 5 bedrooms, 3 balconies, and three dwelling areas for visitors to experience. “Whilst the homestay is shared via us with the visitors, we additionally prioritise their privateness.”
Rajchandar highlights, “A novel function of the valuables is its herbal coolness without reference to the elements out of doors. With 50 upcycled home windows which might be over 100 years outdated, quite a lot of air circulates within. Moreover, because the home is product of dust and clay, it stays naturally cool all through the 12 months.”
One not unusual comments he receives from visitors is how his house looks like their very own.
One of the crucial shoppers, Gavin, who stayed on the belongings, says, “Where in point of fact looks like house. Dwelling at their position with the entire beautiful structure depicting our Tamil tradition was once an revel in of an entire life. It’s massive in dimension with a number of spaces to calm down however the forte was once within the small main points like the best way they handled us. The meals, their accommodating behaviour made our keep very stress-free.”
Discussing long run plans, Rajchandar says, “We in point of fact need to increase the valuables as many of us need to keep, however we’re incessantly totally booked. We additionally goal to include extra sustainable measures like solar power into the present homestay.”
You’ll be able to guide your keep at this Rajchandar’s homestay via achieving them at 9360946642
(Edited via Padmashree Pande; All Footage Credit score: Rajchandar)