VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE

-VAISHNAVI IYER

IAD-LEVEL 1

PALAKKAD, KERALA.

‘Paccha parvadani’(the green carpet) is used to describe Palakkad in Kerala. Where every inch of the land can be
cultivated is. Palakkad manifests its fecundity in sense, smell and sights. Palakkad lies in the north eastern part of Kerala,
running along the border between Tamil Nadu and Kerala Palakkad. The place has got a large confluence of domestic,
innovative and contemporary Dravidian architecture.

Palakkad is the gateway to Kerala due to the presence of the Palakkad gap in the Western Ghats. Out of the total place
most of the area is covered by dense forests. Most villages in this district fall under the midland region except for a few
talukas in the north that happen to be hilly and fall under highland region.

Palakkad is one of the fourteen revenue districts in the state of Kerala. This district is almost situated in the center of the
state which is why it has no costal line. Palakkad witnesses invasions of historical importance that have left indelible
impressions on the place. Palakkad’s economy is and always has primarily been agriculture. The proximity and the easy
approach to Tamil Nadu, have caused the admixture of Malayalam and Tamil culture here.

Due to the presence of the Western Ghats and the nilgiri mountains running through Palakkad, the area had remained
secluded and separate from the rest of India.

PHYSICAL FEATURES
LOCATION:

Palakkad is situated in the south west coast of India. Topographically, the district can be divided into two regions. Based
on the physical features the district can be broadly divided into two categories. The mid land and the high land. The
midland regions that run down to the south of the district are full of valleys and plains. And the north of the district
leads up to high mountain peaks, long spurs and dense forests. Midland is thick with coconut, are canut, cashew,
pepper, rubber and paddy cultivation. The soil is laterite in the hill and mid land regions. Ottappalam taluk lies
completely in the midland and highland regions. The road and rail links between Kerala and Tamil Nadu pass through the
Palakkad gap.

CLIMATE:

The district has a humid climate with a very hot season extending from March to June in the Western Part of the district
whereas it is less humid in the Eastern sector. The most important, rainy season is during South West Monsoon which
sets the second week of June and extends up to September, throughout with heavy rains. About 75 per cent of the
annual rain is received during the south west monsoon period. During the period December to May, rain is partially
received though very scarce and irregular. The temperature of the district ranges from 20'C to 45'C. The maximum
temperature recorded at Palakkad was 43'C.

SOIL:

The soil of Palakkad district is mainly of four types, namely, peaty (kari), laterite, forest and black Laterite (that seen in
the major portions of all taluks.)

MINERALS:

Low grade iron ore (magnetite) is found. Limestone deposits are found in a few regions. Muscovite mica is reported to
be present in some northern villages. A large quantity of limestone deposit is found in the forest areas.

Architecture
The architecture in Palakkad, adds up in a small amount to what we classify as Dravidian architecture. Most of the
architecture here is influences by the Indian Vedic architecture (Vastu- Shastra).

The architecture in Palakkad got evolved and influenced because of its peculiar climate and due to its influences from its
state’s trading partners; the Arabs, the Chinese, the Europeans to name a few..

The architecture here was built to counter the wettest climatic conditions, heavy humidity, and harsh tropical summers.

The indigenous adoption of the available raw materials for architectural expression became a dominant feature of the
Kerala style.
The development in Palakkad had always been horizontal rather than vertical showing intimate human scale in the
houses.

A. NATURAL BUILDING MATERIALS AVAILABLE:

 STONES:
-Granite, was restricted mainly to the highlands and marginally to the hilly zones.
-Laterite stones were found in most zones.
-Soft laterite which was a fairly rare stone was used because of its ability to get stronger and more durable with
the exposure to the environment.
[ These stones were bounded in mortars of shell lime that was available abundantly.
Lime mortar can be strengthened by admixtures of vegetable juice]

 TIMBER:
- Prime structural material used in all the vernacular houses.
- Abundantly available
- Many varieties available including rosewood, teak, bamboo, etc.
- Used throughout the structure as a frame. Also used in columns, walls, roofs, frames, fits for joints etc.
- Skillful and delicate carvings in pillars and other similar places the wood is used in.

 CLAY:
- Clay was used in many forms. Like timber, clay was also used to build the structure of the houses.
- Used for walling, filling the timber floors.
- Making bricks and tiles
[usually was tampered with admixtures]

 PALM LEAVES:
- Palm leaves are still used effectively for thatching roofs
- Making partition walls.
- And along with the mud walls, palm leaves still are the poor man’s construction material.

B. TRADITIONAL IMPACT

There are two very broadly classified groups that are still presently seen in Palakkad.

Secular and Religious.

Back in time, all or a major sum of resources used to be activated in building temples and the resistance kept increasing
through the points. Since gods were considered to be immortal, permanent materials like stone, brick and tile were used
for only the houses of gods. While mortals restricted to mud and thatch constructions.

Since a lot was based on vastu, both categories had a great deal in common but totally different purposes. ( Seen in the
degree of opulence)

The planning, the form and the material seemed to differ majorly.
This differentiation and specification was based on three other categories, listed according to the priorities,

The temple

The palace and

The house.

The house was worked on with the aim of making it minimalistic, public and substantial. While the palaces were built
with the intention of remaining secluded from the rest of the society. The temples were built to remain as a permanent
meeting point and a place for vast social gathering amongst all the villages.

