The Kodava Chronicles

It may be the smallest district in Karnataka but Kodagu, a.k.a Coorg, has bragging rights to a striking landscape abundant with rolling hills, dense forests, gushing waterfalls, tigers, elephants, coffee plantations and paddy fields. It’s also home to an ancient culture, and a sensational cuisine, that’s fading all too quickly.

- Aparna Pednekar

“It’s so small. There’s nothing to see.”

My driver has spent the 35 km drive from Madikeri, the capital of Coorg in Karnataka, trying to convince me that the hamlet of Kakkabe, tucked away at the base of the Thadiyandamol Peak has no noteworthy attractions. I ignore his cynicism and insist on a stopover at a royal abode that I’ve heard about. We wind through small home stays and local wine shops, swerving onto a rough patch of road with hand-painted signs that point to the Nalknad Palace. A two-storied building, the palace was constructed by Kodava king Dodda Veerarajendra in 1792, after he escaped Tipu Sultan’s invasion of Coorg. There isn’t a soul around except for an alert caretaker, who guides me, phantom like,through the compact rooms, with a terse commentary, “King’s durbar... king’s room... queen’s room... queen’s jhoola... queen’s bathroom... king’s secret room, king’s secret staircase...” It’s the most unassuming palace I’ve seen, more like a summer home, and smaller than the famously expansive ainmané (ancestral homes) of Coorg. But it’s also charming, with a low-slung conical roof, intricate wooden carvings and colourful frescoes on the walls and ceilings. Equally beguiling is a small mantapa built in the courtyard for the wedding ceremony of Dodda Veerarajendra with Mahadevammaji in 1796. Nalknad served as the final refuge of the last Kodava king, Chikka Veerarajendra, before the British deposed him—an intricate escape route with trapdoors and narrow staircases bear testament to the enterprising Kodava spirit.