Get to Know Pondicherry’s Other Personalities in CGH Earth Style 

(To open the embedded Facebook posts fully for the recipes and details, just click on the date/time under the heading Food and Travel Secrets.)

Pondicherry is well known for her French Colonial heritage and indeed staying and exploring the French Quarter is a very gentle introduction to India. But it would be a huge shame to miss out on meeting the rest of Pondicherry.

Just one block over from Whitetown you will find a whole different world. The colours, architecture, food and shops are new and there’s a completely different vibe.  This is in Pondicherry’s Tamil community.

CGH Earth’s Maison Perumal is the Tamil Quarter sister hotel to Palais de Mahe in the French Quarter. Like all CGH Earth Experience Hotels, Maison Perumal wants to help you explore the local culture, in great comfort and style. This 120 year old family home was built by a Chettiar family in the traditional Chettiar style of open interior courtyards, best seen in Tamil Nadu’s Chettinad region where CGH Earth also has the very lovely Visalam property. The Chettiars were great traders and bankers. They built magnificent houses using materials and wealth from their travels like Maison Perumal’s magnificent rosewood and Burma teak pillars. 

With just ten rooms this truly boutique hotel feels more like a gracious home and the kind and thoughtful team, headed up by Sam, make you feel part of the family as soon as you arrive.

While you could spend your time admiring the leafy courtyard, Maison Perumal is well set up to help you dig deeper into Pondicherry’s rich and fascinating multi-cultural heritage. In-house activities at no cost will show you local Tamil cooking, Kolam floor decorating and Mehandi hand art decoration. 

Then there’s some excellent bike, rickshaw and walking tours to guide you through the Muslim, Christian, Tamil , Auroville Ashram and French personalities of Pondicherry that are good value and support the local community.

But do make sure you experience the menu at Maison Perumal that is designed to showcase the local cuisine. Chef Couga Baba has a wonderful knowledge of regional recipes to share with you. The vegetarian dishes sound equally as delicious as those using chicken or locally caught fish, seafood. Have you ever tried prawns cooked with whole cloves, or grilled fish coated with a curry leaf paste?

Try a new dish at lunch and learn to cook the recipe at the in-house cooking demonstration that evening. 

Maison Perumal is licensed so you can enjoy a pre-dinner drink in the courtyard or a beer or wine with your meal at a fraction of the cost in other areas in India because Pondicherry charges no tax. Guests of Maison Perumal are invited to enjoy the pool at Palais de Mahe which is a great way to spend the warmer part of the day in between activities. 

It’s hard to resist the fabulous luxury and hospitality of Maison Perumal, inviting you to visit the rest of Pondicherry.

(To open the embedded Facebook posts fully for the recipes and details, just click on the date/time under Food and Travel Secrets.)