Agraharams The Origin And Evolution Of A Unique Housing Pattern In Kerala

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1. 1
AGRAHARAMS: THE ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF A
UNIQUE HOUSING PATTERN IN KERALA
Sharat Sunder R

2. 2
CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION.....................................
...................................................
................................... 3
2. BRAHMIN MIGRATION TO KERALA DURING 15
TH
CENTURY............................... 4
3. THE SETTLEMENT PATTERN ..............................
...................................................
............... 5
4. THE TRADITIONAL KERALA HOMESTEAD AND THE AGRAHARAMS ..
........... 6
5. THE PLANNING ACCORDING TO VASTUPURUSHAMANDALA .........
................. 11
6. REFLECTING SOCIAL POSITION IN THE BUILT FABRIC.......
.................................13
7. CONCLUSION ........................................
...................................................
................................... 15
8. REFERENCES: .......................................
...................................................
.................................... 17

3. 3
AGRAHARAMS: THE ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF A UNIQUE
HOUSING PATTERN IN KERALA
1. INTRODUCTION
The agraharams
1
of Kerala is the standing vestiges of the history of a group of people
who
had migrated to this land and made it their abode. The history o
f the Brahmin migration
to Kerala are intertwined with a lot of myths and legends, that
one finds it hard to
separate the truth from them. According to popular belief
and oral traditions, the
ancestors of the Brahmins of south India had migrated from
northern India to the
southern parts of the subcontinent in the course of Aryan Invas
ion.
2
The earliest records of Brahmins and their settlements in s
outh India finds mention in
Perump
ṇ

ṟ ṟ
uppa
ṭ
ai
3
, a Sangam Age work dated to 3rd century AD called which describes
the agraharams as follows:
The houses had in front of them, a shed with short legs
to which were tied fat calves; the houses were
washed with cow dung and had idols (inside them). Domestic fowl and dogs
did not approach them. It was
the village of the guardians of the Veda who teach its soun
ds to the parrots with the bent mouth. If you
(bard) reach (the place), fair faced bangled ladies wh
o are as chaste as (Arundhathi) the little star which
shines in the north of the bright, broad sky, will after sun
set feed you on the well-cooked rice named after
the bird (explained by the commentator as the rice called i
rasanam) along with slices of citron boiled in
butter taken, from the buttermilk derived from red cows and
scented with the leaves of the karuvembu,
and mixed with pepper-powder, and the sweet-smelling tende
r fruit plucked from the tall mango tree and
pickled
1
Agraharams
: The name originates from the fact that the agraha
rams have rows of houses on either side
of the road and the temple to the village god at the cen
tre, thus resembling a garland around the temple.
According to the traditional Hindu practice of architectur
e and town-planning, an agraharam is held to be
two rows of houses running north-south on either sid
e of a road at one end of which would be a temple to
Shiva and at the other end, a temple to Vishnu.
2
The Vadakalai Iyengars of South India are believed to be
an Indo-Aryan people who once migrated from
North India.( "History of Madras by James Talboys Wheeler
" )In a genetic study in Andhra Pradesh all
individuals examined among Vadakalai Iyengars showed a hig
h similarity of rhesus(d) gene frequency with
the people of Faislabad in the Punjab province of Pakista
n. All the individuals examined among Vadakalai
Iyengars showed Rhesus(D) positive with a high frequen
cy of the D allele while the other castes from
Andhra showed a low frequency of the D allele ( Hameed,
Amjad; Hussain, Wajahat; (2002). "Prevalance of
Phenotypes and Genes of ABO and Rhesus (Rh) Blood Gr
oups in Faisalabad, Pakistan".
Pakistan Journal of
Biological Sciences
(Asian Network for Scientific Information)).
3
P. T. Srinivasa Iyengar (1929). History of the Tamils fr
om the Earliest Times to 600 A. D.; pp. 388 389.

