Kerala architecture is a style of architecture found in the Indian state of Kerala, and in Tulu Nadu and the Kodagu regions of Karnataka. Kerala's architectural style includes a unique religious sanctuary architecture that emerged in southwestern India, and varies slightly from the Dravidian architecture observed in other parts of southern India. The architecture of Kerala is derived from the Indian Vedic architectural tradition and forms a part of Dravidian architecture, one of the three styles of temple design mentioned in the ancient books on Vastu shastra. The Tantrasamuchaya, Thachu Sastra, Manushyalaya Chandrika, and Silparatna are all architectural treatises that have had an impact on the architecture of Kerala. The Manushyalaya Chandrika, a work devoted to domestic architecture, has its roots in Kerala. In the Malabar Coast, coastal trade resulted in Islamic and Christian architecture harmoniously blending in with indigenous Kerala architecture styles.
Origins The characteristic regional expression of Kerala architecture is a result of multiple geographical, climatic, and historical factors. Geographically, Kerala is a narrow strip of coastal land confined between the towering Western Ghats to its east and the vast Arabian Sea to its west. Due to monsoon rains and a high average temperature, the region has an abundance of wildlife and vegetation. Human habitation is densely concentrated in the fertile lowlands and more sparsely towards the hostile highlands. Heavy rains have created large bodies of water in the form of lakes, rivers, backwaters, and lagoons. These climatic factors significantly influence the region's architectural style: buildings are designed to counter the wet conditions, heavy humidity, and harsh tropical summers.
Early texts The Thachu Sastra (science of carpentry), along with texts like Vastu shastra, Manasara and Mayamata, expounded the design and concepts of early traditional Kerala architecture. Since the medieval period, traditional Kerala architecture has created its own branch of architectural manuals: notably, the Tantra Samucchayam, Manushyalaya-Chandrika, and Silparatna. These Vastu and carpentry (thachu) texts have influenced the architecture of Kerala.
Joinery techniques Traditional Kerala architecture is built with wooden joinery techniques, without the use of nails. Taccans (carpenters) use many traditional types of joinery techniques, some of them are; Padavilani, Ardhapani sandhi, Mondhayam, Koodam, Arakuduma, Makara Kuduma, Sthamba, Netti Kudumu, Kakkavaya, Nandyavartha, Sarvathabadhra, among others. Kīla (wedge) made of wood is used to tighten the joints in some joinery, this joint is air and watertight. This method also helps in easy dismantling of the structure by removing the kīla, and the structure can be reassembled again as needed.
History Prehistoric era Kerala's location has influenced social development and, indirectly, the style of construction. In ancient times the Arabian Sea and the Ghats formed impenetrable barriers that influenced the evolution of an isolated culture of Proto-Dravidians. Rock engravings in the Edakkal Caves, in Wayanad date back to the Neolithic era around 6000 BCE. The earliest surviving vestiges of construction in Kerala are rock-cut megaliths around 1000 BCE. They can be grouped into two types: rock-cut tomb cells and megaliths.
The rock-cut tomb cells are generally located in the laterite zones of central Kerala, for example at Porkulam, in Thrissur district. The tombs are roughly oblong in shape with single or multiple-bed chambers, with a rectangular court in the east from which steps rise to ground level. Another type of burial chamber is made of four slabs placed on their edges and a fifth one covering them as a capstone. One or more such dolmens are marked by a stone circle. Among the megaliths are the umbrella stones (kudakkal), resembling handless palm leaf umbrellas used for covering pits enclosing burial urns. Two other types of megaliths, hat-stones (thoppikkal) and menhirs (pulachikkal), have no burial appendages and appear instead to be memorial stones.
These megaliths are not of particular architectural significance, but they speak to the custom of primitive tribes erecting memorials at sites of mortuary rites. These places later became the annual meeting grounds of the tribes and gave rise to occult temples of ancestral worship. While the custom of father worship can be seen in these cases, the protecting deities of the villages were always in female form and were worshiped in open groves (kavu). These hypaethral temples had trees, stone symbols of mother goddesses, and other naturalistic or animistic images as objects of worship. The continuity of this early culture is seen in the folk arts, cult rituals, worship of trees, serpents, and mother images in kavus. Hindu, Jain and Buddhist Kerala architecture
Dravidian architecture
The version of Dravidian architecture found in Kerala in the far southwest is significantly different. Very large temples are rare, and sloping roofs with projecting eaves dominate the outline, often arranged in a number of tiers. As in Bengal, this is an adaption to the heavy monsoon rainfall. There is usually a granite stone core called adhiṣṭhāna below a timber superstructure.
