Banasura Hill Resort is a nature resort in
Wayanad District
Wayanad () is a district in the north-east of Indian state Kerala with administrative headquarters at the municipality of Kalpetta. It is the only plateau in Kerala. The Wayanad Plateau forms a continuation of the Mysore Plateau, the southern ...
of
North Kerala
North Malabar refers to the geographic area of southwest India covering the state of Kerala's present day Kasaragod, Kannur, and Wayanad districts, and the taluks of Vatakara, Koyilandy, and Thamarassery in the Kozhikode District of Kerala and t ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
; located away from
Kalpetta
Kalpetta is a major town and municipality in the Wayanad district, state of Kerala, India. Kalpetta is the headquarters of Wayanad district, as well as the headquarters of Vythiri taluk. It is a bustling town surrounded by dense coffee and te ...
, the district headquarters. It stands at an altitude of above sea level on a plot amidst the mountains of the
Western Ghats declared as one of the traditionally preserved sites in the world by UNESCO.
Etymology
The resort is so named because it is located at the foot of the
Banasura Hill
Banasura Hill is one of the tallest mountains in the Western Ghats of the Wayanad district, Kerala, India. The hill is named after Banasura, a mythical character of Indian legends. It is one of the highest peaks exceeding 2,000m between Nilgiris ...
which is the second highest mountain in Wayanad that often attracts climbers to attempt to reach the summit. Besides this, the
Banasura Sagar Dam
Banasura Sagar Dam, which impounds the Karamanathodu tributary of the Kabini River, is part of the Indian Banasurasagar Project consisting of a dam and a canal project started in 1979. The goal of the project is to support the Kakkayam Hydro ele ...
, which lies just 18 km from the resort and shares its architectural antecedents also had an influence in naming the resort.
Architecture
The resort's architectural design follows a construction based on rammed earth. The various living structures within the
resort
A resort (North American English) is a self-contained commercial establishment that tries to provide most of a vacationer's wants, such as food, drink, swimming, lodging, sports, entertainment, and shopping, on the premises. The term ''resort ...
complex is constructed using mud excavated from the very site where it stands on. The main building has an area of nearly 20,000 square foot spread over two floors, and is made entirely out of mud, with a roof of bamboo and coconut palm fronds.
BBC News considers it as a mud haven – India's only "earth" resort and possibly the largest of its kind in Asia.
The idea behind Banasura
A considerable amount of research went in before deciding on the type of architecture to be used in construction. "Earth" architecture was chosen because it would cause the least amount of ecological damage while blending harmoniously with the micro environment around the site. "Earth" (mud) that is used for construction can be recycled indefinitely or left to disintegrate without causing any environmental degradation.
Research also threw up striking examples of large earthen structures that had withstood the test of time and survived for centuries. The
Great Mosque of Djenné
The Great Mosque of Djenné ( ar, الجامع الكبير في جينيه) is a large brick or adobe building in the Sudano-Sahelian architectural style. The mosque is located in the city of Djenné, Mali, on the flood plain of the Bani River ...
in
Mali
Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...
built in 1907, the
Citadel
A citadel is the core fortified area of a town or city. It may be a castle, fortress, or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of "city", meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core.
In ...
of Rayen in
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
built during the
Parthian rule (248 BC–224 AD); and the ancient city of
Shibam
Shibam Hadramawt ( ar, شِبَام حَضْرَمَوْت, Shibām Ḥaḍramawt) is a town in Yemen. With about 7,000 inhabitants, it is the seat of the District of Shibam in the Governorate of Hadhramaut. Known for its mudbrick-made high-r ...
in
Yemen
Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...
built in the 2nd century A.D are some such structures.
Inspired by these examples,
rammed earth
Rammed earth is a technique for constructing foundations, floors, and walls using compacted natural raw materials such as earth, chalk, lime, or gravel. It is an ancient method that has been revived recently as a sustainable building method.
...
(or pise) was chosen as the architecture to be adopted for constructing the resort. This construction technique was developed in ancient China around 2,000 B.C and used predominantly to build protective walls around small settlements. The
Great Wall of China
The Great Wall of China (, literally "ten thousand ''li'' wall") is a series of fortifications that were built across the historical northern borders of ancient Chinese states and Imperial China as protection against various nomadic grou ...
is one of the best examples where rammed earth was used. Closer to the resort, the
Banasura Sagar Dam
Banasura Sagar Dam, which impounds the Karamanathodu tributary of the Kabini River, is part of the Indian Banasurasagar Project consisting of a dam and a canal project started in 1979. The goal of the project is to support the Kakkayam Hydro ele ...
