A slice of the Pollachi experience

Lounge around a private plunge pool, go on Nature treks, or interact with weavers as they spin magic with cotton threads, there is plenty to choose your pick of the Pollachi experience

There is nothing like lounging around a private pool on a holiday — especially while basking in the sunshine and soaking in the views of coconut groves and mountain peaks. At the foothills of Anamalai Hills in the Western Ghats, Coco Lagoon getaway resort by Great Mount makes this possible by adding plunge pool villas, where the rooms face not just a pond but also come with small dipping pools. “Though we have a common pool, most guests who started travelling after the pandemic preferred private plunge pools, especially with children in mind,” says P T S Maheswar, executive director of Coco Lagoon. Other additions include a tropical suite and executive deluxe villas that open to picture postcard views of greenery, and private pool villa suites where they serve floating breakfast by the pool.

The resort positioned as a family destination keeps the itinerary close to Nature where guests can go on a bullock ride to an adjacent village, a guided morning walk along the serene Ambarampalayam river, or cycle around the property listening to the calls of hill mynas, and parakeets. “Now, our focus is to offer the Pollachi experience where they can choose from wildlife or tea tourism, culture and traditions, or the cuisine that is unique to the region,” explains Maheswar adding that Topslip and Parambikulam that are located close by draw tourists who want to explore wildlife and bird watching.

The culture tours showcase the weaving traditions where tourists visit nearby villages and walk through the fabric’s journey from pod to fashion. “While we show them how weavers convert thread to saris, it also puts the weaving community in spotlight. We want to collaborate with communities like farmers who promote sustainable, organic farming. Our guests from the UK, Germany, France, Australia, and Israel, mostly retired people are keen to explore these tours. We promote ‘tour slow’ where they sit back and relax and take home slice of Pollachi with them.” The tours also connect communities that teach you to make colourful parrots, fishes, flowers and torans using palm leaves.

Motivating children to observe Nature and eventually towards conservation is also part of the experience. Dinesh Kumar Vaiyatharasu who heads the activities department charts out activities for children based on the age. At Nature walks, he also talks to them on seed dispersal. “This, we hope, gets them started in growing plants. We also have tale of paws where we teach them how to determine an animal’s age from the pug mark, etc. We have games on GPS to teach them to use maps in navigation besides origami, quilting and leaf art,” explains Dinesh adding that the karaoke evenings and magic shows with award-winning magician Pappu are a big draw.

Maheswar says the western part of Tamil Nadu, other than Udhagamandalam and Kodaikanal, are often neglected. “We want to change that. While tourists in the Southern States are familiar with Pollachi, we want to tap into people travelling from places like Gujarat who are already exploring parts of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. We want to draw them to Pollachi. One behavioural change we see among Indian travellers, especially after COVID-19 is that they want to take back a slice of an experience, be it food or the culture, that will stay on with them.”

Food is an integral part of this experience and one can find kongu fare like arisi paruppu saadam, poondu kuzhambu, and poondu meen kuzhambu on the menu at The Palm, the multi-cuisine restaurant. “We try a fusion of Kongu and Chettinad cuisines,” explains chef Aravindan VJ as a platter of crisp deep-fried coin parottas topped with Chettinad button mushrooms appear on the table. “You have to have it one go, like pani puri,” he instructs and the result is a mishmash of flavours with a crunch.

Chef Aravindan says kongu cuisine often uses minimal spices. For example, the flavours of Pollachi kari kuzhambu (a mutton gravy made with drumstick and brinjal) or Pollachi prawn masala uses generous amount of shallots and coarsely ground copra (dried coconut) with fennel seeds, cumin, pepper, and coriander seeds to offset the spices. The refreshing vethalai saaru (made with juice extracted for crushed betel leaves, nannari and a dash of lemon is another speciality. The urulai podi varuval is a happy marriage of melt-in-the mouth baby potatoes and kongu paruppu podi and the result is a burst of flavours. “Our chefs are researching on the local fare. For example, in Anamalai, the Muslim community makes some unique dishes that can be tasted only here. Along with native food, the Pollachi experience becomes complete.”