4. 4
The Brahmin settlers of south India had migrated to various p
arts of the subcontinent
and made their settlements around temples. As a community
which handled the Vedas
and religious texts, the Brahmins wielded power and influence in
the social hierarchy. As
the priestly class they received royal patronage and resp
ect from the rulers and all the
other communities.
Wherever they went, the Brahmins made their settlement
s around temples, around which
their everyday life revolved.
2. BRAHMIN MIGRATION TO KERALA DURING 15
TH
CENTURY
The Brahmins in Kerala can be broadly classified into two grou
ps the Namboothiri
Brahmins and the Tamil and Tulu Brahmins. The Namboothiri
Brahmins claim
themselves to be the true Malayala Brahmins of Kerala, w
ho were the descendant of the
families brought to Kerala by Parasurama, the mythical cr
eator of Kerala. However, the
stories of the origin of many of the prominent Nambooth
iri families have roots in
Tamilakam. The Tamil and Tulu Brahmins who had migrated to various parts
of Kerala at
different time periods were termed as Paradesi Brahmins by
the indigenous
communities. The migrants brought with them the new style
of housing termed as
agraharams.
The major Brahmin migrations into Kerala took place from the
early Sangam age and
extended till 1600 A.D. The last phase of large scale Brah
min migrations were catalyzed
by the fall of the Vijayanagara dynasty of the Deccan,
exposing the independent,
provinces of the South to the invading Muslims from the No
rth. The golden reign of the
revered king of Vijayanagara, Deva Raya II, had ended in 1450.
Vijayanagara, the Hindu kingdom, geographically shielded the s
mall, weak districts of
Tami Nadu from the Muslim invaders of the North. However,
Vijayanagara of the late
15th and early 16th century, at the time of the Tamil Br
ahmin migration, was crumbling,
creating widespread fear in the weak, scattered, forme
r Pandya and Pallava kingdoms of
the South. The kingdom of Vijayanagara was all that lay bet
ween the vulnerable southern
kingdoms and the invading Muslims from the north. With the
support of the Gajapathi
King of Orissa, the Bahmini Sultanate of Delhi continued to att
ack the Northern frontier
of the Vijayanagara kingdom. Therefore, the fall of Vijayanagara als
o proves to be another
important historical event that could have caused turmoil in
the southern kingdoms,

5. 5
triggering the Tamil Brahmin migration to safer abodes.
4
This was the time when the
agraharam housing patterns were established in various parts of
south India.
3. THE SETTLEMENT PATTERN
The planning of the agraharams followed a grid iron or concent
ric ring patterns, with the
temple forming the main focus. The row of houses is eith
er single or double storied, with
the traditional pitched roof form striking a significant profile
against the sky. The streets
were narrow and formed an integral extension of the living
space . The linear settlement
pattern culminated at a temple or was arranged around the
temple in various concentric
rings, as seen in the great south Indian temple towns. W
ater bodies were always seen it
the vicinity of these settlements as the Vedic life recommended both sp
iritual and physical
purity.
The row houses sharing a common wall had a long verandah r
unning along the front
portion, supported by stone and wooden pillars. This unique
architectural style finds itself
alienated from the vernacular architecture practices and tr
aditions of the Kerala.
However, this architectural style embeds within the true h
istory of this community, their
lifestyle, customs and traditions.
The evolution of this particular architectural typology ma
y also speak about the social
position of the Brahmin community. Even though these migra
nt Brahmins wielded
power in the caste ridden society, they were always a minority when
compared to the local
indigenous population. Moreover, when they moved into a ne
w place and made their
settlements, there was always a tendency amongst the m
embers of the communities to
settle together to ensure safety. Another reason beh
ind this was that in most cases the
early migrants to a particular place may be the members
of a same family, and thus when
they settle down in an alien land, they automatically evolve
d into a close knit community
whose principles were based on strict religious norms. The
settlements were often made
and donated to these families by the rulers.
The row housing pattern reflecting the lifestyle of the Bra
hmin community was unknown
to the south Indian agrarian society. The indigenous comm
unities had farmlands in close
proximity to their living spaces and often the individual house
s stood apart in the centre
of a large plot. The courtyard houses of Kerala, often
termed as
nalukettu
and
educate

had form and features believed to have evolved through a
history of tradition going back
4
Arjun Venkat, Tamil Brahmin migration to Kerala, American
School of Bombay, 2006.

