Kanker Palace, Kanker, Chhattisgarh India

Kanker Palace was the home of the royal family of the Kanker which was built in the year 1937. Now it has been restored into a beautiful holiday retreat, keeping into consideration the needs and preferences of both local and the international travelers. The ambience of the hotel and the rooms ooze out the old-world charm where in the rooms are all well-equipped with amazing modern-day facilities.

The five suites, like the other rooms in the main building have double height ceilings (designed this way to keep the temperature bearable in the incredibly hot summers) and enormous fans that would have once been pulled by fully occupied punkah wallas. The rooms are decorated with traditional furniture, animal skins and hunting trophies, including ‘Henry’ a complete tiger who watches over guests in the sitting room.  There are some more recently added rooms and cottages which, though lacking the character of the heritage rooms, have air-conditioning.

Other areas within the compound hint at a more affluent past; the former maharaja’s outbuildings are now a children’s nursery, the water body around a pleasure island is silted up and the ‘tiger den’ overgrown and almost in ruins. It’s all hugely atmospheric and your royal hosts absolutely charming, full of fascinating stories about the past, the lives of the people in surrounding villages  and enthusing with ideas for the future.

Aside from enjoying the hospitality and old world charm, a stay at Kanker Palace is all about exploring the surrounding area with a knowledgeable guide who accompanis guests to places of natural beauty and archaeological significance, but most importantly to villages hidden in the jungle to discover the traditions and culture of the indigenous people.