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Home >> India >> Kerala >> Hotels >> Thekkady >>  The Elephant Court Hotel

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The Elephant Court is an understated, elegant hospitality experience, both, for business and recreation. A pair of impassive, miniature elephants watch, as demure sari clad hostesses greet guests with jasmine garlands.

The hotel is situated on four acres, over a landscaped hillock. The architecture establishes the cultural identity of the property and is a marriage of traditional design and responses to contemporary demands. It explores the relationship between the environment and individuals. The extensive use of teak all around keeps the spaces cool and one’s senses are calmed by the connection with nature that wood provides. Subtle definitions of space provide a serene, yet dynamic environment.

The cuisine of Kerala is the highlight of dining at the Elephant Court. Flavoured largely by the essences of coconut and spices, it is both subtle and provocative. Open on two sides, with a view of the swimming pool, the restaurant and the coffee shop offer a unique dining experience, surrounded by nature. The restaurant also has on offer, cuisine from different parts of the world as well as from other regions of India.

Activities make interesting experiences. At the resort here, we have a games area, a library bay, a health club, a tribal gallery and a meditation and yoga centre to make your activities interesting.

Conference Facilities
The Conference and Banqueting facillties are an extension of hospitality offered to the business traveler. A hall with a capacity to seat 150 people provides cutting edge equipment and the space to host a conference or an occasion. We also possess a smaller 30 seat mini - conference hall to host smaller gatherings.

Elephano - Large Hall

Swimming pool with Jacuzzi
A kidney shaped swimming pool with an attached paddle pool for kids, separates the lobby, dining and recreational spaces from the residences. The area around the pool, with deck chairs, is a great place to soak in the sun during the day. Come sundown, the poolside bar will serve libation and an invigorating environment for conversation or gaze at the stars above.

Indoor game area and Health club
Guests can occupy themselves with indoor games here. Ample space is provided for table tennis, carom boards, badminton and other table games.

Library lounge
The Elephant Court has a library with the latest publications for guests. The lounge also has a charupady, overlooking a garden, a lounge feature influenced by the native architecture of Kerala.

Roof top facilities
The roof top of the main building overlooks the Thekkadi forest and is a space that may be used for parties, or to simply view the forest on a clear day. Moonlit nights are special.

Boutique with collectables and Curio shop
Guests will find tribal art and craft at reasonable prices. The boutique also stocks an extensive range of high quality organic spices that are grown in the area around Thekkadi.

Ayurveda is an ancient system of holistic health care and is native to the Indian sub continent. It is presently in daily use by millions of people inIndia, Nepal and Sri Lanka. The word Ayurveda roughly translates as science of life. Ayurveda is concerned with promoting healthy living along with therapeutic measures that relate to physical, mental and spiritual harmony. Guests at the Ayurvedic center at the Elephant Court will be under the care qualified Ayurvedic Doctors.

Panchkarma
For purification of the body five different procedures have been described by the Ayurveda texts. These five procedures are basically known as Panchakarma (etymologically, five actions). This is a process used to clean the body of toxic materials left by disease and poor nutrition.

The three stages of Panchakarma therapy

Panchakarma is always performed in three stages – Purva Karma (pre-treatment), Pradhana Karma (primary treatment) and Paschat Karma (post-treatment). The patient who opts for any one of the five therapies has invariably to undergo all the three stages.

Snehana (oleation / oil therapy) and Swedana (sudation) are the two Purva Karma procedures. Snehana (internal and external oleation) loosens the Amam stuck in various sites of the body and Swedana dilates the channels to facilitate its movement towards the Koshta (alimentary canal). The Amam that reaches the Koshta is eliminated during the Pradhana Karma (primary treatment).

Diet regimens, restricted bodily exertion and the intake of health-promoting drugs come under the Paschat Karma (post-treatment).


Sweat Treatments
Sweating leads the doshas to fluidity, making it easier for it to flow out of the system. It opens up the pores and rid the body of impurities through the sweat glands. There are two principal ways of inducing the sweat.

External application of heat or retention of body heat such as by exercise, use of heavy clothes or blankets, fasting, use of alcohol etc.