6. 6
to the Vedic period (500B. C. -200A. D.). The indigenous Dravidian p
opulation of south
India who followed Jain and Buddhist religions, incorporated into th
eir thoughts and
practices, some of the Vedic principles they adopted through
the interaction with the
Brahmins. Therefore, both in the basic planning of both
traditional vernacular
architecture of south India and in the agraharams one may
come across some similarities.
Yet there have been regional variations in the local vernac
ular architecture, governed by
factors like climate and availability of building materials.
4. THE TRADITIONAL KERALA HOMESTEAD AND THE AGRAHARAMS
A
COMPARISON
The traditional homestead in Kerala was the
tharavadu
, a complex built unit comprising
of many sections with specific usages. The basic units of
these houses were square or
rectangular structures where four blocks are joined tog
ether with a central courtyard open
to the sky. The four halls on the sides are named
vadakkini
(northern block),
padinjattini
(western block),
kizhakkini
(eastern block) and
thekkini
(southern block). The architecture
was especially catered to large families of the traditional
tharavadu
, to live under one roof
and enjoy the commonly owned facilities of the
marumakkathayam
5
homestead. Based on
the spatial arrangement of the rooms and the number of
courtyards, this vernacular
typology is further classified into many different groups.
Traditionally
nalukettu
has one courtyard with four blocks/halls constructed aroun
d it in
cardinal directions. However some
nalukettus
have two courtyards, which are known as
Ettukettu (eight Blocked structure) as they have altog
ether eight blocks in cardinal
directions. Some superstructures have four courtyards, whic
h then are known as
patinarukettu
(sixteen blocked structure). While
nalukettus
and
ettukettus
are more common,
pathinarukettu
are extremely rare, due to its enormous size.
Likewise
nalukettus
can be differentiated based on their height and number of flo
ors. Most
of the
nalukettus
in South Kerala are single storied and mostly made with wood
completely. Whereas
nalukettus
in North Kerala are two storied or sometimes even three
storied and have laterite and clay mixture as walls.
In North Kerala, most of the granaries are located outs
ide the main house, whereas in
Travancore side, it will be normally attached to the Kitchen
area and mostly built
underground.
5
Marumakkathayam matrilineal system of inheritance.

7. 7
A traditional Kerala house has the following components:
·
The
padippura
- It is a structure containing a door forming part of Com
pound wall
for the house with a tiled roof on top. It is the form
al gateway to the compound
with the house.
·
The
poomukham
- It is the prime portico soon after steps to the house.
Traditionally it has a slope tiled roof with pillars supporting roof. Sides are op
en.
·
The
chuttu verandah
- From the Poomukham, a verandah to either side in front
of
the house through the open passage called
chuttu verandah
.
Chuttu verandah
will have
hanging lights in equal distance hanging from its slope roof.
·
The
nadumuttam
- Traditionally
nadumuttom
or central open courtyard is the prime
center of the Nalukettu. The rooms are arranged around this court
yard.
Depending upon the social status and economic conditions of
the family, the homestead
will have further additions like ponds, granaries and cowsheds,
all scattered inside a large
compound. The houses of the indigenous Brahman community kn
own as the
Namboothiries were also similar to this. The Nampoothiri Brah
mins established the
gramoms
in Kerala, which were the forerunners of the later scat
tered agrarian settlements.
The
gramoms
were villages with a family of the Nampoothiri family occupyi
ng the central
position. The settlements of all the other caste members were con
centrated around it. The
caste system followed in south India was another player in t
he evolution of the hierarchy
of the settlement patterns. The observance of
tindappad
6
among the upper and lower
castes, the joint family and customs of the Kerala Brahmin
s which separate them from
their counterparts elsewhere, the matriarchal joint family
and succession among the castes
included in the Varna-jati system, and above all the peculiar fo
rms of the feudal land
relations in Kerala; it is evident from all these realities tha
t the formation of the
agricultural village system in Kerala took shape in a differen
t situation from that of the
south and north,
7
this contributed to the unique identity of the village settle
ments of
Kerala.
The design and layout of the Brahmin agraharams are in
contrast to the traditional
architectural style followed in Kerala. As explained before,
the settlement pattern
followed by the traditional Brahmin settlers were guided by cert
ain parameters like the
6
Tindappad the observance of certain distances between
the various castes in order to avoid pollution by
contact.
7
Cherian PJ (State Editor)
Essays on Cultural formation of Kerala
.

