kerala vernacular architecture.

1. VERNACULAR
ARCHITECTURE
Kerala Architecture
SUBMITTED BY: RAHUL
VERMA
SASHI KIRAN
VISESH
DHAWAN

2. KERALA ARCHITECTURE
• Kerala Architecture is one of the most exciting examples of
preservation of vernacular styles.
• The evolution of domestic architecture of Kerala followed
closely the trend of development in temple architecture.
• The primitive models of circular, square or rectangular plain
shapes with a ribbed roof evolved from functional
consideration.
• The climate of Kerala greatly influenced the traditional
architecture.
• The natural building materials available for construction in
Kerala i.e. stones, timber, clay and palm leaves have anchored

3. INFLUENCE OF CLIMATE
• Kerala has a warm humid climate. The rainfall is very heavy from
south west and north east monsoons
• To keep the rain and sun away form the walls the roofs of the
building come down very low.
• They have verandah all round the building protecting the external
walls from sun and rain.
• The width of the verandah varies from 2 ft to 12ft
• In rooms were people spend most of their time during day the
window openings were brought in at ground level otherwise the
windows were small so that there was only subdued light inside or
had timber jalis to give diffused light without glare.
• They also have an internal courtyard for better flow of air

4. ROOFING SYSTEM
The ridged roof pitched at angles between 30degree to
40degree
• The roof with intricately carved gables protruding from the
roof with overhangs supported by wooden brackets.
• The roof is prefabricated that is different members are fixed
on the ground and assembled at the top.
• No nails are used.
• The roof is kept in position by interlocking with the hole in
the rafters.
• Walls made of timber or earth and roof of coconut leaves or
tiles are common in many parts of Kerala
• Structurally the roof frame was supported on the pillars on
walls erected on a plinth raised from the ground for protection

6. FLOORING SYSTEM
The most common type of flooring was that of beaten earth
polished with cow dung at regular intervals
• Black colored traditional flooring used in the more expensive
buildings was done with the mixture of lime, sand, coconut
shell, white of egg, jaggery, coconut water and other vegetable
extracts. The smoothness was achieved by polishing the floor
with a particular variety of banana.

7. BUILDING MATERIALS
• The availability of granite -a strong and durable building
stone is restricted mainly to the highlands and marginally to
some hilly zones. Accordingly, the skill in quarrying, dressing
and sculpturing of stone is scarce in Kerala.
• Laterite stone however, is abundantly found
• Soft laterite available at shallow depth can be easily cut,
dressed and used as building blocks. It is a local stone that gets
stronger and durable with exposure to the atmosphere.
• Block of this stone may be bonded in mortars of shell lime, -
the classic binding material used in traditional buildings.
• Lime mortar can be improved in strength and performance by
admixtures of vegetable juices. Such enriched mortars were
utilised for plastering and low relief work.

8. • Timber remains the prime structural material abundantly
available in Kerala, in many varieties - from bamboo to teak
and rosewood. The skilful choice of timber, artful assembly and
delicate carving of wood work for columns, walls and roofs
frames are the unique characteristics of Kerala architecture,
using accurate fit of joints.
• Clay was used in many forms - for walling, in filling the
timber floors and making bricks and tiles after firing in kilns,
tempered with admixtures.
• Palm leaves are still used effectively for thatching the roofs
and for making partition walls and along with mud

9. VASTUVIDYA- TRADITIONAL
ARCHITECTURE
• Traditional Kerala architecture is the Vastu vidhya is derived
from the Stapatya Veda of Adharva Veda and deals with two
types of architecture –Residential Architecture(Manusyalaya)
under functional architecture –Temples coming under
conceptual architecture.

10. RESIDENTIAL ARCHITECTURE
• A house in Kerala is generally called Veedu. The Veedu gives
shelter to joint-family kinfolk or tharavad. The joint family
system (tharavad--kinship system) consequently promotes the
tradition of living in a huge shelter or mansion (veedu--object
of house). The term is Dravidian and is used in some parts of
Tamil Nadu and North Srilanka for all types of residential
architecture, but generally the people of Kerala will refer to
their veedu as tharavad.

11. RESIDENTIAL ARCHITECTURE
• There are various terms of house for different tribes according to
social status and profession. The house of:
• Pariah - CHERI
• the agrestic slave – Cheraman - CHALA.
• blacksmith, the goldsmith, the carpenter, the weaver – KUDI
• temple servants reside – VARIYAM / PISHARAM
• The ordinary Nayars - VEEDU / BHAVANAM
• Nayar’s authority - IDAM.
• Raja lives in a KOVILAKKAM / KOTTARAM

12. Three Types of Chala
All Chalas show typical spatial configurations of living and inner space. (left)
Chala in Chengganur, South Kerala; (middle) Chala in Waynad and (left) Chala
in Trivandrum

13. DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE
There are five types of traditional domestic architecture or Veedu in
Kerala, namely: • (1) the wretched humble house, unknown by any
building treatise of Kerala, belongs to ordinary folks and tribal
people/ adivasis (cheri, chala, kudi, variyam or pisharam or
pumatham);
• (2) the Ekasala, an I-shaped single rectangular hall house, belongs
to farmers or middle-class non-farmers;
• (3) the Nalukettu, a courtyard house, belongs to landlords;
• (4) the great mansion Ettuketu and Patinjarukettu (double ettukettu)
or much bigger structures, belong to very rich landlords;
• (5) commoner houses are simple ordinary houses scattered
abundantly in the cities and villages

14. DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE
Literally, the local term of house--veedu--means home and signifies
no important structural arrangement. Classical Indian architecture
acknowledges a concentric arrangement of buildings and a generic
spatial structure of the sala or hall. • The Ekasala is a single hall
house,
• dvisala a two-hall house, trisala a three-hall house, and catusala a
four-hall house/courtyard house.
• The Nalukettu is the only local term for house that implies
structural importance since it is associated with the catusala. There
are no local terms for dvisala, trisala and ekasala, they are simply
called veedu

16. NALUKETTU, A COURTYARD
HOUSE, BELONGS TO LANDLORDS
Rectangular hall I shape shelter
This is the most commonly found vernacular residential building type
in Kerala. This type is modified by repetition,
extension and expansion. The house is divided into two zones inner
and the outer zone.Fig 2 shows that the inner zone
houses the private spaces the outer zone is usually has a porch and
sitting platform.

17. Rectangular Single-Hall Building (Ekashala) with Granary (Ara)
In this typology the granary (Ara) becomes the most significant
addition. The major zoning consists of a veranda that
becomes the outer zone and the inner core consists of granary (Ara),
kitchen and other function rooms, refer the Fig.
Sometimes such houses are constructed as an annex to the main
house.

18. TRADITIONAL COURTYARD HOUSE
(NALUKETTU)
•This basic form of a Kerala courtyard house or Nalukettu is four blocks built
around an open courtyard, the nalukettu house is shown in the Fig 4.
•It could have a square or rectangular plan with high pitched roofs and the
courtyard leftopen to bring in light and ventilation.
•The internal veranda and external veranda act as protection from rain and
sun.
•The blocks and courtyard are laid out according to the rules of dimensions
scales and proportions.
• Depending upon the size and importance of the family the ettukettu (eight
blocks) and pathinarukettu (sixteen blocks) are made out ofrepeated
modules of nalukettu.

19. NALUKETTU - ENTRANCE

20. NALUKETTU - COURTYARD

21. NALUKETTU - VIEW OF POND

22. NALUKETTU - LIVING AREA

23. Ekashala with courtyard like extension
This housing typology is a variation of nalukettu wherein the
courtyard is smaller and acts as water cistern. In the Fig 5,
the courtyard acts as a transition space between the main
building and the annex. This transition space is essential as to
create a distinct demarcation between the public zone which is
the main house and the private zone which is the annex.

24. TEMPLES OF KERELA
• Temples in Kerala used to be called in earlier times as
mukkalvattom. Later they came to be called ambalam or
kshetram or sometimes tali.
• Temple architecture in Kerala is different from that of
other regions in India. Largely dictated by the geography
of the region that abounds in forests blessed with the
bounties of the monsoons, the structure of the temples in
Kerala is distinctive.
• The Kerala temple has srikovil as its main core, which
usually stands in east-west axis and the plan may be
square, rectangular, circular, elliptical ground plan.

26. • The central sanctum of a Keralitetemple is referred to as the SreeKovil.
• It is surrounded by a cloisteredprakara, pierced at one or morecardinal points
with a gopuradwara.
• The cloistered prakaram has anamaskara mandapam locateddirectly in front
of the sanctum. Thisprakaram also houses subsidiaryshrines.
• The mukha mandapam isintegrated with the gopura entrance.
The flagstaff or dwaja stambham islocated outside of the mukha
mandapam .
• The balipitham may be located in
the mukhamandapam or in the outer
courtyard. The outer prakaram or
courtyard houses other subshrines,
and optionally a temple tank.
kitchen is located in the southeastern corner of ths cloisteredprakaram.

28. • The Kuttambalam or the theater hall of the
Keralite temple is located either as a part of the
inner prakara, on the south east corner facing
north, or as a separate hall outside the
innermost prakaram, either facing into the
temple or facing north. This has a stage, raised
from the rest of the floor, and a backstage area.
This is the site of the performance of Kathakali
or Chakkiyar koothu recitals. Thus the
kuttambalam plays a role in educating visitors on
the rich legends of the Indian cultural fabric.

29. • The roofs are steep and pointed, and covered with
copper sheets. The Kerala roof resembles those found in
the Himalayan regions and those in East Asia.
• The shape of the roof is in accordance with the plan of
the sanctum below. With a circular plan, one sees a
conical roof, while with a square plan the roof is
pyramidal.
• The roof is constructed with wood and is covered with
copper plates. Most of the temples seen in Kerala today,
have undergone several phases of renovation, given the
perishable nature of the construction materials.

30. • The superstructure as a conspicuous example,
shows an accurate usage of indigenous raw
materials like timber and tiles to go with the
climate conditions.
• Vast majority of temples have their bases built of granite, the walls made
either ofwood, bricks
and stucco, or laterite; the sloping
superstructure made of wooden planks, tiles or
sheet metal on timber frames, are adopted to
suit the high rainfall of the region.