Active heating done within a well heated chamber, medicated steam, sauna, hot water bottle, sunbathing, exposure to fire (or use of an infra red lamp), plasters of hot substances such as mustard, hot baths, or showers (especially with medicated oil or water), and hot packs.

Plants such as castor root, barley, sesame, black gram, jujube and the drumstick plant all encourage the body to sweat more easily. Do not administer therapeutic sweating to persons who are pregnant, persons with bleeding disorders, who have used alcohol recently, persons who are very fat or very thin, persons with diarrhea, jaundice, anemia. It is also not recommended for people who are very angry, hateful or jealous. Patients suffering from fainting, dizziness, nausea, fever, and similar ailments should not undergo the sweat therapy.

Oil massages
After detoxification the practitioner may prescribe herbal or mineral remedies to correct imbalances in the doshas. These have the necessary medicinal qualities to stimulate agni and restore balance in the doshas. They are not prescribed to eradicate disease because the disease is just a symptom of dosha imbalance.

Herbal remedies are usually prescribed in liquid form or as dried herbs, although they can also come as powder or tablets. The ingredients are pre-prepared, but the blends are prescribed individually. Each ingredient is classified by the effect it has on lowering or increasing levels of the doshas. Prescriptions are usually made up of groups of herbs, to which you add eight cups of water and boil until the liquid is reduced to one cup. You may have to take the remedy two or three times a day.

Most Ayurvedic practitioners will also advise you on lifestyle, food and exercise. There is no one healthy diet in Ayurveda, just a diet that is suitable for you. It is important to eat to suit your constitution and the practitioner may prepare a special diet sheet for you.

Exercise, such as yoga, is also important for physical and emotional health and the practitioner will advise on the exercise that is best suited to your constitution.

Purwakarma

This breaks down into two types of preparatory treatment: "Snehana" and "swedana."

Snehana involves massaging herbal oils into the skin to help eliminate toxins. Blended oils treat specific disorders such as stress, anxiety, insomnia, arthritis, or circulation problems. Oils can also be massaged into the scalp for depression, insomnia, and memory problems. Snehana can sometimes involve lying in an oil bath, which is thought to be even more effective for you to absorb the herbal oils' properties.

Swedana means sweating. It is sometimes used with the oil treatment, but on a separate day. Steam baths encourage the elimination of toxins through the pores and together with the oil treatments, they make the detoxification more effective. (see the description above).

Samana
After detoxification the practitioner may prescribe herbal or mineral remedies to correct imbalances in the doshas. These have the necessary medicinal qualities to stimulate agni and restore balance in the doshas. They are not prescribed to eradicate disease because the disease is just a symptom of dosha imbalance.

Herbal remedies are usually prescribed in liquid form or as dried herbs, although they can also come as powder or tablets. The ingredients are pre-prepared, but the blends are prescribed individually. Each ingredient is classified by the effect it has on lowering or increasing levels of the doshas. Prescriptions are usually made up of groups of herbs, to which you add eight cups of water and boil until the liquid is reduced to one cup. You may have to take the remedy two or three times a day.

Most Ayurvedic practitioners will also advise you on lifestyle, food and exercise. There is no one healthy diet in Ayurveda, just a diet that is suitable for you. It is important to eat to suit your constitution and the practitioner may prepare a special diet sheet for you.

Exercise, such as yoga, is also important for physical and emotional health and the practitioner will advise on the exercise that is best suited to your constitution.

Yoga And Meditation
The age-old set of exercises known in the west as "yoga" offers a significant variety of proven health benefits. It increases the efficiency of the heart and slows the respiratory rate, improves fitness, lowers blood pressure, promotes relaxation, reduces stress and allays anxiety. It also serves to improve coordination, posture, flexibility, range of motion, concentration, sleep and digestion. It can also be used as supplementary therapy for conditions as diverse as cancer, diabetes, arthritis, asthma, migraine etc., and help to combat addictions such as smoking. It is not, in itself, a cure for any medical ailment. But as part of the well-known Dean Ornish program of diet and exercise, it has contributed to the reversal of heart disease.

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