Maipady Palace

 

One of the joys of travelling lies in taking the less trodden path and visiting places that not many people know or heard of. Maipady Palace is one such place. It lies in Kasargod district in the northern tip of Kerala.

It was a very wet and windy day when we ventured. Our driver had a vague idea of getting there. Google Map wasn’t very helpful.

Finally, a barred gate greeted us with a list of severe instructions. The palace turned out to be a private residence. We pushed the gate and stepped inside tentatively. A head popped out of the many windows and demanded to know in Malayalam who we were. It belonged to a sprightly old woman. Visitors, I replied. Can we come in?

She waved us in with an ambiguous gesture.

It was a sprawling, quintessential Kerala-style dwelling with a central open to the sky courtyard – Nalukettu. We circumambulated along the verandah. Of the many rooms that lined the verandah, only one was open for us. It was spartan but for a tall brass lamp. There wasn’t much to see. But imagination ran riot at the probable lifestyle of the royalty in the bygone days.

The board outside states in three languages that the “palace is the absolute private property of the Royal Family”. Other than that it is very cryptic on the lineage of the “Royal Family”.

But I have connected the dots with the help of Google. Raja Mayura Varma, (also known as Mayurasharma) was the founder of the Kadamba Dynasty in 345 AD. The dynasty ruled over large parts of South India till 525 AD. The Kadamba dynasty had a number of branches. Kadambas of Hangal (kadambas of hAnagallu) is one such minor branch that ruled between 972 A.D. and 1252 A.D. Their little kingdom consisted of the eastern part of the North Canara district and the Western part of Dharwad district. They were feudatories of the Chaukyas of Kalyani through most of their existence. Occasionally these loyalties were shifted forcefully towards Kalachuris and Yadavas. The first Kadamba king who assumed powers at Hangal was also known as Mayuravarma. Kumbla Rajas of Kasaragod also trace origins from Kadamba Mayuravarma. The tenuous connection between the Kumblas and Kadambas need more research.

Adjacent to the Nalukettu is a beautiful temple dedicated to Sri Rajarajeshwari.

Visually speaking, this was a very underwhelming experience. But the train of thoughts it triggered within me about history, culture and conservation was powerful enough to pen this down after a gap of 6 years.

Travelling is not just merely seeing and taking photos. It is allowing the ambience and history of a place to soak through your skin into the bones. And this is what the Maipady Palace did to me on that rainy morning.