Discover India's ancient spa treatments in eco-luxury at Coconut Lagoon

UNVEIL the healing wonders of cotton bags filled with rice, baked banana leaves and turbans drenched in oil in this traditional Indian spa resort.

Coconut Lagoon

CLOISTERED behind a screen in the foyer, Dr Indira waggles her head from side to side.

Her stethoscope looks like a museum relic, as does the geriatric sphygmomanometer used to measure my blood pressure. Her sari swishes as she pokes, prods and writes in her notebook.

"My bowel movements are fine, thank you," I whisper.

Not only am I keen to keep the other guests in the waiting area of the Coconut Lagoon, ayurvedic and marma chikitsa treatment centre from overhearing this bit of news, but I've actually come down with an irksome bout of laryngitis.

I'm here for a relaxing spa treatment, but no one avoids a grilling from the vaidyar, or ayurvedic physician, first. I study the list of treatments, which range from herbal head massages (to cure hair loss and "premature greying") to being buttered with a herbal poultice, trussed up in banana leaves and baked under the sun to purify the skin and blood.

There are specialty massages for every part of the body, including the intriguing vajeekaranam, which the pamphlet describes as a massage to "enhance sexual vigour by purifying and improving blood circulation to the genitals".

The herbal powders, oils and creams are made from fresh roots, leaves, tree bark, sap, spices, shrubs and weeds.

Who would have thought that rubbing a cotton bag of cooked rice dipped in hot milk over the body could cure rheumatism? Or wearing a cylindrical turban filled with warm oil could do wonders for the eyes?

Steeped in tradition
But these treatments are not gimmicky ploys dreamt up by a marketing team. They are based on ayurvedic and marma chikitsa principles, which are medicine systems that are thousands of years old.

Marma chikitsa began in Kerala and is the traditional medicine practised by kalaripayattu martial arts devotees.

Men see a male doctor on one side of the room, while women are scrutinised under the keen eye of Dr Indira, who eventually pronounces that I'm vata pita, a balance of air and fire doshas (or elements).

Another head waggle precedes her prescription of rasayana uzhichil, a relaxing rejuvenation treatment.

There are no modestly draped towels or discreetly averted eyes in the treatment room.

My therapist is a thin woman who gets straight down to business. As I strip, she folds and stacks each piece of clothing in a neat pile.

"No underwear please, madam," she says.

Standing stark naked in front of someone who is supermodel-thin does nothing for the ego.

I suck in my tummy, which is showing the effects of too many mouth-watering Keralan curries, sambars and pappadums. What I really need is the 12-day sthaulyaikna chikitsa slimming program.

I get to wear a flimsy pair of disposable knickers that look like a cross between a nappy and a panty. Then I'm told to sit on a low stool where my shoulders are pummelled and my head is massaged with buttermilk.

Another therapist enters the room and I'm moved to a massage bed where four hands knead my muscles until I'm so relaxed that I fall asleep.

Then, wrapped in a towel that's slightly bigger than a dishcloth, the women lead me to a shower room where I'm scrubbed down and bathed like a child from head to toe.

Eco-luxury
Feeling rejuvenated, I stumble back to my theravad (cottage). These century-old theravads were dismantled in the Kerala countryside and reassembled in this tranquil setting of coconut groves and canals on Kerala's backwaters.

Coconut Lagoon is an ecotourism resort in a tranquil area of Kumarakom, at the mouth of the Kavanar River, and can only be reached by boat. It's a chemical-free zone that employs local tribal methods, where possible, and is owned by Indian ecotourism company CGH Earth.

Guests are encouraged to visit the resort's fish sanctuary and butterfly garden and tour the water and waste-treatment plants and "biomass digesters".

My heritage bungalow comes with its own small cow, Chitragadha, which I find munching on grass between coconut trees.

Kerala's Vechur cows are almost extinct (there are about 300 left in the world) and are bred at Coconut Lagoon Resort in collaboration with the Agricultural University of Mannuthy. Chitragadha is the project's first Vechur cow to be born from artificial insemination.

A kalaripayattu class, at 6 o'clock each morning, is followed by an hour of yoga. I find the kalaripayattu stretching exercises difficult, but I enjoy immensely the energetic fighting style demonstrated by the kalaripayattu master and an advanced student.

The yoga class is much easier and suitable for beginners. Advanced yoga students can make special arrangements for private lessons.

Tharavadu restaurant serves mouth-watering traditional Keralan cuisine and has an ayurvedic menu of drinks and food to aid digestion and support healthy living.

Freshly caught fish, grown organically in the resort's paddy fields, are cooked with red rice. Prawns, mussels, crabs and pearl-spot fish are caught daily in Lake Vembanad and its backwater canals.

The resort employs staff from a nearby village, which guests are encouraged to visit.

I'm here during a temple festival and the drum beats pull me towards the crowded temple square, where an elephant decked in glittering jewels is being led around by torch bearers. It's a local touch that adds a cultural richness to my stay.

The entire experience at Coconut Lagoon leaves me feeling renewed. I don't know if it was the ayurvedic spa treatment, the fresh air or the healthy food, but my larynx has made a rapid and miraculous recovery.

If this is the result, I'm prepared to hand over my knickers any time.

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Retreat: Luxury spa holidays