The Vembanad House which is well past its platinum jubilee is an ancient house and is clearly one of the finest specimens of Kerala's traditional architecture.

Built in an expansive area of 10.5 acres, the Vembanad House has an amazing waterfront of over 800 meters and the view from each of the four bed rooms is simply breathtaking.

Apart from a very spacious courtyard and lobby, all the bedrooms boasts of a private balcony from where one can view stillness of the Vembanad Lake .

The Vembanad House is promoted by Mr. Balakrishnan and Ms Sandhya Balakrishnan, the husband-wife duo belonging to the ancient Mayithara family of Alappuzha.

Predominantly an exporter of seafood Mr. Balakrishnan is gradually shifting his focus into the smokeless industry and the Vembanad House is his maiden venture.

As the grandson of Late Sri Mayithara Padmanabhan and Late Sri Pullampally Krishnan Thampi, Mr. Balakrishnan has a legacy of entrepreneurship dating back to centuries. Mayithara Padmanabhan was a leading coir exporter and businessman . He is the co-founder of S N Medical Mission Hospital near Cherthala. Pullampally Krishnan Thampi too was a visionary and had varied business interests in the field of banking and large scale farming.

 In the affairs of the Vembanad House,  Mr. Balakrishnan is ably assisted by his wife Ms Sandhya. She holds a Masters in Kerala Art and Literature and Business Administration, loves to cook and when in the throes of creativity, writes poetry. Having brought up in a spiritual ambience, Indian philosophy has deeply influenced her ideals of life..

Location

Viewing the rustic life and negotiating a number of slender yet charming countryside pathways you reach the Vembanad House at Muhamma.

From Nedumbassery International Airport in Kochi a 60 km drive will take you to the Vembanad House. And from Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city, Muhamma is at a distance of 175 km.

To reach the Vembanad House one has to take a left deviation from Kanjhikuzy along the Kochi-Alappuzha National Highway 47 and its just 7 km from Kanjhikuzy to Muhamma.

From the Vembanad House one can view the much popular Kumarakom and the renowned Pathiramanal , at a distance. Needless to say, the Vembanad House is located at such a place which is clearly the hub of back water tourism in Kerala. As one approaches the entrance of the Vembanad House, one can effortlessly spot the grazing cows and white cranes patiently waiting for the small fishes to surface. The mood of the place is bound to make you obsessed.

Activities

As you start spending your days here, you can while away your time fishing and thus, ignite the memories of your childhood. Simply walk along the banks of the Vembanad Lake and, conjure up the memories of your teens. Go boating using the traditional snake boat and, discover the skipper in you. For the fitness freaks, swimming in the Vembanad Lake can be quite an invigorating experience. And still, you can loiter around the spread-out yet placid place and rewind the good old thoughts of your botany classes. Or else one can meditate sitting in the podium located at the far end of the place overlooking the backwaters. And when tired, feel free to take a cool siesta in the lap of nature.

The other activities at the Vembanad House include a local village tour, visit to the local temples, boat ride to Kumarakom Bird Sanctuary and Pathiramanal, house boat ride at the Vembanad Lake , shopping assistance from the village handicraft centre and trip to the local beach. Yoga classes, elephant ride and Ayurveda rejuvenation therapy are arranged on request.

At the Vembanad House, chances are there that as you idle away hours together, at a stretch, a cuckoo might give you company by singing a melodious tune and a woodpecker might wear the garb of a percussionist – all meant to make you feel and experience the innocence of countryside life that's absolutely unsullied. And as Sun prepares to shift towards the west, one can listen to the chanting of doves for whom, the Vembanad House is a much sought after abode. And as night unfolds its quilt, toads around will incite your romance with their mating calls.

The sight line also has a number of other visually rich frames to offer. You can view the local folks engaged in dredging out kakka (raw shells) which is one of the main livelihood of this backwater region, sluggishly moving fisher folk using their country boats and the like.Because, the Vembanad House is not just another dwelling built of bricks and mortar, instead is a traditional Tharavadu that's been there for over 8 decades.

Cuisine

Tempting Kerala delicacies are served at the Vembanad House. Home made vegetarian and non-vegetarian cuisine is said to be the highlight of this home stay hide out.

Spicy seafood typical of Kerala's coastal kitchen is served here. And some of the specialties include lobster, crab, pearl spots and duck curry.

Besides, an array of traditional fish delicacies like hot chilly meen curry, meen vattichathu, meen varutharachathu, meen pollichathu , konchu curry etc are regularly served here. For a change, you can stir up your creativity by applying your culinary skills at the Vembanad's kitchen.