8. 8
social position of the community, their association with the
temple and of course, the
patronage of the royals. The agraharams now found in K
erala date back to the 15
th
and
16
th
century A.D. The religious and political conditions that preva
iled in those days also
acted as an important factor in defining the agraharam settlements.
The agraharams built around the temples were either arr
anged along the three sides of the
main temple (e.g. the agraharams inside the Fort, Thiruva
nanthapuram); otherwise, the
most commonly seen pattern is the concentric circles ar
ound the temple (e.g. agraharams
of Srirangam). The agraharams were often built on land don
ated by the royals and often
the land was divided amongst the migrant Brahmins based on th
e social hierarchy existing
within their caste group. The highly regarded families, the p
riests and the scholars
acquired the position near the temple and the palace complex
; the others occupied the
outer fringes.
The agraharams were usually followed a linear planning, quite in c
ontrast to the
arrangement of rooms around the courtyard we see in th
e traditional Kerala houses. The
planning and architecture of these two housing patterns
have evolved over time taking
into consideration various parameters like the local climatic
conditions, availability of
local building materials and the skill employed in the constructio
n. The courtyard houses
of Kerala show a direct response to the climatic conditions
of the place. In the hot humid
climatic conditions of this region, the courtyard ensures ea
sy ventilation. Traditionally the
sloping roof of the houses lets in a little sunlight to the inter
iors of the traditional Kerala
houses; this is compensated by the presence of the lar
ge courtyard. The courtyard has
some religious association too, traditionally in Kerala Vastu,
the open courtyard in a
Kerala house is considered as the
deva sthana
the most sacred place assigned to the gods
and hence construction are not allowed there. In old houses
we can often see the sacred
tulsi planted and worshipped in the centre of the courtyard.
The agraharams also incorporates a courtyard in its design;
however, here its position is
not in the
deva sthana
. The function of the courtyard in an agraharam corresp
onds to that
of the traditional Kerala courtyard, however, here the sca
le and proportion are in
accordance with the design of the agraharam itself. These
courtyards were used for
religious purposes, the backbone of the life of the Brahmin commun
ity.
The spatial planning of the agraharams follows a linear patte
rn with rooms arranged one
after the other. The spaces inside have special purposes
, and among them privacy of the

9. 9
occupants is of the least concern. The various compone
nts of the agraharam are the
following:
·
Puramthinna
the long corridor/verandah running in front of the agraharam
s.
This space also acted as a community gathering place whe
re the men assembled
for religious discourse.
·
Akamthinna
the small room next to
puramthinna
, this room incorporates the
konippadi
(stairway) leading to the upper storey.
·
Rezhi
this is the central room in an agraharam which acts as the
living/bed
room, the important religious ceremonies and rituals asso
ciated with the Brahmin
community are also performed in this place.
·
Thalam
it is the space around the courtyard, the
homakundam
or the place for the
sacrificial fire is located here.
·
Mittam
the courtyard is a part of the
rezhi
itself and often there is no separation
between these two spaces.
·
Adukkala
this is the kitchen.
·
Kuchil
these are the rooms located at the extreme end, where
the ladies
during their menstruation are housed.
·
Machil

Machil
is the attic room. The stairway from the
akamthinna
leads
to the
machil
. This room is assigned for the use of newly wedded couples.
·
Kottil
the independent structure located at the extreme end, it is o
ften
used as a cow shed or as storage space.
In the old days the agraharams did not have toilets associated w
ith the house and the
system of scavengers lanes thus came into existence. T
here were narrow lanes running
behind the agraharams, through which the scavengers ca
me and collected the night soil
from each agraharam.

