CHENNAI: On a makeshift table lies a gunny bag full of jaggery and another one full of eggshells. A few men get together and make a concoction of this. You might wonder if it is a kitchen experiment. No. These are two of the several eco-friendly items that Jawahar Kumar C is using to build his house in Vellakoil in Tiruppur district. Besides jaggery and egg shells, limestones and kadukkai (yellow myrobalan) are the key materials used.
An environmentalist, associated with many NGOs in Coimbatore, Jawahar always dreamed of building a house using traditional methods. With a keen interest in preserving the nature for the future, Jawahar has actively been involved in desilting waterbodies and promoting afforestation for the past 10 years. “Today, most people are going back to the lifestyle that our ancestors followed. They are going organic in food and clothing. I went a step ahead by having an organic shelter. We spend most of our time at home, so I thought it should be natural and provide a healthy ambience,” says Jawahar.
Engineer on board
After he chalked out a plan, a year ago, to build a green house, Jawahar approached his nephew Aravind Manoharan, an engineer who runs Pizhai Azhagu that works towards constructing sustainable houses. “Aravind is interested in architecture and had some knowledge about ancient architecture. We had a casual discussion about the ancient methods that our ancestors used and their lifestyle. During the conversation I requested him to guide the construction of my dream house,” says the 45-year-old. Aravind has travelled across India researching the different types of construction.
Inspired by the diversity in buildings, he had researched into the matter and found out that in the ancient days, people used locally available materials to build homes. They searched for 70- to 80-year-old mansions to understand how they were built in the olden days. “When Jawahar approached me, I explained my idea of courtyard house construction that existed four decades ago in south India and drafted a rough plan 10 months back.
He was happy with it and we started researching into the methods of building roof, walls, floor etc. We both visited Karaikudi, Kangeyam in Tiruppur, Sankaran Koil, etc., in search of elders who knew about constructing houses in the ancient method, and recorded it. With the gathered knowledge, we started constructing the house six months back,” says Aravind.
Traditional designs
The 3,200-square-feet house has two bedrooms, a library, a puja hall, a living room, a kitchen, a dining room and attached bathrooms. The roof follows the ‘Madras terrace roof ’ construction — a traditional technique where wood, small bricks and plaster are used to make the roof. Vellakoil is known for its limestone and the environmentalist wanted to build the house with the local materials available. “We went with lime and native bricks for walls that have a life for 150 years. We used jaggery, kadukkai, limewater and bricks for mortar mixture.
The plastering of the walls is done using six layers of plasters including aloe vera, cow dung, gomutra, limewater and eggshells to give a polished look. We have done the wood work without cutting any trees. We sourced old woods, windows and doors from old demolished houses and altered it by giving them to a carpenter. To prevent the woods from termite attack, plantain leaves are also used in the technique. In this technique, plantain leaves — or some times lotus leaves — are placed between the wood and the wall to stop termites from attacking the wood,” explains Aravind.
Experimental home
Jawahar and Aravind say that the process of building this house was an experimental one and that they learned and shared knowledge. The raw materials were sourced from different parts of the state like Pudukottai, Karaikudi, Javvadhu Hills and Vellakoil. “The expenses for the construction could be less if the raw materials are available locally. The ancient method of construction is decreased and there is no supply of the material.
Transporting materials is expensive. I, along with my three family members, work with the engineers and labourers to build the house, during our free time,” says Jawahar. As Jawahar’s efforts are garnering praises, his wife Valli Nayaki J is a proud woman. “We are happy that our house is nature-friendly. People may think it’s high-maintenance. But, plastering walls using limestone needs no maintenance. The courtyard at the centre of the house will have a pipe connecting to a water tank. It is to collect the rainwater and use it for domestic purposes,” she shares.