Brahmin House from Ambur, Tamilnadu

This house has been relocated from the agricultural village of Ambur, in Tirunelveli district in the south of Tamil Nadu. The Brahmin street in Ambur village formed the Vishnu agraharam (temple street) at the end of which was a Vishnu temple. This type of Brahmin house is prevalent throughout the villages and towns of the Tirunelveli area.

Brahmin houses in the various regions of Tamil Nadu differ slightly in style, technique and materials, depending on their location. However, they are almost always connected by a common wall and tend to be narrow in width and very long. They are often without an interior courtyard, but have open spaces in the back. Light and air frequently comes from a clerestory which substitutes for the open courtyard in the flat-roofed houses. Agraharam houses were documented by DakshinaChitra from six different regions in Tamil Nadu before deciding on the Tirunelveli regional style.

The Ambur house originally had a longer courtyard for the cows, followed by another long, enclosed area, planted rather wildly, which led down to a stepped river embankment. Due to space restrictions at DakshinaChitra, the second courtyard was made smaller and the third has been omitted. The upper floor was used for sleeping, drying and storing grain. The house once had a small loft-like room above the kitchen to accommodate sleeping quarters, but this has also been omitted in the reconstruction.