Heritage The Nalknad Araniane is a treasure trove of memories of the Haleri dynasty.
The mist plays with the mountain. The hills come alive. We are in Coorg, locally known as Kodagu after the Kodavas who inhabit this region. As we drive up the Western Ghats, we see the slopes carpeted by coffee and cardamom plantations. The monsoon has just set in and the coffee plantations are filled with snowy white blossoms sparkling like jasmines.
Coorg's tryst with coffee started more than a couple of centuries ago and it is believed that coffee was planted here by the Moplah community from Kerala who traded with the Arabs. The locals initially cultivated "wild coffee" in Nalknad near Kakkabe. Soon, small holdings. came up on the fertile slopes of the Western Ghats, which were too steep to grow rice, and it became a commodity of trade.
Royal dwelling
It was not coffee that took us to Nalkand. We were in search of a small palace where the Haleri dynasty came to an end. Our search came to fruition in a small hamlet called Yavakapadi in Kakkabe where the Nalknad Aramane built by Dodda Veerarajendra in the 18th Century awaited us.
There were coffee plantations all around, A small mud road appeared out of no where, A beautiful two storey structure painted in red, with a tiled roof, old wall paintings and pillars gazed at us as we opened the portals of the palace. A small mantapa in white was close by.
A drizzle started and we heard a sound. A caretaker had silently moved in and was opening the main door. We were the only visitors and as we soaked in the moment, we got to hear about a capsule of history.
Hyder Ali captured Coorg when Lingaraja I died in 1780 and took the young princes, Dodda Veerarajendra and Linga Rajendra, as captives. They were sent to a fort in Gorur, and a minister ruled over Coorg.
While Hyder Ali was fighting the British, the locals rebelled and over threw the minister. Tipu Sultan recaptured Coorg, but Dodda Veerajendra escaped. He fought relentlessly against Tipu Sultan and during one of the wars he retreated into a dense forest called Nalknad. He converted it into his base, built a palace, and got married to Mahadevarnmaji.
This palace was the final refuge of the last king, Chikkaveerarajendra, before he was deposed by the British - this was the end of the Haleri dynasty.
The caretaker showed us around as we climbed a small ladder, saw he secret chamber in the roof, the torture room, the royal bedrooms and the main durbar.
Historic playground
A few tourists were on their way to trek to the highest peak, Thadiyandamole - the palace is the base camp. A government school has now been built adjoining the palace. A bunch of school students was playing hide and seek among the pillars.
I wondered if they realised that their childhood playground was once a battlefield.
