Words by Bindu Gopal Rao
Located on the banks of the Vembanad Lake in Alleppey’s Mannancherry village, about two hours from Kochi airport, the Amal Tamara retreat offers a complete health reset, with guests leaving armed with a new perspective on their wellbeing.
CEO Shruti Shibulal’s late grandfather, Dr C.K Damodaran, was an Ayurvedic doctor and the tradition has been continued through Amal Tamara, a Registered Ayurveda Hospital, which belongs The Tamara Group. I checked in to find out more.
The Amal Yatri
The 19-room boutique property is set in a tranquil locale and is a wellness retreat based on the 5,000 plus year old science of Ayurveda. All guests are called Amal Yatris (the welcome on the bed is also the same) as the concept is to create a community of people who share wellness as a life goal.
There are three categories of rooms here: Astha, Ekta, and Idha. The Astha rooms are 350 sq. ft, have single or twin beds, a study, a foyer, bathroom and a private balcony overlooking the backwaters. The Ekta rooms are like the Astha rooms and have an additional seating area in their 450 sq. ft of space. The Idha rooms have 550 sq. ft of space and come with an additional walk-in closet and are ideal for longer stays.
The stay starts with a doctor’s consultation where you fill in several forms that will help determine your body constitution. This, along with your physical condition and health issues, if any, will help the doctor draw up a custom plan including suggested therapies as well as the correct kind of food you should be eating.
Wellness
The wellness philosophy here is called ‘Chikitsa Chatushpada’ that integrates the physician, the patient, the therapist, and the medicine to work in tandem. Rooted in Ayurveda, the retreat offers curative, anti-ageing and rejuvenation, weight management, panchakarma, immunity booster, de-stress, ortho care and pre-wedding wellness programmes. The best part is that the wellness schedule is completely customised and there are five online follow up sessions done after you check out to help you continue on your wellness path.
The programmes here start at a minimum of seven days and can go up in multiples of weeks based on the condition. A day typically has two treatments – one whole body treatment and one a targeted treatment. So if you have an issue with your knee, a specific knee treatment is done.
Some of the treatments offered here include panchakarma, the holistic Ayurveda treatment, abhyangam, a whole-body oil massage, pizhichil (pouring warm medicated oil), podikizhy (bundle massage), sheeradhara (that uses milk) and navarakizhi (bundle massage with medicated rice). There is also meditation, yoga, and cultural experiences that are part of the programme.
Food
The retreat only serves fresh, wholesome, vegetarian meals that do not have refined sugar, regular salt, and refined flour.
“Our concept here is all about Cure Cuisine. So, we use whole wheat flour, millet flours, jaggery and brown sugar and black salt. Some vegetables that are a strict no include cabbage, brinjal and cauliflower and we also limit the use of potatoes. Nothing is deep fried, we serve grilled food,” explains Joji James, executive chef.
When you are here, there are some house rules to follow which include strictly no alcohol, no non-vegetarian foods and a no smoking policy. Also, you are advised to stay within the premises during your treatment and no outside visitors are allowed. The retreat also recommends a digital detox and usage of gadgets are limited within the room. Mindful eating is also inculcated, and the idea is not to look at gadgets when eating.
Stay connected
The retreat offers several varied activities where guests can participate and learn to live a life rooted in nature and sustainability principles. The idea is to inculcate wellness as a habit and the Amal way of life means every guest has a lifetime connection with the retreat and a common platform for discussing wellness is in the pipeline.
All the rooms have a small earthen pot where guests are encouraged to write positive thoughts of gratitude, this is known as gratitude journaling. The day starts with AgniHotram, a 10-minute Vedic ritual aimed at purifying the environment. There is a statue dedicated to the God of Health Dhanvantri in the premises, which is set amidst a landscape, and it is recommended that you walk around the spiral path in the grounds. There is also a garden with 27 trees related to the Hindu birth stars.
You can also learn how to make dry medicines at Kashayapuram and therapeutic yoga is advised as this is custom made according to the needs of the guests. The singing bowl meditation is a session that will relax you using the Tibetan meditation bowls. There are also cooking classes, preparing home remedies as well as how herbal dyes can be created using herbs available in the kitchen.
When here, do not miss the cultural performances – dance and music that are a regular affair. You can also feed fish in the morning as part of the concept of karma yoga – which is about helping others without expecting anything in return.
For me, the best takeaway came from a board that I read at the property; ‘Health always doesn’t come from medicine. Most of the time it comes from peace of mind.’
Factbox
Cochin International Airport is the nearest airport about 76 km away. A close to two-to-2.5-hour drive will get you to Amal Tamara.
Rooms can be booked from £195 pppn.
Address: Ponnad PO, Mannanchery, Alappuzha, Kerala – 688538, India
Phone: Tel: +91 477 2250300
Email: reservations@amaltamara.com
Website: amaltamara.com
Images courtesy of Amal Tamara.
