Kerala Architechture: Thekkanattu Parayil Heritage Home

Two more pictures of a Kerala Heritage Home.

Photos: TP (Copyright reserved).

Click on images for enlarged view.

Also see:
Interiors

Kerala architecture: Verandas, corridors of a nalukettu house

Images from Thekkanattu Parayil Tharakans' heritage home at Olavipe.

Gatehouse corridor. Photo: KO Isaac

Eastern veranda downstairs. Photo: AT.

Western veranda downstairs. Photo: AT

Eastern veranda upstairs: Photo: TP

Corridor to the nalukettu. Photo: AT

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Also see:

Kerala architecture: Mansion of the Marquises

Kerala Architecture: Interiors

Kerala Architecture: Exterior of a heritage home

Kerala Architecture - Olavipe Heritage Home

Kerala architecture: More on nalukettu

My post Kerala Architecture: Nalukettu, ettukettu, pathinarukettu keeps on attracting so many visitors that I thought more information on the subject would be appropriate. For the benefit of those who are not familiar with the term, nalukettu means an open inner courtyard (nadumuttam) with built up area all around. The literal translation of nalukettu is ‘buildings on all four sides’.

The photo above is that of our nalukettu at Thekkanattu Parayil, Olavipe taken from an upstairs window. It gives a fairly good idea of the layout. The traditional nalukettus were either rectangular or square. I have not come across nalukettu of any other shape in old houses.

What is the purpose of a nalukettu? I can only comment based on my experience. The functional parts of it are the verandas on the western and eastern sides. Because of the excellent cross ventilation these always remain cool. Another reason for this low temperature effect could be that the hot air keeps escaping through the open roofless space in the middle.

There is an old neem tree opposite to the western door across the outer courtyard and the breeze that blows in from the Olavipe Lake carries the faint smell from its leaves. That is supposed to be healthy. Normally there would be a medicinal tulasi (basil) plant in the inner courtyard. We don’t have tulasi in the nadumuttam because it is there in the front of the house.

The nadumuttam is an excellent place for little children to play safely, say, like a large pen. It is also used to keep vessels like cauldrons which are not in regular use. Those which are in constant usage would be at the places where they are required, and those which are rarely needed, would be in the attic. The nadumuttam also provides good lighting to the built up space around it.

But above all, nalukettu is the living area, traditionally for the ladies and children. Now of course men also use the comfortable verandas. I am giving below two photos to indicate the use of nalukettu as the living room.

My wife Annie and brother Joe

That's me relaxing

Photos: Top - AT, last two - KO Isaac
Click on photos for enlarged view.

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Also see:
Kerala architecture – ‘Ara’ in heritage homes

Kerala Architecture: Exterior of a heritage home

Kerala Architecture: Interiors

Here are some more pictures of the interior of the Thekkanattu Parayil Tharakans' heritage home.

Photo credits: top 3 TP, 4th Karthiki, last KO Isaac.
Also see:
Interior of a heritage home.

Kerala architecture: Verandas, corridors of a nalukettu house

Kerala Architecture: Exterior of a heritage home

Kerala Architecture: Prayer room of a heritage home

Prayer rooms (pooja muri) are common in the old Kerala homes. Photos of this one at Thekkanattu Parayil, Olavipe, are by K.O. Isaac.

Click on images to enlarge.
Also see:Kerala Architecture - Olavipe Heritage Home

Kerala heritage home: grill-work

Details of grill-work at Thekkanattu Parayil, Olavipe, are shown in the following pictures:

Gatehouse
Photo: Karthiki

Western veranda
Photo: Karthiki

Front veranda - wood work
Photo: Karthiki

An entrance to nalukettu
©Thekkanattu Parayil

On a compound wall
©Thekkanattu Parayil

Also see:

Kerala Architecture - Olavipe Heritage Home

Kerala Architecture: Exterior of a heritage home

Kerala Architecture - Olavipe Heritage Home

Recently a viewer pointed out that all the photos I've uploaded so far, like the image on the left, show only the front (east) of the Thekkanattu Parayil Tharakans' heritage home at Olavipe. His observation is correct and I'm grateful to him for that.

All the five Parayil Tharakan heritage homes existing to day, are east facing. I suppose that this has something to do with vasthu. For old houses, every calculation was based on this system. It was, and still is, believed that any mistake in the calculations could bring dire consequences to the building and the people who dwell in it.

Given below are two pictures of Thekkanattu Parayil seen from the west:



© Thekkanattu Parayil

Click on the last two photos to enlarge.

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Also see:
Lions that guard Thekkanattu Parayil

Interiors

Lions that guard Thekkanattu Parayil

A pair each of baked-clay lions guards the eastern and western entrances to the house. They have been keeping vigil for a century and more. See them below:

Photos: Karthiki

No child has grown up at Thekkanattu Parayil without climbing on the back of these lions. And sitting there, a child’s imagination soars. You are the lord of all that you survey – the expanse of the white sand of the court yard, the garden, the mango and jackfruit trees, swaying coconut palms, the rice fields in the distance.

Then the spoilsports – adults - come along. You can hear the order before it is actually delivered: “Get down, you’ll fall.” (I don’t think that anyone has ever fallen off the lions.) Immediately a servant would appear near the lion and try to hold you but you resist. No child likes such restraints.

