Rajakumari, Idukki: The Village Our Spices Come From

Rajakumari is a farming village in the high ranges of Idukki district, Kerala, at an elevation of roughly 1,060 metres, and it's where Pure Leven is based. It sits in Udumbanchola taluk, south-east of Munnar, and its main crops are cardamom and black pepper.

Where exactly is Rajakumari?

Rajakumari lies in the eastern hills of Idukki, the district that borders Tamil Nadu along the Western Ghats. Administratively, it's one of the villages of Udumbanchola taluk, whose headquarters is the town of Nedumkandam. Neighbouring villages in the same taluk include Rajakkad, Santhanpara and Chinnakanal.

Our postal address is Rajakumari, Idukki, Kerala 685619.

Rajakumari at a glance

How the Idukki high ranges came to grow spices

Rajakumari is part of the wider Cardamom Hills, which take their name from the spice that grows in their cool, shaded forests. Cardamom cultivation here has a long official history: in 1822 the Kingdom of Travancore issued a royal proclamation creating an administrative area to promote cardamom growing in these hills.

Much of Idukki's present farming population arrived later. Families from central Kerala moved up into the hills in waves through the first half of the twentieth century, with a large increase in the 1940s and 1950s, driven by food shortages and the need for land. They cleared plots and planted food crops alongside spices. Many Idukki farms today are still small and mixed rather than large single-crop estates.

Our post on the history of the Idukki cardamom hills covers this in more depth.

What grows around Rajakumari?

• Cardamom, grown under shade trees. It's the main cash crop for many families.
• Black pepper, with vines trained up the same shade trees.
• A range of other crops in smaller mixed plots, from coffee to bananas, tapioca and vegetables.

Cardamom needs shade, cool temperatures and plenty of rain, and the high ranges offer all three.

How Pure Leven fits in

Our family has been farming in this area for about 30 years. The farm started with pepper before moving into cardamom, and that story is told in From Black Pepper to Cardamom.

Today we also work with a small group of farming families around Idukki. Our cardamom, black pepper, white pepper and cloves come from Idukki, with the cloves from around Adimali. Cardamom is dried in a cardamom dryer, a heated drying chamber, and everything is packed whole with nothing added.

What this means if you're buying from us

• The spices are packed here in Idukki, close to where they're grown.
• If you have a question about a spice, you can message us on WhatsApp at +91 88482 65849 and speak to someone based here.
• Orders usually reach you in 4 to 5 working days anywhere in India.

Visiting the area

If you're travelling to Munnar, the high ranges around it are cardamom and pepper country. Our guide to what spices to buy in Munnar will help you pick well at the shops there.

If you'd rather order from home, start with our whole Idukki cardamom.

Sources

• Wikipedia: Rajakumari, Idukki district
• Wikipedia: Cardamom Hills
• The Kerala Museum: highland migration to Idukki in the mid-twentieth century