Bolgatty Palace: Story of the heritage hotel

 

The Dutch when they took over from the Portuguese believed in creating better infrastructure in Kochi which would help them get better returns from trade. The Dutch were known all over the world as great architects & builders of ports as they took the knowledge from their homeland to all parts of the world where they made colonies. Kochi for the Dutch was similar to the Netherlands which was surrounded by lake, river, sea & land. This identical landscape helped them in building better bridges, houses, jetty’s and ports. The only thing missing for them in Kochi was an elaborate mansion. The need to build such a mansion was to also showcase their opulence of wealth & culture. The first palace the Dutch built outside their country is the Bolgatty Palace & the architects who designed the palace took nothing for chance.

When the Dutch came to Kochi, the place was a flourishing port indulging in traditional trade & the Kochi Raja was quite hospitable to foreign traders. The Dutch over the years established their control over the rule & became more powerful. The merchants who came to Kochi wanted other traders like the Arabs to consider them superior & building a mansion for the Governor at the most iconic spot in Kochi would be the most appropriate. The merchants first earmarked the Mattancherry area but the palace of the king here could hamper their structure’s importance. Their find finally ended when the traders found a small piece of land in the middle of the Vembanad similar to an island which was a beautiful grove of coconut trees. The proximity of the island to the mainland & its access by water made them finalise on this place. The island was then called by the Arabs as gol-jetty as it was a circular island. The name later became Bolgatty when the Dutch took over the island. The island belonged to the Cochin Raja and when the Dutch asked for this land, he is said to have granted this place as the piece of land was not used by the Raja & was more of a place which housed migratory birds. The Dutch immediately started work on the palace grounds & they finalised on the design of the mansion based on the existing grand palaces in the Netherlands. The palace construction was finally completed in the way one sees now in 1744. The architecture of the palace was such that the front of the mansion faced the marina which was the point of entry to the palace. The front foyer of the palace was a grand entrance with Dutch styled pillars & wide windows inviting light & air into the central quarters. The use of wood is elaborate inside the palace & all rooms are made such that they have double roofs giving it a grander feel even from inside. The tiled floors, large gabled ceilings & the elaborate use of glass on window panes gives it a royal feel, one that did make other king’s take notice.

The mansion was built to accommodate the office & residence of the Malabar Commander of the Dutch who was also called the Governor of Cochin. The gardens one sees now were delightfully designed by the later governors & it was accessible for only the most important members of the Dutch government or state guests. The Bolgatty Palace was under the control of the Dutch till the end of the 19th century. The arrival of the British & subsequent takeover by the East India Company made the Dutch move out & in the process handed over the land to the Cochin Raja. The land & palace went into neglect for some years & it was only in 1909 that the Cochin Raja decided to monetise the land by leasing it to the British. The British immediately named the palace as Governor’s House as they could not call any other building other than the Queen’s residence in London as palace. The British should be credited for the upkeep of the palace as they created the wide lawns & prepared the golf course around the mansion for their officers. The British Governor of Kochi stayed in the Bolgatty palace till independence & it was only in 1976 that the Kerala Government decided to convert it into a heritage luxury hotel. Today there are many modern facilities added to the palace like the swimming pool, restaurants, bar etc. with three blocks of suite rooms each providing a view of either the marina, garden or the pool. The bookings for the hotel are handled by KTDC & the upkeep of the property is looked after by Kerala Department of Tourism.

The Bolgatty palace is the oldest & only Dutch palace in the world outside the Netherlands, also it is the first & the oldest heritage hotel in Kerala. The beauty of the palace is also in the history of this structure which has stood tall even after 2 centuries. In times when most old palaces & structures have been destroyed or dilapidated, the Bolgatty palace is a fine example of how a heritage structure can be preserved if there is will. The hotel still attracts many visitors who come to stay in the hotel, enjoy an evening in its lawns or be part of a function in its gardens or premises. The boat ride to & from the marina of the palace along the backwaters of Vembanad is a scenic one, something that has not changed from the time of the Dutch.