In The Style to Which We Are (un)Accustomed

Chettinad. We had heard so much about it’s spicy cuisine, it riches and its palaces… ok, ok, it is actually not in the Lonely Planet (the backpacker’s bible) or the Rough Guide, but we read good things about it on internet forums, and after all, we are here to explore the unknown and to report back to you folks back home about places which are off the beaten track.

The Chettinad region was home to rich trading tycoons who made their fortunes abroad in places like Burma, Sri Lanka and China, while the rest of their extensive extended families lived in the lap of luxury in this dry dusty region poorly suited to agriculture and pretty much most else. They turned the little village of Kannadukatan, among other places, into a “modern” town, with wide, paved streets set in a grid pattern, and built large, stately mansions that seem to take up entire blocks (which may explain the grid pattern). Every mansion has several large courtyards, each with a different purpose. The first one is for receiving important guests (such as ourselves…) the second for banquets, the third for the women to hang out during the banquets (it goes without saying that they were not really invited otherwise) the last one or two were for cooking all the food for the aforementioned banquets. Needless to say, it was these last ones we found the most interesting. They have sunny places for drying food (like pappadums or chilies) and shady places where you can do more physical work like grinding masalas on a huge stone slab or in a gigantic, deep mortar and pestle. Because of their weight, they are mostly still in their original places, although for those who enjoy browsing at flea markets, they are also available there and make excellent, easy to transport gifts. All you need is a small truck or an elephant to get it home.

Most of these houses (and there are about 50 of them in village alone) are nowadays empty and in need of some repair. The trading tycoons did not survive World War Two after trade was severely limited, and their riches dwindled, living their coffers and stately homes emptied of wealth. Nowadays, the owners are either away at their other house in Chennai, or their 60 odd offspring cannot agree what to do with the place and its 120 rooms. Sometimes part of the house is rented out to prevent squatters, and people will only use the front porch (which is still big enough to house 10 college students, as we saw).

Another possibility is to turn it into a fancy “boutique” hotel, which is exactly what the owners of the Chettinadu Mansion, where we stayed, have done. They refurbished seven out of the 100 or so rooms in the house, added a western style bathroom, and are doing a booming business. There is still not too much tourism here, which is actually quite nice, but also means that you have to depend on the hotel staff organizing tours for you.

On the first day we got a guided tour of the village, including a very interesting visit to another “palace” that was even bigger than the one we were staying at. The guard let us in because our guide was his cousin, but we had to quietly wait locked inside while a group of tourists were denied entry. The palace was still furnished, and included hunting trophies (an elephant’s leg vase and tusked mirrors- poor elephants!), elegant European furniture and a series of bigger-than-life sized portraits of the former matriarchs and patriarchs. Time seems to be frozen here and one is transported back to the glorious days of the Raj.

Yesterday, we were driven around in an A/C car for the better part of the day and were taken to see an interesting tile “factory” – where they make the kind of lovely painted tails one can still find in old houses in Chettinad and in Jaffa (as well as at least one in Ra’anana). Then we were whisked away to see how they make handloom saris (and had to exercise extreme restraint in not purchasing the entire stock) and then we were taken to “Antique Alley” where many of the former riches can be found today. I think it was the most interesting flea market we have been to, we would have been happy to purchase almost everything we saw: cupboards, hanging cradles (remember the two rupees we left at the Shiva temple…), carved hope chests, doorframes, and original teak wood pillars. However, practicality reigned, and we only ended up with a couple of wooden bowls and a half meter long ornately carved wooden coconut scraper. Then we finished the day off by shopping for Chettinad saris for those who requested them. Can you imagine what our first thing to do in the next town we get to? Yes, we will find a post office and make a very large parcel to send home.

But, getting back to our Mansion. We have entitled this post “In the Style to Which We Are (un) Accustomed” because we usually stay in 200 rupee cockroach motels, with suspiciously stained walls and bed sheets, and eat in truck stop cafes with people who think nothing of washing their hands by pouring a glass of water on to their hands over the floor (usually dirt, so it isn’t a problem). But this was a whole different affair. The room which was decorated with eggwash paint in tromp d’oeuil style, popular in Europe of the 1880s, had A/C that actually worked, shining crisp white bedsheets we didn’t think twice about actually sleeping on (we usually use our own), complimentary sweets, soap, shampoo and razor and for the first time on this trip, TOWELS were not only provided but were also changed daily.

The food was nice, and served in the amazing grand entrance hall, but it took us a couple of meals to get them to understand that we wanted SPICY, original Chettinad cuisine, not some sort of a bland watered-down version meant for delicate French tourists (which seem to make up most of their western clientele). Needless to say, this was the splurging two days of our vacation, costing about 20 times what we usually spend, but it was worth every moment. Candle-lit dinners in the open air courtyard, a nice swim after a long, hot day, and, did we mention the clean bedsheets? It was an unforgettable experience living like wealthy people for a few days. There were too many nice photos to fit on the blog so go to the picasa Chettinad album if you would like to see more.

BARFI: Another quiz to see if you can

answer something we couldn’t figure out. We saw a lot of women who had put turmeric paste on their faces, giving them a strange ghostly yellow glow. We tried to discreetly ask one woman we were talking to about this, and the answer was “it is yellow.” We weren’t sure if that was actually the answer or if the question was misunderstood. Perhaps there is an ayurvedic explanation? Does anyone know or can google this?