September 5th, 2006
Look to Kerala for four of India’s best Ayurvedic resort spas
Famed for its tranquil beaches and lush backwaters, its languid classical dances and spicy; healthful cuisine, Kerala has also blossomed as a hip destination for the spa set. The appeal-apart from its serene surroundings - is Ayurveda, the 5,000-year-old “science of life” that Keralans like to call their own. A holistic healing tradition drawn from India’s ancient Vedic culture, Ayurveda is less about curing a specific ailment than restoring body and mind to their natural state of equilibirium. It’s because fashionable not only because of its exotic array of treatments, but because, barring the more extreme therapies, it feels good. And this state on the southwestern tip of the Indian subcontinent is home to some of the best Ayurvedic resorts around. Read on to discover four:
KAYALORAM LAKE RESORT
Kayaloram Lake Resort is set on the serene banks of Vemband Lake, 2-minute speedboat ride from the backwater town of Alleppey (a.k.a. Alappuzha). Blissfully private, this former holiday home comprises four wooden cottages with just a dozen spacious, uncluttered rooms between them, all featuring high-beamed ceilings, terracotta-tiled floors, coir rugs, and bathrooms that are open to the sky. The cottages are authentic tharavad houses, rescued and relocated from villages where they were earmarked for demolition. They are vernacular architecture at its most stylish, built of dark Keralan teak with weeping roofs, wraparound verandas, and undersized doors - a design flourish that obliges guests to bow their heads respectfully when entering. The best rooms look out on the lake, which at night shimmers with the lights of hundreds of fishermen’s skiffs.
The Ayurvedic doctor who runs the resort’s newly expanded spa center is supported by four therapists, all old hands. They consult on diet (the food here is traditional Keralan, spiece-laden and largely vegetarian) and administer a variety of age-old treatments. These include five package therapies that run from seven days to three weeks in duration, and range from rejuvenating programs of herbal baths and synchronized massages, to a more daunting regime called panchakarma, which favors purgation and enemas. But one need not to go to extremes to enjoy the benefits of Kayaloram’s most essential contribution to well being: it’s languorously peaceful environment.
Kayaloram Lake Resort, Punnamada, Alleppey, Kerala, India, 91-477/231-573; Fax: 231-571; e-mail: kayaloram@satyam.net.in;www.kayaloram.com.Double from US$60.; individual treatments US$4-$27. Seven-day Ayurvedic packages start at US$1,275 for two people sharing, including full board, daily message and sirodhara (a warm-oil therapy), and, if you mention this article, a sunset lake cruise.
THE MALABAR HOUSE
Cochin, or Kochi as it is now officially known, is the busiest port on Kerala’s 600-kilometer coastline, and its most historic city. It was here, in the old quarters of Fort Cochin, that Portuguese, Dutch, and British colonizers staked their successive claims to the keralan spice trade, leaving an indelible tapestry of cultural architechtural influences. This is also home to one of India’s loveliest addresses, the 250-year-old Malabar House, which sits across from India’s oldest European church.
The Malabar’s German owner, Joerg Drechsel, has converted this colonial estate into a bijou luxury hotel. Its 12 rooms, painted in startling canary yellows, brick reds,and powder blues, come with four-poster beds and a liberal does of antique furnishings. Almost as stunning is the courtyard plunge pool, surrounded by a sunken garden where on balmy nights kathakali dramas are staged for guests. Spa-going gourmands will also appreciate the restaurant, which serves Italian dishes as well as local specialities like seared fish with fragrant mango-and-coconut gravy.
Marina and Sunita, the hotel’s energetic Ayurvedic therapists, specialize in kalari, a medicated-oil treatment with roots in the ancient and indigenous martial art of Kalarippayat. The hour-long synchronized message promises rejuvenation, improved flexibility and blood circulation, and relief from rheumatism, arthritis, back pain, headaches, and stress-related conditions. It’s like being worked over by the multi-handed Hindu god Shiva himself, and almost as spiritual.
The Malabar House, 1/268 Parade Road, Fort Cochin, Kerala, India; 91-484/216-666; fax: 217-777; e-mail: info@malabarhouse.com; www.m alabarhouse.com. Doubles from US$175, individual treatments US$15-$25. Seven-day Ayurvedic packages start at US$1,050 for two, including accommodation, Ayurvedic meals, a medical consultation and treatments, and airport transfer.
SURYA SAMUDRA BEACH GARDEN
Sitting on a windswept promontory overlooking two sandy coves and the vastness of the Indian Ocean, this 10-acre property is an spacious as it is secluded. A 40-minute drive from the airport at Trivandrum, Surya Samudra features 25 guestrooms set in rustic tharavad houses, an infinity pool carved out of granite bedrock, and a restaurant serving seafood garnished with fruits and vegetables from its own garden. The Octagon Room is its premier suite, offering cobbled stone floor, high ceilings, and large wooden doors that open to dramatic sea views.
Treatments at Surya Samudra’s less inspiring Ayurvedic center include kizhi, for which herbal powders are applied to the body in boluses, together with hot medicated oils; karmapooram, where medicated fumes are applied to your ears for upto 10 minutes; and tharpanam, an eye-cleansing therapy. Oh, and there’s the ferociously named “bone-shaking massage” - not to be missed if you want a serious rubdown.
Surya Samudra Beach Garden, Pulinkudi, Trivandrum, Kerala, India; 91-471/267-333; Fax: 267-124; e-mail: info@suryasamudra.com; www.suryasamudra.com. Doubles from US$80 individual treatments US$15-$55. Seven-day Ayurvedic packages at US$300 per person, treatments only.
SOMATHEERAM AYURVEDIC BEACH RESORT
Somatheeram was the first property in Keralato combine Ayurvedic treatment with resort-style living, and has won the state’s Best Ayurvedic Centre Award for the past four years. Eleven years old, it is made up of over 60 cottages, built on 18 acres of beautifully landscaped hillside over looking the sea just south of Kovalam. The traditionally styled bungalows come in a variety of sizes, the most luxurious being the Sidhartha, a large stone house with a pentagon-shaped living room and private courtyard.
Out of all the resorts reviewed, this one takes its Ayurveda the most seriously. It currently boasts 24 treatment rooms, six doctors, and over 40 therapists who exercise a wonderful combination of skill, strength, and congenial table-side manner.
As at many of Kerala’s resort spas, visitors here choose between two options before checking in: signing on for a full-scale treatment, which requires a consultation with one of the doctors, followed by up to 21 days of herbal therapies and a specially prescribed diet; or staying for only a few days, eating freely from the sumptuous menus and experimenting with only the most relaxing and rejuvenating treatments, such as a cooling papaya face pack.
But if you are in need of a little more physical exertion, there is also Mr. Miranda, the 72-year-old yogi who has been practicing and teaching yoga for half a century. He leads two classes every day, on a grassy verge above the sea.
Somatheeram Ayurvedic Beach Resort, Chowara, south of Kovalam, Kerala, India; 91-471/268-1001; Fax: 267-600; e-mail: somatheeram@vsnl.com; www.somatherram.com. Doubles from US$70. individual treatments US$5-$45. Seven-day Ayurvedic packages start at US$1,352, including accommodation, therapies, and Ayurvedil meals.