Thani Illam - Our Ancestral House

During our Thottuva visit we also visited "Thani Illam" which was our ancestral house where my great grandfather Ramanatha Iyer lived. During his later years Ramanatha Iyer shifted to Perumbavoor to live with one of his sons. During that period he partitioned his properties at Thottuva between his sons Ganapathy Iyer and Viswanatha Iyer. While Ganapathy Iyer, my grandfather, received around 10 acres of cultivable land, the ancestral house was transferred to Viswanatha Iyer.Until 1994 this house was occupied by family members including the well known writer Malayatoor Ramakrishnan, my fathers cousin. It was sold to one Mr.Parameswaran Namboothiri in 1994. He has renamed this house as Thani Illam and in course of time over the years,with some modifications and improvements has converted this place into an environment friendly heritage home stay for tourists.For details log onto: http://www.thaniillam.org/oindex.htm

When we visited Thani Illam there were no tourists as the house was under annual maintenance for anti termite/white ants treatment and Namboothiri and his family including grandchildren were present there. They were wonderful hosts and were delighted to receive us. We were taken on a conducted tour of the house and Namboothiri took great pains to explain at great length each and every aspect/feature of the house.We had light breakfast with them - vadam,chakka pappadam, pazham puzhingiyathu,uppuma & herbal tea. Here are some of the pictures taken during our visit:

Entrance Gate

A view of the house from the gate

Front entrance

A bedroom

Chest of drawer to store bed sheets and linen ( this wooden chest was once used to store rice)

Traditional wooden roof and paintings

Another room with a stairway to the attic

Old wooden Book shelf  with toys made from coconut shells

An open well with clear sparkling water

Wooden Pulley and coir rope for drawing water. Guests are allowed to draw water from the well

The traditional dining table 

The conventional kitchen with gas stove added for convenience

Charcoal and wood/coconut husk used for cooking

Traditional Kerala breakfast

Thani Illam side view

Special room above the garage - Namboothiri posing with his charming grand daughters

Areca nut plant above and below

Jackfruits above and below

Time to leave

A Group Photo before departure- my wife Shobha posing with the Namboothiri family