In one of the many suburbs of Bengaluru, about 20 km from the city centre of MG Road, is a homestay that you wouldn’t expect in a city. In a plot of land dominated by a mango tree are a mudhouse and a structure that is called a ‘treehouse’ for lack of a better word.
Built and owned, unsurprisingly, by a civil engineer, Aura Kalari was designed as a quick getaway mainly for stressed out Bengalureans.
When Rajeev Balakrishnan was conceptualising Aura Kalari, his friend was building a kalaripayattu school next door and a kuzhi-kalari, the pit in which kalaripayattu is traditionally practised, was being dug. Rajeev decided to use the mud being dug up to build a house.
A team of workers from Tamil Nadu built the structure. First a pyramidal scaffolding was constructucted and then reeds were laid to build the thatched roof. To make the walls, mud was mixed with jaggery. The walls were built in stages and layers as each portion had to dry to support the weight of the portion above. Rajeev also retained portions of the scaffolding instead of removing them and incorporated large bamboo shafts in the walls to let in light.
The mud house, which stays very cool throughout the year, is essentially a large room with beds and a dining table and chairs. It has an attached bathroom.
In the backyard of the mud house is the mango tree around which the treehouse is built. Unlike a traditional treehouse, this one is not built atop the tree. A bedroom, dining hall and bathroom have been built amid the branches of the tree. Tree branches pass through every part of the house—you can reach out and touch a living tree branch from your bed, for instance! But the weight of the building rests on granite pillars on the periphery and not on the tree.
Guests get simple homemade meals here, with both vegetarian and meat options available. You can go for walks nearby or attend programmes at the Kalari Gurukulam next door. Or you could just do absolutely nothing except eat, sleep and rest!
Price: Rs 3,000 per person
Read more: http://www.aurakalari.in/
Slow Travel
Aura Kalari is completely made of sustainable natural materials, like mud and bamboo. The tree around which the treehouse has been built has not been tampered with and it doesn’t bear the weight of the structure. The tree and the ‘treehouse’ just happen to share the same space. Traditional building methods have been used in construction.