TRADITIONAL INDIAN HOUSING: SOUTH INDIA
- Malika Vaidya
- Oct 22, 2020
- 5 min read
Last week, we covered the traditional houses of north India. This week, we are looking at the traditional houses of the peninsular region of India. The southern region of India consists of 5 states, namely, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
KARNATAKA
GUTTHU HOUSES
The Gutthu houses belonged to the land-owning ‘Bunt’ community of south Karnataka. Built as large, inward looking Hindu manors, a typical Gutthu house had a steep pitched roof covering a single or double storied block around a courtyard. Typically built for joint families, these were isolated for outsiders to prevent attacks.
The architecture of the house followed vastu principles and had a raised veranda flanked by pillars carved out of wood at the entrance of the house. Rooms were arranged around a central inner courtyard connected by a passageway, used by the women of the house as a socialising space.
The façade of the house was symmetrical and wood was the main construction material. The ornately and intricately designed wooden pillars in a traditional ‘Bunt’ house are called Gutthu Mane, which upheld a decorated wooden ceiling having floral designs or foliage motifs.
AINMANE HOUSES
The Coorg (Kodagu) district of Karnataka was the region of warrior clans or vokka. Each clan lived in an ancestral home called Ain- Mane, which was a cluster of houses. Most Ainmane’s faced East and used wood extensively for construction.
Instead of a foundation, they were built on a raised mud plinth about a meter high. Similar to the Gutthu house, the veranda was flanked by wooden pillars tapering upwards in a finger like projection.
Long, polished slabs of wood called Aimaras, were placed between the wooden pillars which was used as a seating. The first Aimara to the left of the steps leading to the veranda was dedicated to the head of the clan and was treated as a reserved seating for the head of the family.
Like Gutthu houses and other traditional homes, the Ainmane had rooms connected by a passageway, arranged around the inner central courtyard. Some Ainmane’s also had secret passages from the courtyards to the outside of the house, which allowed women and children to escape in the event of a war.
ANDHRA PRADESH AND TELANGANA
This region can be divided into three distinct geographical regions - Telengana, Rayalseema and costal Andhra. Rayalseema is a part of the Deccan plateau and is famous for its black slate stone which was used for flooring, shelving and roofing. Telangana includes Hyderabad and Secundarabad, which are influenced by Muslim architecture due to the rule of Nizam dynasty for a long duration.
COASTAL ANDHRA HOUSE
Known as Chuttillu which means a round house (illu stands for house), the walls were built using the cob wall technique. These circular house clusters helped to minimise the effects of cyclone in the coastal areas and prevent much damage.
MANDUVA LOGILI HOUSE
Found in the districts of Godavri, Guntur and Nellore, these traditional homes are characterised by rooms arranged around an inner courtyard or a large hall stretching across the house. These houses are adorned with teak or rosewood pillars and built in red bricks.
TAMIL NADU
Home to varied geographical and topographical regions, Tamil Nadu has houses with nuanced variations. Though the basic structure remains same across regions, the various houses can be classified on the basis of ‘class’ rather than regional differences. A rich and prosperous house looked very different from that of a poor household. The poor used mud and rice husk whereas the rich used sun-dried bricks as a construction material. But, lime plaster on the walls to reflect the sunlight remained a common material in both types of houses. Some common features in these traditional houses is the inner courtyard of the house and a raised veranda at the front entrance, used for social functions and family gatherings.
CHETTINAD HOUSE
The Chettinad region was home to the merchant community of Tamil Nadu. The front veranda was columned and had teak wood pillars, probably imported from Burma as the Chettiars held a presence in that region.
The houses were characterised by the use of teak and marble with two towers flanking the front veranda which contained small rooms where business was conducted. The intricately carved front door led to an inner raised veranda where family photos were hung.
The inner courtyard was also surrounded by pillars and led to various rooms in the house. Another courtyard towards the rear end of the house functioned as a meeting and socialising space for the women of the house.
BRAHMIN AGRAHARAM
Agraharam were a set of clustered houses, around thirty to forty, situated on both sides of the street with a temple at the end of the street. As the name suggests, these clustered houses belonged to the Brahmin community who received a royal grant i.e Agraharam, for the purpose of building temples and as a means of sustaining their families.
The layout of an Agraharam resembles a garland around a temple reminiscent of the temple cities of South India. These houses were typically single or double storied but without an inner courtyard. Small windows just below the second roof (clerestory) provided light and ventilation into the space.
KERALA
Architecture of this region has Dravidian influence. There is a striking difference in the traditional houses of Kerala compared to Tamil Nadu, which is, Tamil Nadu houses are clustered whereas a traditional house in Kerala is isolated from its neighbouring houses and has land around it, usually called ‘Thodi’ or ‘Parambu’. This land is used to cultivate vegetable and fruit bearing trees.
There is a difference in the materials used for construction in the Old Malabar (North region) and the Travancore (central-south region) regions of Kerala. The old Malabar region used laterite stone for construction whereas timber was used in the Travancore region. Due to an abundance of land, water and materials, wealthy Kerala houses also had a granary, cowshed, guest houses and a well which was directly accessible from the kitchen. Some even had workshop areas where martial arts like Kalarippayattu were practised.
One similarity between the traditional houses of Tamil Nadu and Kerala was the presence of one or two inner courtyards, which helped cool breeze to pass through the house.
NALUKETTU
A traditional homestead housing generations of family, the Nalukettu used laterite as the primary construction material- a distinct feature of the old Malabar region. Characterised by a central open inner courtyard flanked by small rooms- as they housed generations of the family, these homes had a simple yet effective layout.
The courtyard was flanked by large fluted columns, with open courtyard allowing sun and rain water in. The elevated veranda at the entrance of the house was flanked by columns, used to entertain guests, which led to the entrance door adorned with intricately carved motifs.
SYRIAN CHRISTIAN HOUSE
The Syrian Christians were timber and spice traders. Hence, the primary material used for construction was wood – a distinctive feature of the Travancore region.
The house directly entered into a granary unlike other traditional houses. It housed a living room, a separate dining room and kitchen. The Syrian Christians hung a narrow boat resembling a Gondola from the roof at one side of the house.
The architecture of traditional houses was birthed due to the need of the people, through a process of growth and influenced by the tradition, climate and the millennium. These are homes, not stagnant forms, which evolved slowly to envelope the culture and traditions of the people living around and within.
A great observation :D tying both the traditional and modern architecture together.
Goodcread!
The common factor in the traditional houses is Nalukettu or the central courtyard. In modern architecture too the atriums remain the center point for gatherings and events...
Thank you 😊
Good article