This document provides information about Paliyam Nalukettu, a 450-year-old traditional Kerala house located in Paravur, Ernakulam District. It consists of a central courtyard surrounded by rooms on all four sides. The two-storey structure has kitchen, delivery rooms, and private bedrooms. Traditional materials and architectural features like thick laterite walls, tiled roofs, windows, ventilation openings, and a raised plinth were used to keep interiors cool and protect from floods/insects. The central courtyard, thick walls, overhangs, and passive ventilation techniques modulated temperature and airflow inside.

1. PALIYAM NALUKETTU
AMAL SRIDAR
KEERTHANA V MENON
NIHALA JEBIN
SRUTHY SIVADAS

3. INTRODUCTION
• LOCATED IN THE VILLAGE OF CHENDAMANGALAM NEAR
PARAVUR IN ERNAKULAM DISTRICT.
• BUILT TO HOUSE THE FEMALE MEMBERS OF THE PALIYAM
FAMILY.
• AROUND 450 YEARS OLD.
• IT IS TYPICAL KERALA STYLE HOUSE WITH A CENTRAL
COURTYARD (NADUMUTTAM) AND ROOMS PLACED ON
ALL FOUR SIDES OF IT.

4. SITE PLAN

5. ORIENTATION
• NAALU KETTU FACES SOUTH- DIRECT SUNLIGHT FROM LATE
MORNING TO EARLY AFTERNOON
• IT’S A SINGLE STRUCTURE WITHIN A COMPOUND WALL
• AT THE TIME OF CONSTRUCTION IT WAS AN ISOLATED AREA WHICH
ALLOWED FREE CIRCULATION OF WIND AND AIR WITHOUT ANY
OBSTRUCTION
• VERY FEW TREES AROUND, ALMOST BARREN.

6. PLINTH
• PLINTH HEIGHT= 75 CM
• VERANDAH HEIGHT= 60 CM
• SINCE PARAVUR WAS A FLOOD PRONE AREA THIS PLINTH HEIGHT
PROTECTED FROM THE FLOODS TO AN EXTEND
• PROTECTION FROM INSECTS AND OTHER ORGANISMS
• PROTECTION AGAINST DAMPNESS

8. • TWO STOREYED
• GROUND FLOOR CONSIST OF :
KITCHEN
KIZHAKKINI
THEKKINI
DELIVERY ROOMS
ARA
HIDDEN BASEMENT

9. • FIRST FLOOR CONSIST OF THE FOUR PRIVATE BEDROOMS WHICH ARE
JUST SEPERATED USING WOODEN BOARDS
• VALLYAMMA IS CONSIDERED TO BE THE MOST SUPERIOR AND HENCE
HER ROOM IS THE LARGEST OF ALL WHICH IS AGAIN IN THE FIRST
FLOOR.

11. WALLS AND COLUMNS
• MATERIALS USED:
WALLS- MADE OF LATERITE WITH SAND FILLING AND LIME
PLASTERING
COLUMNS: ENTIRELY MADE OUT OF TIMBER
• WALLS WERE 30CM THICK WHICH PROVIDED INSULATION AND KEPT
THE INTERIORS COOL

12. FLOORING
• SURKHI FLOORING : COOL INTERIORS
• EGG PLASTERING: MAKING THE FLOOR SMOOTH AND SHINY
• THE DELIVERY ROOM HAD TILES LAID WHICH WAS IMPORTED
DURING THAT TIME FROM FOREIGN COUNTRIES.
• FLOORS WERE MADE IN THREE DIFFERENT LEVELS- THE ARA AND
THEKKINI WERE RAISED TO A HEIGHT OF 45 CM AND THE BASEMENT
BELOW THE ARA.

14. COURTYARD
• PLAYS A VERY IMPORTANT ROLE IN CONTROLLING THE
TEMPERATURE WITHIN THE HOUSE
• MICRO CLIMATE MODIFIER
• OVERHANGS OF 1 METRE WIDTH ARE PROVIDED INORDER TO
PROTECT RAIN FROM GETTING TO THE INTERIORS
• CONTINOUS CIRCULATION OF AIR WITHIN THE INTERIOR
• ENABLES PASSIVE COOLING.

