Chuttillu from Coastal Andhra Pradesh

This house cluster is based on a typical house form of Haripuram village in Yellamanchili taluk, Visakhapatnam district, Andhra Pradesh.

In Andhra, it is locally referred to as “Chuttillu” which means a round house (illu stands for house). In a cyclone-prone area, fishermen and agricultural farmers build circular houses which nestle closely to form clusters. The shape and the positioning help the houses battle against the raging winds.

The house consists of an inner circular room which is enveloped by another circular space that serves as the kitchen on one side and a store at the other end. The grain for the family’s annual consumption is stored in the inner room in clay urns. The family sleeps outdoors during the summer. There is also a cooking area or vantasala just outside the house. There is sometimes a shelter or aedul bandi jaaga for the bullock cart. A house will have a large container made with twigs or bamboo and mud for storing unhusked rice or dhanyam.

The walls are built by the cob wall technique that places balls of mud to make an 18” thick wall. Palmyra timber is used for rafter, palmyra thatch for the roof and lime wash for the wall finish. There is a flat mud roof and timber roof or midhe under the sloping thatched roof that protects the belongings in case of a fire.