C. HOUSES OF MEN. BY THE MEN.

A South Indian’s simplicity is reflected in their home decor. Wide, open spaces often feature minimalist and rustic
wooden furniture. Traditional ancestral homes spelt understated style and beauty.

Form and Pattern: the houses were arranged in the manner of a grid with the temple forming the main focus. They
were linear in organization. This was done with the aim of having equally broad streets throughout the taluka. The
houses in south Palakkad were mostly one storied while those in north Palakkad, located on the uneven hilly terrain had
two stories with the second floor being used as a terrace. There were wide main streets that ran in between the rows of
houses ultimately reaching the temple. These rows of houses shared on common traditional pitched roof. These houses
were made with the intention of having three categories of places. Namely, public (large hall, well), semi-public (porch,
verandah) and private (yard, cattle yard). The houses were known to reflect the occupation and the religious relevance.
The entire unit was kept symmetrical around an axis to aid the sharing and division od spaces among a large sum of
family members.

The whole exercise of architecture was an energy efficient, eco-conscious and scientific technique that these inhabitants
had followed.

The houses were divided by a common wall that was shared by two units.

Some villages even showed to have a concentric ring as a pattern again with the temple forming the main focus.

Hipped Roofs: These were usually thatched or tiled. When tiled, the tiles were made of clay. Eventually as technology
advanced, Mangalore tiles started being used. But, the thatched roof system still remains being used in some villages of
Palakkad. This, because using thatch was environment friendly, abundantly available in all regions of the district, was
functional, light weighted and replaceable. Also, the roof being thatched helped sunlight seep into the house. At times,
glass tiles were put at selected areas on the roof to perform the same function.
 The glass tile put to help sunlight come into the house.

The Common Wall: All houses/units shared two common walls. The slabs that were placed on either sides of the units.
These were made of cheekal kata that was a locally available material. The walls we made completely of mud or of
blocks with huge dimensions. If and when made with blocks, they were cemented with lime plaster and plinth in which
the house stood was initially made of stone. Then they were made of large granite blocks which were laid in a special
manner.

People, who were rich, usually had a well attached to the kitchen from where water could be drawn through the
opening on the wall.
Now, there were these kinds of houses were a number of units were constructed in a large rectangular parallelepiped
and then there were secluded houses where, the houses were placed in the middle of a garden or a piece of land and
around the whole of this was a fence made of wood up to which the ground of each inhabitant came.

But most districts follow the pattern of having units in a linear pattern. Each unit was a rectangular block that was split
into two more rectangular blocks that made for two rooms in a house. The room at the latter half of the unit was used
by the family members to sleep in. While the room in the front was used as a living room. This room stretched wide and
had a kitchen on one end. The separating object between them was a granite or stone block that reached above half the
height of the room. The kitchens had a portion of them dedicated to the gods. Now-a-days different rooms are made
dedicated entirely to gods known a prayer rooms or pooja rooms. This was present in the houses that the rich people
stayed in. The stretch of the long block had a maximum of 7 units. Out of which a set number was provided or taken
under according to the number of members in a family. Now, the block had steps running throughout two sides. With
one large first step that was considered as the verandah. This is where swings made of cane were put as a product used
for recreational purposes. The swing is called as an unnjal. And at the end of a few steps, a marking was made to the
front of the block reserving an area for kolam (design made out of wet crushed diluted rice). All these factors made the
place very social and very easy to gather and while away the time. The separation of two villages was simply done by
placing a 6ft stone wall in between the boundaries. Each of these units also have a backdoor. On one end of the block
containing these units, was a unit without a roof that had an indoor courtyard built especially for conducting rituals that
included fire. The opening in the ceiling was grilled. This helped the room be ventilated properly without causing anyone
suffocation. And at the other end that led to the open yards and forests were located the scavenger lanes. This is the
open yard used by the people instead of a washroom. For the hygiene, the garbage would be collected by the
scavengers at night.

Such was the working and planning of the units.

Now, there were structures too that were built in different forms using different materials etc. for example the double
hipped roof with pierced gables made with Mangalore tiles, conical roofs, multi tired roofing that was done just for the
appearance, hexagonal roofs etc.

But these were a sort of experimentation with the available materials and the unique new shapes. The houses and the
villages that were planned in the linear format are still intact working the same functional spaces. Also, the roofs were
always hipped and steeply pitched at a 45 degree angle to slide the water off of the roofs during heavy rainfall.

D. COMPONENTS

Puramthinna: the long corridor running in from of all the units.

Akamthinna: the one unit used as/for storage in/by all the people living in that one block. ( this block was known as an
agaraharm)

Rezhi : the living room (also was at times used as the bedroom by the people)which is also important because it is
where all the religious ceremonies and rituals were conducted.

Thalam: the unit which has an inbuilt courtyard used for rituals with sacrificial fire.

Adukkala: this is the kitchen.

Kottil: the independent structure located at the extreme end of the yard often used as the cowshed or storage space.
Scavenger Lanes: used as toilets. There were narrow lanes running behind the set of units, through which scavengers
came and collected them at night.

Vernacular Architecture is the truth of the inhabitants of a region. "It is the architecture without architects". The
traditional, ethnic and innate approach to the building up of spaces dons the title of vernacular – specific and critical to a
region. From the architectural point of view the Agra haram in Palakkad, Kerala are unique and differ from those in Tamil
nadu and at the same time draw a contrasting picture of the traditional Kerala style of architecture.

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