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| Downton Heritage stay, Kerala. experiencekerala.in |
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| Downton Heritage Cardamom Estate Kerala downtonhomestay.com |
A 100 year old Estate Bungalow set in a serene hilly place in the middle of sprawling manicured cardamom plantations and thick wooded areas in the Western Ghats of India is a haven for the Nature lovers and people interested in ornithology. Apart, a secluded place in the laps of a vast greenery hilly terrain, visitors can get a chance to let them loosen and to unwind their mind free from business an job pressures. This place surrounded by bountiful nature will never let the visitors to get disappointed. Near by there are acres of meadows, cliffs, and vast green lands with rich flora and fauna and, particularly, Ornithologists will have a swell time if they drive around these places. Incidentally, Cardamom crops will never let down the farmers and the Monsoon period (sw monsoon from June to September) is the best harvest season in Kerala.
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| Cardamom cultivation, Kerala.piceswala.com |
One R. Vincent, a prominent British rubber planter in Mundakayam Valley, bought the initial clearing of over six hundred acres in 1926 from local planters, who through a deed in 1912, got the lands from the then rulers of Travancore. He named it the Downton Estate after his native village in Southampton, England where the plantar had spent his childhood. The ranch type colonial bungalow came up in 1930 in the middle of the estate to look after the lands.
After India's freedom in 1947 Vincent's family disposed of the lands and the bungalow to one K.I. Varkey Karimpanal. A part of 80 acres is presently owned by the Kayalakkakom family who engages in cardamom business, for which Kerala has been popular since the days of the Portuguese colonists.
As for the bungalow, it is not a typical European styled bungalows of India, as it lacks wide wrap around verandah and large windows and extended tiled sloping roofs with eaves in the facade. Walls, etc made of masonry with lime and brick; the original slate roof was replaced with sheet roof. In some places sheet roofing is widely used for such houses and the style is similar to that of cottages in rural areas. The old world 19th century charm is still is retained by the bungalow such as the Georgian water boiler, marble walk-in bathtubs, exposed ceiling beams, supporting the roof. Despite the lack of old world wooden furniture, the charm of a rustic English village in this part of Kerala is quite inviting
Until the arrival of Col. J. Pennycuick, Madras Presidency colonial engineer, much of Kerala's interior thickly forested areas were not approachable. Further, the presence of countless wild animals, etc made the people scary to go deep into the wooded areas. When Public attention was drawn to this place when Col. Pennycuick, came to these areas on assignment to design the Mullaperiyar dam (now a disputed area between Kerala and Tamil Nadu) in 1895 to tackle submerging forest lands, people had begun to reach this place from the Thekkady area.Later after some time Rubber, tea plantations began to shape up the hilly terrains.
Pachakanam is on the border of Kerala’s Pathanamthitta and Idukki districts, both touching the western outskirts of Tamil Nadu and can be accessed from Vandiperiyar, a small town on the NH 212 connecting Kollam to Madurai .
https://fwdlife.in/amidst-the-green-keralas-estate-bungalows
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