CHENNAI: Its cuisine is not the only thing that Chettinad is famous for in Tamil Nadu. Have you had a history lesson about their traditional houses? “Villages of mansions: The Chettinad House as a repository of craft” — a talk by Visalakshi Ramaswamy was conducted by Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) recently at Amethyst.
Visalakshi is the founder of the M Rm Rm Cultural Foundation which works towards the documentation and revival of languishing crafts, textiles, architecture and culture through sustainable livelihood projects. She is also the author of The Kottan and The palmyra basket of Chettinad. In her talk she delved into the architecture of typical Chettinad houses.
Why So Big?
Chettinad is a group of villages between Tiruchy and Madurai made up of colourful houses in an otherwise arid and bleak surroundings. The fort-like mansions gave the community the name ‘Nattukottai’ Chettiars. Legend has it that after a tsunami destroyed their land in the 13th Century, the Pandyas gave them land to build their homes again. But why build such massive homes? One, they always lived in joint families and the size of the house would depend on the number of children in each family. Two, the men travelled overseas and many were gem merchants; so they wanted a huge, secure house to keep their valuables safe. And lastly, houses were designed and built depending on the cultures they came across during their voyage across continents.
Space for Everything
All doors are aligned vertically for cross ventilation. The house is divided into the front, the middle and the end. The front was for visitors. It is the most decorated space in the house. The middle is the courtyard where all ceremonies and rituals are held. In the back, all house chores were done. The further you go in, less decorated the house becomes. There is the valavu, which is not used for everyday activities. It is only used to store their valuables. There is a dining room parallel to the valluvu. You will find four pettiadi, office rooms too which were sometimes used for ceremonies. Since there were rain and agriculture issues, the art of preservation was practised. In the open space of the courtyard, they would preserve food and the seasonal vegetables that could last a year. Women only entered from the back, the chinna moguppu, but not anymore, of course!
Big House, Big Problems
At one point, the brothers would decide to move away and the house would turn into a palaya veedu where only family functions and ceremonies would be held. And that’s when maintenance would become a problem, as the decisions could not be taken unilaterally, and had to involve every member of the family, which were difficult. The house could never be divided as ancestors would have assigned spaces for each son in crisscross ways that separation was not possible. This presents a bigger dilemma and we need to figure out ways to restore and preserve decades of family history that may fall apart.
Chettinad is a cluster of villages between Tiruchy and Madurai, full of colourful houses in an otherwise arid surroundings. The term ‘Nattukottai’ is derived from these fort-like mansions
Foreign Elements
Chettinad houses were renovated according to the wishes of men (in the family), who got their ideas through their travels across the seas. Accordingly, a lot of foreign embellishments were added to these houses, such as teak from Burma, marble from Italy and chandeliers from Europe.