10. 10
THE PLAN AND SECTION SHOWING THE SPATIAL PLANNING OF TH
E AGRAHARAM.
The culture and life that developed within the agraharam set
tlements were entirely
different from those seen in the traditional indigenous sett
lements. The matriarchal
system of family led to the joint family system, where we h
ad the members of a family
living under the same roof. The head of the family was the
male head, the
karanavar
and
the senior most females of the family. This joint family syste
m brought in a system of
group living and sense of sharing amongst the local communit
ies. However, in the case of
the agraharams the qualities of living together and sharing e
ach other s space got reflected
in their planning of the settlements and it zoomed down into
the architecture of their
houses. The traditional houses of Kerala often had a priva
te pond associated with it,
which was used exclusively by the members of the family. I
n the case of the agraharam
settlements, the linear division of the plots and the houses
which covered almost the
whole of the plot area did not allow its settlers to have t
he luxury of a separate pond for
each house. The settlers depended upon the temple pond. The sense
of sharing the spaces
is then best exhibited in the design of the
puramthinna
; the long connected verandah s
running in front of all the agraharams. The
puramthinna
was an interstitial space which
connected the street and the interiors of the house and
this was also the place where
religious as well as philosophical debates were held.
The culture of living together and sharing has also played a
n important role in the
everyday life of the inhabitants of the agraharams. They
have
bhajana madhoms
(prayer
halls) which also was a place where the people from the sett
lement gathered for the
festivals and during important occasions. The indigenous agraria
n settlements of Kerala
did not have such a gathering place, other than the temple.
The agraharams were introvert settlements, often open
to the members of the particular
caste group, however within the introvert settlement th
ere were designed built and open
spaces that well catered to the needs of the settlers. Th
e streets within the settlements
were narrow and not designed for vehicular transportation
. The streets were also a part of
the life of the Brahmin communities as many of the import
ant religious functions and
marriage feasts were conducted in the streets. In Kerala
there is no community which has
integrated the streets with their daily life.

11. 11
5. THE PLANNING ACCORDING TO VASTUPURUSHAMANDALA
The selection, orientation and location of the house in tradit
ional Kerala concept were
greatly influenced by the concept of
vasthupurushamandala
, the cosmic diagram and related
geometric ways of spatial planning in relation with time and
nature based on astrology
and mathematical computation, which formed the primary res
ource of Hindu
architecture.
8
According to
vastu,
the site is divided into nine
veedhis
or paths by concentric
squares. The seventh and eighth paths known as
devaveedhi
and
manushyaveedhi
are reserved
for ancillary structures. The outermost
veedhi
is the
pishachaveedhi
, where no construction
other than the compound wall and the gateway are perm
itted. The two innermost paths
are dedicated to the gods- the
brahmaveedhi
and
ganeshaveedhi
, these are considered as sacred
and no construction is permitted over it. This in turn develo
ped into the open courtyard
in the traditional Kerala house.
THE TRADITIONAL PLANNING OF A TEMPLE TOWN WITH THE
TEMPLE OCCUPYING THE
DEVA STANA
, THE LAYOUT OF TEMPLE TOWN OF MADURAI.
The vastu planning which was a unique feature of the t
raditional Kerala houses was not
heard of in the planning and design of the agraharams. The
linear pattern of agraharams
cannot be overlaid on the vasthupurushamandala. However,
taking into consideration the
planning of a temple town, we can see that the agraha
rams were constructed in the
veedhis
8
Jacob Joseph Koduveliparambil, Construction Practices in T
raditional Dwellings of Kerala (Thesis), 1997.

12. 12
which were assigned for human habitation. In a traditional t
emple town, the temple is the
nucleus, around which the settlements are made, i.e., the temple occ
upies the
brahmaveedhi.
CASESTUDIES:
Examples for extensive agraharam settlements can be s
een in the layout
of the old temple towns of Madurai (FIG 3) and Srirangam. I
n Madurai the settlement
pattern and its hierarchy are rather interesting as we can
see that there the Brahmins were
not always considered as the most privileged caste groups.
THE TEMPLE TOWN OF SRIRANGAM.
The fortune of the old walled city of Madurai was in the han
ds of the traders. The
Chettiar (Vaisya traders) and the settlers from Sourashtra
and the Yadava communities
were associated with trade and they enjoyed higher position
and status in the social
hierarchy. Their social position reflected in the settlement
patter, in Madurai, the
settlements of the trading communities are seen in proximit
y to the temple complex. The
community of traders who thus lived alongside the Brahmins a
dopted their mode of row
housing and thus the housing of the trading communities in
Madurai is similar to the
agraharam row housing pattern of the Brahmins.

