Periyar Reserve Bungalow, Periyar Valley, Kerala

The Periyar Reserve Bungalow is set amidst a sprawling cardamom plantation of six hundred acres, which lies sandwiched between the tropical evergreen forests of Periyar Tiger Reserve and Rani Reserve. The Estate, which has an original title deed dated 1912, was granted to a band of local planters hailing from Kurvinakunnel and Kallarackal families along with a few other energetic planters from the neighboring plains by the Maharaja of Travancore. J. R. Vincent, the brother of A.D. Vincent, a prominent rubber planter in Mundakayam Valley , bought the initial clearing of over seven hundred acres in 1926, and named it the Downtown Estate. He built a colonial style ranch home, the Downtown Bungalow in 1930, which is still seen at the entrance of the Estate. The Downtown Estate was brought by the K. I. Varkey in 1947, and is now with the karimpanal family.

From the Downtown Bungalow there leads up the hill top, the deep forest, a mud road traversed only by jeeps or on horse back. The road serpentine up through the thick foliage some two kilometers up to the end of the Estate, and behold on the edge of the forest, upon a small hill, beside a gushing brook is the majestic Periyar Reserve Bungalow. The Building overlooks a gurgling stream that rushed down the rocks. Separating the Downtown Estate and The Reserve forest. The Bungalow is built in harmony with its natural surroundings. The ground floor has thick granite columns for walls with massive wooden windows and doors. From the sitting room one can see the thick evergreen forest margined by the silvery stream, where many a times wild animals like gaur, sambar and elephants come for a drink. A wooden staircase leads up to the first floor sit out- that is actually a long L shaped verandah, which has polished wooden planks for flooring. The sit out is open on both sides and commands a bird's eye view of the surrounding cardamom plantations and the jungles. The upper floor has two large bedrooms with tree trunks as pillars holding the ceiling and wood paneled walls. The bedrooms are aesthetically furnished and with attached bathrooms. As night the surroundings are echoed with the chirping of crickets and the occasional call of a barking deer or the purring of a hungry panther.