Tamil Nadu has a long sandy
seacoast and a vast expanse of semi-arid plains, once covered
with scrub forests, grass and groves of bamboo. Water was
scarce and wells per village were few in number. Families
clustered together, to be close to each other and to the
sources of water. Wood was never in abundance, but was used
for columns and beams. Rafters and reapers were usually
of bamboo. The pride of each house was the front door and
this was carved and decorated to be as welcoming and auspicious
as could be. Trees were felled from nearby, preferably from
the houseowner’s own compound. The village set rules
where trees could and could not be felled.
The carpenters made the bullock carts and the ploughs and
all that was necessary for agriculture and house building
in the village. They were helped by the blacksmiths who
made the hinges and the nails, the locks for the doors and
the special fixtures for the carts. The potters made the
terracotta roofing tiles. Floors were most often made of
rammed mud, finished with a red oxide coating or cow dung
slurry. Walls were made of sun-dried or baked brick or mud
which were also regularly treated with a cow dung slurry,
which kept the bugs away with its antiseptic properties.
Few people could afford the roofing tiles, and for centuries,
a tiled roof required a royal permission accorded only to
the rich. Most people had thatch roofs, even wealthy people.
The thatch kept the house cool. Palmyra trees grew in abundance
and grasses and reeds, or even dried paddy stalk was used.
Families used what was most convenient and abundant in their
area. Bamboo was treated and sliced and woven into mats
which were sometimes even used as walls. Mats were woven
from reeds for sleeping on or to spread on the cowdung floors
for guests to sit on.
Lime plaster became the keystone of decoration on Tamil
houses. The wealthy merchants and the royal families let
the masons who specialised in lime plaster use their imagination
to create stories, florid capitals and ceilings and homage
to patrons in plaster.
Most Tamil houses have an inner courtyard which is used
for drying grains, shelling pods and for functions. There
is a raised verandah or small seating area in the front
of the house, called a tinnai. The houses from Tamil Nadu
at DakshinaChitra are typical
of houses found in many villages throughout each region.
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