Jain monuments are more numerous in Kerala. They include rock shelters at Chitral Jain cave near Nagercoil, a rock-cut temple at Kallil near Perumbavoor, and remains of structural temples at Alathoor near Palakkad and at Sultanbathery. Jainimedu Jain temple is a 15th-century Jain temple located at Jainimedu, 3 km from the centre of Palakkad. Sculptured Kerala Jaina and Dravidian figures of Mahavira, Parswanatha, and other thirthankaras have been recovered from these sites. This remained a Jain temple until 1522AD, when it was consecrated as a Hindu temple.B.S. Baliga. (1995) Madras District Gazetteers: Kanniyakumari District. Superintendent, Govt. Press. Sultan Bathery also has the remains of a Jaina basti (Jain temple), known as Ganapati vattam, which is an example of a cloistered temple built entirely of granite.
A Thorana is a gateway within a palisade, visible in the vertical and horizontal structures of the vilakkumadam. In its most primitive form, this construction is seen in the hypaethral temples enshrining trees and later on the outer walls of the shrines proper. With the stylistic development of the Hindu temple, this form of palisade is removed from the shrine structure (srikovil) and taken as a separate edifice beyond the temple cloister (chuttambalam).
Early Tamil Sangam literature says that by the first centuryAD, the Cheras ruled all of present-day Kerala, parts of Tulu Nadu and Kodagu, and the Kongu lands (present Salem and Coimbatore regions). The territory had multiple capitals simultaneously administered by different lineages of the family, its main capital being Vanchi, which is associated with Thiruvanchikulam Temple near Kodungallur. At this time, the two extremities of the Kerala region were administered by two Velir families; the southernmost part was administered by the Ay chieftains of Thiruvananthapuram and the northernmost parts by the Nannans of Ezhilmalai. The Nannan line was a branch of the Ay originating in the Thiruvananthapuram area, and both were representatives (or vassals) under the suzerainty of the Cheras (and sometimes the Pandyas or Cholas or Pallavas).
The amalgamation of different cultures and religious philosophies evolved the architectural styles of Kerala temples. This was conducive to the architectural development and renovation of a large number of temples. After the decline of the Cheras, several small principalities developed all over Kerala. By the fifteenth century, Kerala was broadly covered by the suzerainty of four principal chieftains – Venad rulers in the south, Kochi Maharajas in the centre, Zamorins of Kozhikode in the north, and Kolathiri Rajas in the extreme north. They were rulers who patronised architectural activities. It was during this period that Kerala architecture started to form its own distinctive style. A regional character of construction developed, which incorporated Dravidian craft skills, unique forms of Buddhist buildings, design concepts of Vedic times, and canonical theories of Hindu Agamic practices, all using locally available materials and suited to the climatic conditions of Kerala.
Texts on the theory and practice of architectural construction were also compiled during this period. These compilations constitute classical texts of a living tradition that continues to this day. Four important books are: Thantrasamuchayam by Chennas Narayanan Namboodiri and Silpiratnam by Sreekumara, which cover temple architecture; and Vastuvidya (anonymous) and Manushyalaya Chandrika by Thirumangalathu Sri Neelakandan, which cover domestic architecture. A number of minor works based on the above texts, in Sanskrit, Manipravalam, and refined Malayalam, are popular in Kerala with craftsmen and professionals in the field.
Kerala is referred to as one of the vassal kingdoms of the Maurya Empire. It is possible that Buddhists and Jains were the first north Indian groups to cross the borders of Kerala and establish their monasteries. These religious groups were able to practise their faith and receive patronage from the local kings to build shrines and viharas. For nearly eight centuries, Buddhism and Jainism seem to have co-existed in Kerala as important spiritual traditions, contributing to the social and architectural development of the region.
Composition and structure
Kerala architecture can be broadly divided by functionality into two distinctive groups: religious architecture and domestic architecture. Each is guided by different design principles. Religious architecture primarily concerns Hindu temples, as well as some churches and mosques. Domestic architecture concerns most residential houses, and comes in several distinct styles; palaces and large mansions of feudal lords differ from houses of commoners, and marked differences also exist between religious communities.
Composition The primary elements are generally the same in all structures. The base model usually consists of a plain circular, square, or rectangular shape with a ribbed roof, for functional reasons. A distinctive visual form in Kerala architecture is the long, steep sloping roof built to protect the building's walls and withstand heavy monsoons. This roof is normally laid with tiles or a thatched labyrinth of palm leaves, supported on a frame made of hardwood and timber. Structurally the roof frames are supported on pillars atop walls erected on plinths raised above the ground for protection against dampness and insects in the tropical climate. Often the walls are also constructed using timbers that are abundantly available in Kerala. These structures came to include mukhappu gable windows at the two ends, which provide attic ventilation when the roof is incorporated into habitable rooms.
The belief system of Vastu plays an important role in developing architectural styles. The basic underlying belief is that every structure built on Earth has its own life, with a soul and personality that is shaped by its surroundings. Kerala indigenously developed Thachu Shastra ('the science of carpentry'), as timber was readily available and heavily used. The concept of Thachu underlines that since timber is derived from a living form, the wood, when used for construction, has its own life which must be synthesised in harmony with its surroundings and the people who dwell within it. This idea encapsulates Kochi's construction.
Materials