As a family of believers in the concept of Responsible Tourism, our family at Sundara Mahal share the economic, social and environmental benefits that accrue from these operations with members of our society. Our home cooked pure vegetarian family homestay in Wayanad reflects more than the Tamil Brahmin lineage. It is a product of conviction. Regular folk, whether they are cab drivers or potters, masseurs or guides, beauticians or farmers, housewives who are excellent at cooking particular dishes like pickles, pappads etc, each contribute with their unique skill sets into this effort.

In order to assure that the economic benefits are passed on we have decided against offering any of these services in-house but will facilitate the same from providers directly to our guests. As we personally know who are the best providers in our community we will assure quality at competitive rates. This initiative alone has turned our vegetarian, family homestay approach with no alcohol in the premises from building a network of guest families into one of family friends, across the globe.

Willingness to pass on the economic benefits to society results in income distribution and job creation both direct and indirect. In a predominantly agrarian area, currently in the throes of immense uncertainties, tourism offers one of the few hopes for farmers to supplement their incomes and help young people earn a decent living.

The visit of each guest family creates a ripple on the demand side which proves beneficial to someone, somewhere in the locality however small. We recognize this and respectfully encourage the continued creation of these ripples.

Our micro climate dependent on the immediate environment is our primary resource. The forest like surroundings with the majestic trees are planted by the family over generations.

Composting of organic wastes, plastic waste management, watershed management and energy conservation through use of energy efficient lighting are some sustainable practices that are followed here.

Conservation agricultural practices assure the preservation of large varieties of mother plants of rare species in situ. We have understood the threat of climate change and the need to monitor and reduce carbon footprints. Towards this we have painstakingly collected primary and secondary data over decades and are in the RAC (Research, Analysis and Communication) channels, learning, brainstorming and consulting on methodologies and benchmarks on the road ahead.

Guests turned friends who find these efforts sincere and worthwhile join in and extend our network. This is an extremely labour intensive task and a few talented colleagues deal with various modules of the effort. Our hope is to fine tune operations ASAP,to the extent when our guests visit us and return home, their holidays leave no carbon footprints!

       We believe in treating Benefits like Knowledge, the more we share,  the more we get!!