13. 13
In the more traditional temple town of Srirangam we can still see the rem
nants of the past
glory of the agraharams. Here the Brahmin settlements
are seen in concentric rings
around the main temple complex. It is important to note
that in this temple town, the
temple occupies the brahmaveedhi, the central scared port
ion and the settlements are
seen in the veedhis, those prescribed for habitation in the old texts.
6. REFLECTING SOCIAL POSITION IN THE BUILT FABRIC
The traditional architecture in Kerala is best manifested in t
he timber works of the
indigenous craftsmen. The traditional buildings of south Kerala
, including the heritage
structures found in the fort area which predates 19th c
entury use timber as the major
building material. The superstructures as well as the roofin
g framework in these buildings
are made using timber. Whereas, in north Kerala the major b
uilding material was laterite
stone which was easily available. The reliance on the building m
aterials has contributed to
the scale and proportion of the traditional housing patterns.
In the case of the agraharams in Thiruvananthapuram
the major building material used
was a locally available inferior variety of laterite stone,
locally known as cheekkal . The
now availability of this stone has made the owners to go f
or ordinary bricks. The
cementing materials as well as the plastering materials used
in the old days were different
from those used today. In the past mud mortar was used,
in the palaces and the houses of
the nobles and other prominent communities they used lime p
laster, with jaggery, sand
and the oil extracted from a fish
9
as the ingredients added to it. Roofing was done using
thatch or clay tiles (fish scale tiles and Mangalore tiles).
The thatch roof demanded
periodic care as it has to be renewed every year; this e
nsured the proper maintenance of
the roofing system.
The building materials used and the scale of the building reflect
ed the economic status of
its occupants. When compared to the agraharams in Thiruvananth
apuram, the agraharams
of Kalpathy in Palakkad District of north Kerala are muc
h larger and embellished. The
reason behind this was undoubtedly attributed to the higher
economic viability of its
occupants. Unlike the Brahmin migrants in Thiruvananthapur
am, who were employed in
the temple, the Brahmin settlers in Kalpathy were associa
ted with trade. The commercial
activities boosted the economic profile of these settlers a
nd it got transcribed into the
9
Interview with senior Chittatinkara Madhavan Pillai Vaidyan,
Koottamvila, Thiruvananthapuram (2011).
According to Madhavan Pillai, the oil/secretion from a fish
locally known as varal or bral is added to the
lime mortar.

14. 14
architecture also. The agraharams in Kalpathy come under th
e category of muzhumana
or the complete form of the house, whereas the agraharam
s in Thiruvananthapuram are
usually of the lesser scale. The different typologies of th
e agraharams within a same
settlement suggest the existence of the various hierar
chies within the Brahmin community
itself. The most venerated scholarly class of Brahmins alway
s occupied the larger
agraharams which were known as muzhumana , whereas t
he ordinary temple staffs
owned the aramana and the mukkalmama . The lowest in
the hierarchy were those who
did service works within the community itself; their houses r
eflected their lower social
standing as they lived in kalmana , the smallest of the agraharam ty
pology.
THE MUZHUMANA, ARAMANA, MUKKALMANA AND KALMANA TYPO
LOGIES WITH THEIR
RELATIVE SIZE.
The Brahmins being a religious faction took care to incorp
orate within their architecture
certain patterns and traditions that reflect their Vedic r
oots. During the late 19th and early
20th centuries, with the Colonial influence and trade relation
ships with other nations, a
wide variety of building materials became available in the India
n market. When the rich
and influential Brahmin settlers went for imported Burmese
teak, most of the orthodox

