The Leela Coorg Forest Sanctuary: Can You Hold a Wedding There?

Yes. The Leela Coorg Forest Sanctuary is the 71-villa resort near Madikeri that The Leela bought in March 2026 and unveiled under its own name in July 2026. Its website lists weddings among its events, with a banquet hall and four lawns. The largest lawn is listed for 500 guests in theatre style or 250 in clusters.

What changed, and when?

On 17 March 2026 The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts announced that it had acquired a resort near Madikeri with 71 villas on 76 acres among coffee and spice plantations, a seven-acre lake and a private helipad. The release said the resort would be unveiled as The Leela Coorg Forest Sanctuary later in the year, and that a first phase would add 19 villas to make 90.

The new name was unveiled in a release dated 10 July 2026. When we read the resort's page on the Leela website on 15 November 2026, it carried booking and event enquiry forms.

What was the resort called before?

The Leela's releases do not name the earlier brand. The address on the Leela page is Kadagadal Post, Modur Village, Madikeri, and the map link on that page pointed to a place named Timbertales Luxury Resort Coorg when we read it. Older listings and maps for this address may still show that name.

Which spaces can hold a wedding function?

The Leela page lists these venues, with capacities as printed there on 15 November 2026:

• Celebrations Lawn: up to 500 guests in theatre style, 250 in clusters. The Leela describes it as suited to grand weddings.
• Lakeside Ranch: up to 300 in theatre style, 150 in clusters.
• Ovations Lawn: up to 90 in theatre style, 50 in clusters.
• Lakefront Lawn: up to 50 in theatre style, 25 in clusters, described as suited to intimate ceremonies and receptions.
• Ovations Banquet Hall (indoor): up to 140 in theatre style, 80 in clusters.

Theatre style means chairs in rows, which is how a muhurtham is usually seated. Clusters are round tables, which is closer to a dinner. So read the largest lawn as 500 for the ceremony and about 250 for a seated dinner, and ask the resort for its own wedding floor plan before you fix numbers.

How many guests can stay, and how do they get there?

With 71 villas today, the rooms and not the lawn set the guest list for a residential wedding. Ask whether a wedding needs a full buyout, how many guests each villa category sleeps, and when the extra 19 villas open.

The Leela page gives road times of about 3 hours from Kannur airport, 4 hours from Mangalore airport and 6 hours from Bengaluru airport. Plan for guests to arrive the day before the first function.

What should you ask before you sign?

Ask whether outside decorators are allowed and what can be built on each lawn, the set-up and dismantling hours, the sound cut-off for outdoor functions, the rain plan for each lawn and the menu and room rates for your dates. The Leela has not published wedding rates in the sources we read, so we do not quote any here.

Continue planning

• Wedding venues in Coorg
• What a Coorg wedding costs, by tier
• Leela wedding venues we cover in Bangalore and Kerala
• Planning a destination wedding in Coorg