The Kollengode Rajas
Today there is not much left of that small dynasty but for a
lovely palace built purportedly for a recalcitrant princess, an opulent
building serving these days as a popular Ayurvedic center. The Venganad
Swaroopam which once inhabited it, is scattered around the globe, with homes
elsewhere, while people from the West and many an Indian tourist wandering off
the beaten track, ironically spend days and nights resting and recuperating in it.
The Venganad family must I am sure, be thinking of the old days of splendor and
pomp at this kovilakom, of many occasions and festivities, as children played
in the courtyard, of the feasting and shows when dignitaries visited and even
of the times spent going in hunt to the nearby Anamalai hills. They may recall
the trips to the Nelliyampathi coffee estates and presiding over the
festivities at the Kachamkurichi temple.