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A SLICE OF HISTORY Le Dupleix

Its intricately carved wood ceiling, gorgeous tapestry, towering flower arrangements and tasteful décor make Le Dupleix stylishly soothing. The striking food, fusing local traditions and ingredients with French panache, makes it attractive. But it’s the past, lovingly wrapped around the old building’s atmospheric rooms and cool walls, that makes the hotel special.

The former residence of the Governor of Puducherry, the hotel is named after the fantastic French general, nawab and governor Marquis Joseph Francois Dupleix. However, he never lived there, since it was in the French quarter of Pondicherry and he had married a local woman, and hence lived in the main town with her.

When his grand old house was torn down, INTACH (the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage) approached Dilip Kapur of Hidesign, asking for help to save this important part of the town’s past. So they rescued all the wood work, and set about creating the ‘Le Dupleix’ in an 18th Century French Colonial Villa. “It’s probably the best woodwork done in French Pondicherry,” says Dilip, “The ceiling is flooded with intricate carving.” And everything, including the plain teak wood in the rooms, is stunning, and steeped in history.

Dilip talks about how Dupleix is probably one of the interesting characters in Indian history. “He married a local, a paan-chewing, half Goan, part European, part Pondicherry girl… She was tough and strong and really the brains behind everything he did.” This was in the 1740s, and ‘La Begum’ as she was known, spoke several languages including Tamil, as she was born in Pondicherry. A lot of Dupleix’s tactical genius depended on her charms rather than military might. For instance, when the British pushed local ruler Nabab Anaverdi Khan to seize Pondicherry, the couple invited him for dinner, by the end of which he declared he was taking Pondicherry under his protection against any attacks by the British.

Dupleix’s successes made him a celebrated figure, with decorated elephants, clanging cymbals and processions of palanquins making their way to his door. Yet, by the 1750s, he fell out of favour, was sent back to France, soon after which his wife died. In 1963, he died in penury and oblivion. And — as the detailed Dupleix menu-cum-history book says — “Thus miserably ended the most fantastic epic.”

Le Dupleix embraces the past in a rather unique way. “It took two and half years to create,” says Dilip, adding “my fear was that it would become just another heritage hotel. “ The point of hotel, he says, is to exhibit how Pondicherry stands for the harmonious intermingling of cultures, something General Dupleix best exemplified.

The challenge was to ensure continuity of the legend, without compromising on comfort. So a group of artists and architects sprung into action, often using 18th Century methods, artesian craft rather than machine-driven construction. The walls, for instance, have been finished with a silky smooth Chettinad egg plaster, consisting of layers of egg white, powdered sea shells and yogurt, each polished by hand.

Unfortunately, the cheerfully absent-minded service isn’t always quite as delightful as the décor. My deliciously quirky room, with a loft bed, charming wooden writing table and sunken shower that divided the bathroom into two was more trendy than practical.

While every room — each designed differently — definitely has a ‘wow’ factor, after a while the little things begin to interfere with the big picture: Welcome drinks wilting on a table for two days, soothingly inefficient room-service and a venerable old mango tree in the courtyard playing havoc with the wifi. It’s also a little startling to open the beautiful wooden doors in the morning and walk into chic people stylishly eating croissants in the courtyard when you’re still in pyjamas.

Nevertheless, the hotel has recently been listed by the London-based Times Online as one of ‘India’s 12 best hotels,’ thanks to its rooms with “sweet-smelling teak, antique pillars and high ceilings.”

The bottom line: Le Dupleix scores high on style, but needs to work on the nitty gritty.

After all, the past gets significantly less romantic when your shower leaks. Yet, the power of history, so lovingly restored and emphasised, make a stay here memorable anyway.

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