Heritage · History · 6 min read

Ammachi Kottaram: The Forgotten Summer Palace of Travancore at Kuttikkanam

In the misty woods of Kuttikkanam stands a rambling old palace where the consorts of the Maharajas of Travancore once escaped the heat of the plains. Its history, its legends of secret tunnels, its film fame and its uncertain future.

By GK Global, Adimali, Munnar · Trails & Tales by GK

The mist comes in early at Kuttikkanam. It slides over the tea and through the tall trees, softening the light, muffling the sounds of the road, and when it parts, there it is: a long, low building with sloping tiled roofs and deep verandas, half hidden among the trees, its walls stained by a century of monsoons. This is the Kuttikkanam palace, known to everyone in the hills as Ammachi Kottaram, the palace of the Ammachis.

A palace for the Ammachis

Under Travancore's matrilineal system of succession, the throne passed not to the king's sons but to his sister's sons. The Maharaja's wife was therefore not a queen in the usual sense; she was known by the respectful title Ammachi, and her children did not inherit the crown. In the late 19th century, as the British planters turned the hills around Peermade into a fashionable cool-season retreat, the royal family too looked for an escape from the heat of Thiruvananthapuram. Around 1890, in the reign of Sri Moolam Thirunal Rama Varma, a summer palace was built at Kuttikkanam, and it became a retreat for the royal consorts, giving it its name.

A popular story says the Maharaja built it for his wife; one travel writer notes that there is little evidence for this. The State Archaeology Department records that construction was supervised by the planter J. D. Munro, very likely the same John Daniel Munro who leased the Kannan Devan Hills and set Munnar on its path as a tea district. (Read the history of Munnar.) Additions were made in the early 1900s.

The building

Ammachi Kottaram is built in the traditional nalukettu style: four wings arranged around an inner courtyard open to the sky, which keeps the house cool and full of light. Long corridors and a wide wrap-around veranda run round it. Inside, the ceilings are of wood and the floors are tiled, with a European flavour to the interiors. Accounts describe two grand halls for guests, bedrooms with attached bathrooms (a luxury for the time), a drawing room, dining halls and kitchens.

The tunnel legend

Like many old palaces in Kerala, Ammachi Kottaram has its secret tunnel. Local lore says that an underground passage linked it to the Peermade Sree Krishna Swami temple, some kilometres away, so that the royal ladies could go to worship unseen. An abandoned tunnel opening is pointed out, but no one has documented where, or whether, it leads anywhere. Treat it as a fine story.

On screen

With its fading grandeur and misty setting, the palace has become a favourite of Malayalam filmmakers. It appeared in the horror film Indriyam (2000), and more recently in Carbon (2018), starring Fahadh Faasil, and the blockbuster Lucifer (2019).

An uncertain future

After the end of the princely state, the palace passed out of royal hands and is now privately held; its ownership has been the subject of a dispute that led to a probe at the level of the Land Revenue Commissioner. Poor upkeep has taken a toll on the building. In 2023, the State Archaeology Department announced plans to declare it a historical monument under the state's ancient monuments act, and the Idukki DTPC said it could then develop heritage tourism there. At the time of writing, we have not been able to confirm that the declaration has been completed.

Visitor's guide

• Access: the palace is not a regular tourist attraction, and the interior is generally not open. Visitors can see it from outside; respect any signs and do not enter without permission.
• Getting there: about 1.5 km from Kuttikkanam junction by road, or on foot through the trees.
• Nearby: Valanjanganam falls, Parunthumpara, the Peermade hills and Thottapura, remembered as the old royal armoury. (Read our Kuttikkanam and Peermade guide and the waterfalls on NH 85.)