Situated in the mountains of Palakkad is the Poomully Mana (‘mana’ is the house of a Namboodiri Brahmin) which has become synonymous with the area. This ancestral home, more than 500 years old, used to be considered as one of the cultural centres of Kerala as it had a long history of renowned practitioners of various traditional arts like Ayurveda, Kalari, Yoga and classical music. Eminent personalities who have lived here include Poomully Raman Namboothiripad, the prodigious student of the great Carnatic singer, Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar and Poomully Neelakandan Namboothiripad, also known as Aramthampuran, an illustrious Ayurveda practitioner. For Namboothiripad, the house would have been a perfect abode as it is surrounded by various medicinal plants and trees and also ponds.

Legend of the home
According to legend, centuries ago, an ancestor of the home had gone to visit the Kamakshi Amma Temple at Kanchipuram. The goddess Kanchi Kamakshi, pleased with his devoutness, decided to travel back with him to Kerala on his palm leaf umbrella. The goddess came to him in his dreams and instructed him to build a temple for her. Following this instruction, he built a temple in her name and he surrendered all his possessions in service to the goddess. The goddess blessed the Poomully family and it grew to become one of the most eminent families of Kerala.

A prominent cultural centre
The Poomully Mana is well-known for encouraging scientific pursuits, especially in the field of Ayurveda; the establishment’s library has a vast collection of old texts and books about Ayurveda. Many Ayurveda treatments are on offer at the Mana as well as opportunities for graduates of Ayurveda. The traditional martial art of Kalaripayattu, also known simply as Kalari, has also been kept alive by the mana which offer Kalari classes and Yoga classes. A number of artifacts and traditional objects d’art like brass and bronze vessels, musical instruments, pottery, coins, ivory carvings, Kathakali costumes, and martial weapons are also preserved at the house. 

Poomully Mana Ayurveda Centre
The Poomully Mana Ayurveda Centre, established in 1997, has become an outstanding institution for research into Ayurveda, Kalari, Yoga, and other traditional knowledge systems. The Centre upholds these traditions and integrates them with modern developments, performing them in the “Poomully Way”, with the same mastery and skill that they have been celebrated for, for centuries.