After the elder is gone you shout at the servant. He takes off his hands but stands by, alert. The ride goes on, till you notice a pair of mynahs, or a pigeon or kingfisher and jump off the lion to chase it, the servant in tow. Or you just get bored and play something else.

In each pair of these ‘dwarapalakas’, (door sentries) one is different from the other. Can you notice it from the photographs?

One lion has his eyes closed while the other is wide awake. Sometimes the question ‘why’ is asked. That happened last week as well. The usual answer is that the lions take turns at duty. But that leads to another question.

When will the sleeping lion wake up to take over the vigil?

No answers yet.

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The House That Grandfather Built.

Some Olavipe Photos by K.O. Isaac

Eastern Gate House,
Thekkanattu Parayil.

Western gate in the background

Rice- shrimp field

Canoing

A Kerala Tharavad.

Photo: Patrik

The photo above is that of Velliara Parayil, the oldest among the five Parayil heritage homes, and the 'tharavad'. This was built about two-hundred years back near the original ‘tharavad’ of the family. After it was completed, the old one, also an ‘ettukettu’, was dismantled and shifted to a plot called Edavanthala in Olavipe.

For the benefit of those who are not familiar with the terminology, here is a brief explanation. ‘Tharavad’ is the original home of a family. ‘Nalukettu’ means a house with one inner courtyard. ‘Ettukettu’ would have two such courtyards, and ‘Pathinarukettu’, four. Important families with a certain social standing were allowed to construct up to ‘ettukettu’. Only members of the royal families could have ‘pathinarukettu’. Likewise, the privilege of having gatehouses for their homes was exclusive to people belonging to the upper crust.

The verandas of the inner courtyard near the kitchen used to be area for women and children. The men of the house hardly went there. Similarly, the women rarely visited the front part of the house. That was the men’s domain.

Coming back to the Velliara mansion – apart from the size, two things that would impress a visitor are the quantity of carved wood used in the construction and the area of the northern inner courtyard that could accommodate a small villa. There used to be an escape route from the granary within the house, a tunnel, which was sealed off decades ago. In spite of all the facilities, space and the large estate around, for some time now no one is staying there regularly.

No account of Velliara is complete without a reference to the family’s private oratory near the ‘tharavad’. Consecrated in 1869, it is popularly known as Velliara Church. See photo below:

Also see:

Kerala architecture: Mansion of the Marquises

The House That Grandfather Built.

The Thekkanattu Parayil Crest.

Parayil Mathoo Avira Tharakan
(my grandfather)

The house that grandfather built.Construction started in 1890
and the house was occupied in 1903. Today it is a homestay.
(Olavipe Homestay)
Photo: Patrik.

Related post:

http://parayilat.blogspot.com/2007/03/olavipe-gift-of-waves-to-kerala-gods_10.html

A beautiful photograph.

Entrance to the front veranda of
Thekkanattu Parayil Heritage Home.
Photo: Ca. Hari.

Interior of a heritage home.

Thekkanattu Parayil, Olavipe.

Hosts Antony & Jacob on the front veranda. Photo: Medhekar.

Drawing room.

A bedroom

A writing desk.

A corner of the archives room. Photo: Medhekar.

Also see:

Lions that guard Thekkanattu Parayil

Kerala Architecture: Exterior of a heritage home

Interiors

OLAVIPE: Heritage Home of Thekkanattu Parayil Tharakans.

The house at dawn. Photo: Shobhanaj

View of the house during day. Photo: Medhekar.

View with the lights on: Photo: The Hindu.

Gate house at night. Photo: Shobhanaj.

This is my ancestral home, (one among the five Parayil Family Heritage Homes) where twelve of us siblings grew up. There were three more, who died young. (See 'Oru Desathinte Amma' and, 'Appan':

http://parayilat.blogspot.com/2007/01/oru-desathinte-amma.html
http://parayilat.blogspot.com/2007/01/appan.html

The house used to be full of noise and laughter and fights among children. And crawling with servants. Then, starting with my elder sister Mariamma, one by one we went off to boarding schools and on to the university. Later the girls were married into other families and the boys took up careers. I was the first one from the Parayil Family to accept a job.

The house stood silent witness to these events and the slow transition from feudalism to democracy. We and the house survived the dramatic and sometimes traumatic changes during the almost seven decades of my memory. A great deal of our lands was lost because of the agrarian reforms policy of successive governments. But, fortunately, the bond between our people who stood with us all along and us remain strong.

Each one of us reached positions of importance and authority in the respective fields that we chose. Today, except the youngest three, the rest are all 60+. It is said that the new models are always an improvement on the earlier ones. By God's grace, our next generation seems to be surpassing us. We strongly believe that the intercession of St. Antony, the Parayil Family's Patron Saint will be with each one of us, as it has been with the family for the last three hundred years or so.

Sometimes, the house lay vacant for long stretches. With all the beauty of Olavipe, it is not always easy for us to stay there continuously because even today the local set up is such that we can only sit with relatives or visitors of equal status and have a drink. Couple of year’s back we opened six bedrooms (maximum permitted by the government for home stay) to selected guests. We love their company. Olavipe is now an internationally famous destination.

I hope to write in this Blog more about Olavipe and its people, and about the vast socio - political and cultural changes that have taken place in my memory.

Ends.
Also see:

Kerala Architecture: Exterior of a heritage home

Lions that guard Thekkanattu Parayil