, which is
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
’s largest earthen dam, and the second largest in Asia, also prompted adoption of this eco-friendly design.
Size and challenges
Fairly large single-storied earthen structures are common in different parts of the world, but building a two-storied structure of such enormous proportions as that of the main building at the resort, was quite a challenge. Since the building was designed without any concrete pillars, extra attention had to be paid to load bearing and load balancing aspects to ensure stability.
Climatic conditions are a major concern while building earthen structures. Typically, earthen buildings are found in areas where the climate is dry and arid. Wayanad, where Banasura Hill Resort is located, has a tropical wet climate – also known as a
tropical monsoon climate
An area of tropical monsoon climate (occasionally known as a sub-equatorial, tropical wet climate or a tropical monsoon and trade-wind littoral climate) is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification category ...
– with an annual average rainfall of well over 2,300mm. While the heavy monsoon rains are responsible for the tropical rain forests and the rich bio-diversity found in these parts, building a rammed colossal earth structure under such climatic conditions is a challenge. Despite this, construction of the main building was completed within 18 months.
Indigenous sustainable architecture
Banasura Hill Resort makes optimal use of environmental resources. As it is built using mud; the structures of the resort gel seamlessly with the natural surroundings. The design itself contributes actively to
energy conservation
Energy conservation is the effort to reduce wasteful energy consumption by using fewer energy services. This can be done by using energy more effectively (using less energy for continuous service) or changing one's behavior to use less service (f ...
. The thick earthen walls provide
thermal insulation
Thermal insulation is the reduction of heat transfer (i.e., the transfer of thermal energy between objects of differing temperature) between objects in thermal contact or in range of radiative influence. Thermal insulation can be achieved with s ...
, keeping the interiors cool during the day and warm and cozy during the night, obviating the need for air-conditioning. The ambience that the interiors of the earthen structures provide is one of cool comfort.
Environmental conservation
Being an Eco Resort, Banasura Hill Resort has taken measures to conserve the ecological balance of the place and preserve its natural heritage and biodiversity. For example,
Guadua
''Guadua'' is a Neotropical genus of thorny, clumping bamboo in the grass family, ranging from moderate to very large species.
Physically, ''Guadua angustifolia'' is noted for being the largest Neotropical bamboo. The genus is similar to ''Bam ...
bamboo saplings have been planted in and around the resort to create a bio-fencing. Its environmental benefits include regulating water levels, absorbing huge amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, producing oxygen, preventing soil erosion and conserving bio diversity. Also planted in thousands are seedlings of the highly aromatic
Vetiver grass
''Chrysopogon zizanioides'', commonly known as vetiver and khus, is a perennial bunchgrass of the family Poaceae.
Vetiver is most closely related to ''Sorghum'' but shares many morphological characteristics with other fragrant grasses, such as ...
whose cluster roots run vertically like a mesh to a depth of almost 5m, effectively preventing soil erosion and arresting water run-off. These measures help to conserve the
ecological balance
The balance of nature, also known as ecological balance, is a theory that proposes that ecological systems are usually in a stable equilibrium or homeostasis, which is to say that a small change (the size of a particular population, for example) w ...
of the place and preserve its
natural heritage
Natural heritage refers to the sum total of the elements of biodiversity, including flora and fauna, ecosystems and geological structures. It forms part of our natural resources.
Definition
Heritage is that which is ''inherited'' from past gener ...
and
biodiversity
Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...
.
Plantations at the resort
The resort stands in the middle of a Tea estate. Large areas have also been devoted to the cultivation of pepper, coffee and arecanut. Tall Rosewood and Eucalyptus trees are a common sight throughout the resort.
References
External links
{{Portal, India
*Banasura Hill Resor
Official websiteTHE HINDUMSN , Lifestyle''Khaleej Times''''Arab News''
Populated places in the Western Ghats
Resorts in India
Rammed earth buildings and structures
Sustainable buildings and structures
Buildings and structures in Wayanad district
Hill stations in Kerala
Organic architecture