Searching for the perfect homestays in Kanyakumari? Rajchandar Padmanaban and his spouse, Naga Jeyalakshmi, constructed Muthunandhini Palace as a heritage residence the place sustainability meets Tamil Nadu’s conventional structure.

Sitting amidst the attractive hills in Pothayadi village close to Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu, is a house that was as soon as a pair’s dream. An ideal mixture of Tamil, Venad, and Chettinad cultures and kinds, the place, referred to as Muthunandhini Palace, is the love little one 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 determined to share their treasure of a house with others by changing it right into a homestay.

“Whenever you go to the homestay, you’ll be able to count on serenity, tradition, and heritage. The character surrounding us will fill you with a way of peace, and our genuine meals will nourish your soul,” says Rajchandar in a dialog with The Higher India.

The homestay isn’t just a marvel of tradition but additionally an excellent instance of sustainability. From composting their waste to implementing measures to recharge groundwater, the mud homestay is elevating the bar for nature-friendly journey.

Inspiration from grandmother’s residence

Born and raised in Kanyakumari, Rajchandar is a geo-data scientist who has spent the vast majority of his life round environmentalists.

“Spending a lot time round them, I wished to make my residence as aligned with nature as doable. I had at all times been involved concerning the degradation of our surroundings and didn’t need to contribute to it,” he shares.

Rajchandar fondly recollects his grandmother’s residence, surrounded by greenery.

“Visits to her residence have been my favorite half. At the moment, I used to be unaware of how her deeply conventional and nature-friendly residence would in the future develop into an inspiration for my dream residence too,” he says.

“Her residence was quite simple with minimal use of cement and really conventional in design,” he says. 

Whereas residing within the metropolis, he longed for a extra secluded place surrounded by nature.

“Once I first noticed the village and the piece of land which now holds my residence, it was like love at first sight. I might envision the way forward for the place and therefore selected to purchase the land,” he says.

Rajchandar continues, “There’s a very attention-grabbing story that goes round concerning the hills surrounding the world. It’s stated that when Lord Hanuman lifted the Dronagiri Parvat to take it to Lord Lakshman, a chunk of it broke off and fell right here. Therefore, these hills have quite a lot of medicinal vegetation rising round.”

The couple didn’t need to disturb the biodiversity of the world and determined to construct a house that blends into nature as a substitute.

In 2021, they began to work on their dream residence and opened their doorways to the visitors in 2022. “Since we determined to share our area with visitors, we’ve got hosted greater than 200 visitors to date,” he informs. 

Made with some mud and plenty of love!

The homestay is a mixture of completely different architectures, combining a mix of Tamil, Venad, and Chettinad kinds that showcase the wealthy cultural heritage of Tamil Nadu.

“I’m personally a collector and love accumulating artefacts from the world. I had been accumulating quite a lot of artwork items and determined to show them within the residence. A few of these items are greater than 100 years previous,” he says.

One factor that Rajchandar was clear about from the start is that he wished to make use of pure supplies to construct the house.

“We didn’t simply need to have sustainable practices. We wished to make the very roots of our residence eco-friendly. We used eco-bricks product of limestone and pink clay for the partitions,” he says.

Itemizing all of the pure supplies that he used, Rajchandar says, “In addition to eco-bricks, we additionally used Athangudi Tiles. These tiles are made up of sand discovered close to Athangudi River which is rather more sustainable than regular tiles.”

For the ceiling, the scientist used a method referred to as filler slab method to minimise the usage of concrete. In response to Studio DCode, “Filler slab is an alternate slab development expertise the place a part of concrete within the backside of the slab is changed by filler materials.” The roofs even have clay tiles on the roofs too.

“We used pink soil, lime, cow dung, rice nightfall, egg and jaggery to make a paste for development,” he shares.

Moreover, the homestay options rainwater harvesting, and they’re within the strategy of putting in photo voltaic panels to harness the solar.

“We additionally make compost out of our kitchen waste, which is then utilized in our backyard. We develop all our vegetation and meals organically so our visitors can take pleasure in recent meals day by day.”

The place boasts 5 bedrooms, 3 balconies, and three residing areas for visitors to take pleasure in. “Whereas the homestay is shared by us with the visitors, we additionally prioritise their privateness.”

Rajchandar highlights, “A singular function of the property is its pure coolness whatever the climate outdoors. With 50 upcycled home windows which are over 100 years previous, loads of air circulates inside. Moreover, because the home is product of mud and clay, it stays naturally cool all year long.”

One frequent suggestions he receives from visitors is how his residence seems like their very own.

One of many prospects, Gavin, who stayed on the property, says, “The place actually seems like residence. Dwelling at their place with all of the beautiful structure depicting our Tamil tradition was an expertise of a lifetime. It’s enormous in dimension with a number of areas to loosen up however the uniqueness was within the small particulars like the way in which they handled us. The meals, their accommodating behaviour made our keep very pleasing.”

Discussing future plans, Rajchandar says, “We actually need to develop the property as many individuals need to keep, however we are sometimes totally booked. We additionally goal to include extra sustainable measures like photo voltaic power into the present homestay.”

You’ll be able to e-book your keep at this Rajchandar’s homestay by reaching them at 9360946642 

(Edited by Padmashree Pande; All Footage Credit score: Rajchandar)