15. 15
stock still opted for the simple bamboo as a major building mate
rial.
10
The reason behind
this is the religious association the Brahmins had with the b
amboo plant. The new
building materials exported via ship was ridiculed by the orthodo
x Brahmins as impure
and thus not considered for building activities. If this was t
he scene in the orthodox
setup, then there was another group of Brahmins who
were more exposed to the Western
ways of life. With the British occupation of India, the Bra
hmins were one of the
communities to embrace the new ways of Western education
which in turn helped them
to acquire the favour of the British. Learned Brahmins w
ere always associated with the
royals as well as the British, who were their new masters.
7. CONCLUSION
The agraharam settlements of today have undergone transf
ormation. The agraharam
settlements in Thanjavur, near Kumbapettai in the post
independence period consisted of
thirty six households, a small settlement; however, still it wa
s a powerful, introvert
community holding firm to the old taboos of caste system an
d Brahmin dominance in the
society. They had imposed several restrictions on access
to the agraharams. Even in
1950s, the non-Brahmin and Dalit communities were not allowe
d to set foot on the main
street; they had to come to the back door. The Temple
Entry act of 1947 meant that
members of all castes had the legal right to go to the Vis
hnu and Shiva temples in the
agraharam, but in practice they did not do so and the old b
an on their admission was still
being observed in the post independent Kumbapettai.
11
This high degree of internal
interaction and external exclusiveness (Gough 1960) exh
ibited by the Brahmin
community is exhibited in their settlement pattern and in the
spatial organization of their
houses. The agraharams in East Fort, Thiruvananthapuram
dates to the 18th century.
When compared to the agraharam settlements of the gre
at temple towns of Tamilnadu,
the Thiruvananthapuram agraharams are far less in concentra
tion; the restrictions to other
caste members were also less. The old form of life in t
he agraharams changed during the
1940s, with the Hitler s War (World War II), says 92
year old Krishna Iyer. During the
time of the war and after, many youngsters from the agraharams m
igrated out in search of
10
Bamboo was an integral part in the upanayanam and marr
iage ceremonies associated with the Brahmin
community. As a building material, it was generally used as
rafters of the roof frame which supported the
tiles or thatch on top.
11
A Companion to the Anthropology of India, Isabelle Clark
-Decès, from the description of the
Kumbapettai agraharams given by the anthropologist Go
ugh, where she stayed in 1951-52.

16. 16
better employment opportunities .
12
The transformation of the old form of agraharams
had started then. With the emigration of the local Brahmin co
mmunity, the agraharams
were often occupied by the members of other castes. T
he remaining Brahmins shut
themselves away from the new occupants. The open
thinna
in front of the agraharams was
closed and the once active space of interaction and heate
d Vedic discussion have been
lost forever. After independence most of the great temp
les came under the control of the
new government and thus the traditional system of manage
ment changed, with this many
of the Brahmins who were traditionally associated with the
temple lost their job. This in
turn made them to look for alternative ways of living. Ma
ny of the agraharams began to
run catering service, supplying homemade vegetarian food. A
few of them were even
converted into hotels; the
thinna
got converted into shops.
From the architectural point of view the agraharams in Ke
rala are unique and different
from the other agraharam settlements of the great tem
ple towns of Tamilnadu, at the
same time it draws a contrasting picture of the traditional Kera
la style of architecture as
well. The prime objective of this research was to compare
the vernacular architecture with
the design and planning of the agraharams, and the various s
ocioeconomic, religious and
political factors behind it. The agraharams in Kerala have bor
rowed some features from
the traditional vernacular architecture, like in the case of
building materials, timber which
was easily available and common in Kerala was also used exte
nsively in the agraharams.
However, other than this, the spatial organization of th
e Tamil Brahmin houses in Kerala
remains unique and untouched.
12
Interview with Krishna Iyer, Tippu Street, East Fort, T
hiruvananthapuram (2011).

17. 17
8. REFERENCES:
Published works:
1. Thapar Romila, Early India: From Origins to AD 1300, 2002; Penguin B
ooks
2. Sadashivan S.N., A social history of India, APH Publishing, 2000
3. Social Formations of Early South India, Rajan Gurukkal.
4. A Companion to the Anthropology of India, Isabelle Clark-Decès
5. I.H. Hacker, Kerala; the land of Palms, London Missionary Society
, 1912.
6. Travancore State Manual, Shangunny Menon P.
Unpublished works:
1. Guiding Transformations for Conserving the Agraharam H
ousing, Fort area
Thiruvananthapuram, Ayyappan K.A. (2000), S.P.A. Conservat
ion Dept Thesis work
2. Agraharams, a changing paradigm work from College of Engineer
ing Trivandrum.
3. Motivations for the Tamil Brahmin migration to Kerala during the late
fifteenth and early
sixteenth centuries, Arjun Venkat, American School of Bombay.
4. Jacob Joseph Koduveliparambil, Construction Practices in Tradition
al Dwellings of
Kerala (Thesis), 1997.