16. • VERANDAS ON ALL FOUR SIDES THAT LEAD TO VARIOUS
ROOMS.
• MOREOVER, SINCE LADIES WERE NOT ALLOWED TO GO
OUTSIDE, THEREFORE THIS WAS THEIR ONLY PLACE FOR
INTERACTION.

17. VENTILATION
• THE NALUKETT INCORPORATES THE PRINCIPLE OF KARNASUTRA. AN
OPENING IN THE FORM OF A SMALL HOLE IS PROVIDE IN THE SOUTH
WEST AND NORTH EAST CORNERS. THIS ALLOW THE PASSAGE OF AIR,
LIGHT ANG MAGNETIC FLUX DIAGONALLY THROUGH THE HOUSE.

18. • WINDOWS: PROVIDED AT A HEIGHT OF 60 CM FROM THE
FLOOR UPTO A HEIGHT OF 160CM.
MADE OF TIMBER FRAME AND TIMBER PANELS
THE OVERHANGS EXTEND SO AS TO LIMIT THE
DIRECT ENTRY OF SUNRAYS THROUGH THE WINDOWS
• THE FIRST FLOOR HAD WOODEN JALLIES BELOW THE
WINDOWSALL AROUND THAT OPENED TO THE
COURTYARD.
• EVEN THE ARA AND SECRET PASSAGE IN THE BASEMENT
WERE ALSO PROVIDED WITH VENTILATION.
• THERE WERE NO WINDOWS PROVIDED FOR THE PRIVATE
BEDROOMS.

19. ROOF
• TRADITIONAL PITCHED ROOF WITH A SLOPE OF 45 DEGREE
SUPPORTED OVER TIMBER FRAMES
• COVERED WITH TRADITIONAL ROOFING CLAY TILES
• THE PITCHED SLOPE ENABLES THE EASY DRAIN OF RAINWATER
• EXTENDED OVER THE VERANDAH AT A LENGTH OF 1M WHICH
PROTECTS THE WALLS FROM DIRECT HEAT AND RAINS

20. MACHU
• SIMILAR TOA FALSE CEILING PROVIDED BENEATH THE ROOF.
• MADE OF TIMBER.
• VREATED A LAYER OF AIR BETWEEN THE CEILING AND THE ROOF
WHICH ACT AS AN INSULATOR THAT PREVENTS THE CONDUCTION OF
EXTERIOR HEAT THROUGH THE ROOF.
• VENTILATIONS ARE PROVIDE BETWEEN MACHU AND THE ROOMS.

21. POOMUKHAM
IT IS THE WELCOMING SPACE OF THE
HOUSE.IT HAS A RAISED PLATFORM FOR
GATHERINGS.
THE SLOPING ROOFS ARE CLEARLY VISIBLE
HERE.

22. VALLYAMMA’S ROOM
IT IS THE LARGEST ROOM IN THE HOUSE. HAD GLASS WINDOWS WHICH
INCREASED HEAT COMPARED TO THE OTHER ROOMS. JALLIES ARE
PROVIDED BELOW THE WINDOWS FOR AIR CIRCULATION. TIMBER
PANELLING DONE ON ALL FOUR WALLS.

23. THEKKINI
KIZHAKKINI

24. ANALYSIS- TEMPERATURE
• MATERIALS USED HELPED IN REDUCING THE TEMPERATURE.
• OVERHANGS WERE PROVIDED AT A CONSEIDERABLE LENGTH WHICH
PREVENTED THE DIRECT EXPOSURE OF WALLS TO SUNLIGHT.
• PROVISION OF MACHU.
• COURTYARD.
• THICK WALLS.

25. WIND
• THE BEDROOMS WERE PROVIDED IN THE SOUTH WEST AND WEST
DIRECTIONS WHICH MADE MAXIMUM UTILISATION OF NATURAL
WIND.
• KARNASUTHRA THAT RUNS FROM SOUTH WEST TO NORTH EAST.
• KITCHEN WAS PLACED IN THE NORTH EAST DIRECTION SO THAT THE
WIND WOULD FLOW OUT OF THE KITCHEN.

26. RAIN
• PITCHED ROOFS AND EAVE BOARS HELPED IN THE
DRAINAGE OF RAIN WATER.
• OVERHANGS PROTECTED WALLS FROM COMING INTO
DIRECT CONTACT WITH RAIN.