Heritage
GREEN HILLS ESTATE - COORG, KARNATAKA
The Green Hills Estate was the residence of the Diwans of Rajas of the Coorg in the South-West Karnataka. IT was built in 1898 by Apparanda Rao Bhadur Chengappa. He was the son of the Diwan Bopanna.
Designed by Swiss architect this grand mansion sits on the raised clearing in the rainforest, among a hundred acres of coffe and cardamon plantations, paddy feilds and the pepper vines. Its skyline is silhouetted with areca and coconut plams, wild mango, rosewood & a large Burmese mahogany tree. It suites are named after prize winning horses with Chengappa, its current owner, raced on the courses of Banglore and Madras.
Driving to the Green Hills Estate takes one across the Cauvery river- which flows five kilometres from the property - past rolling coffe and rubber plantations and forests full of giant bamboo clumps. The neighbouring Nagarhole Wildlife Sanctuary remains the best preserved habitat of the Asian elephant, the tiger, the spotted deer and the bison.
The interiors are reminiscent of the planters' bungalows with lazy furniture and rosewood panelled walls. The stately mansion of Green Hills is full of memorabilia of he ancestor-worshipping family who still inhabits the estate: silver & animal trophies, photographs and books.
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