1AGRAHARAMS: THE ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF AUNIQUE HOUSING PATTERN IN KERALA

Sharat Sunder R

2CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................... 3

2. BRAHMIN MIGRATION TO KERALA DURING 15TH CENTURY............................... 43. THE SETTLEMENT PATTERN ................................................................................................ 54. THE TRADITIONAL KERALA HOMESTEAD AND THE AGRAHARAMS ............. 65. THE PLANNING ACCORDING TO VASTUPURUSHAMANDALA .......................... 11

6. REFLECTING SOCIAL POSITION IN THE BUILT FABRIC........................................ 137. CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................. 158. REFERENCES: .............................................................................................................................. 17

3AGRAHARAMS: THE ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF A UNIQUEHOUSING PATTERN IN KERALA

1. INTRODUCTION

The agraharams1 of Kerala is the standing vestiges of the history of a group of people whohad migrated to this land and made it their abode. The history of the Brahmin migrationto Kerala are intertwined with a lot of myths and legends, that one finds it hard toseparate the truth from them. According to popular belief and oral traditions, theancestors of the Brahmins of south India had migrated from northern India to thesouthern parts of the subcontinent in the course of Aryan Invasion.2

The earliest records of Brahmins and their settlements in south India finds mention in

Perump uppa ai3, a Sangam Age work dated to 3rd century AD called which describesthe 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 sounds to the parrots with the bent mouth. If you

(bard) reach (the place), fair faced bangled ladies who are as chaste as (Arundhathi) the little star which

shines in the north of the bright, broad sky, will after sunset feed you on the well-cooked rice named after

the bird (explained by the commentator as the rice called irasanam) 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 tender fruit plucked from the tall mango tree and

pickled

1 Agraharams: The name originates from the fact that the agraharams have rows of houses on either sideof the road and the temple to the village god at the centre, thus resembling a garland around the temple.According to the traditional Hindu practice of architecture and town-planning, an agraharam is held to betwo rows of houses running north-south on either side of a road at one end of which would be a temple toShiva 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 fromNorth India.( "History of Madras by James Talboys Wheeler" )In a genetic study in Andhra Pradesh allindividuals examined among Vadakalai Iyengars showed a high similarity of rhesus(d) gene frequency withthe people of Faislabad in the Punjab province of Pakistan. All the individuals examined among VadakalaiIyengars showed Rhesus(D) positive with a high frequency of the D allele while the other castes fromAndhra showed a low frequency of the D allele ( Hameed, Amjad; Hussain, Wajahat; (2002). "Prevalance ofPhenotypes and Genes of ABO and Rhesus (Rh) Blood Groups in Faisalabad, Pakistan". Pakistan Journal ofBiological Sciences (Asian Network for Scientific Information)).

3 P. T. Srinivasa Iyengar (1929). History of the Tamils from the Earliest Times to 600 A. D.; pp. 388389.

4The Brahmin settlers of south India had migrated to various parts of the subcontinentand made their settlements around temples. As a community which handled the Vedasand religious texts, the Brahmins wielded power and influence in the social hierarchy. Asthe priestly class they received royal patronage and respect from the rulers and all theother communities.

Wherever they went, the Brahmins made their settlements around temples, around whichtheir everyday life revolved.

2. BRAHMIN MIGRATION TO KERALA DURING 15TH CENTURY

The Brahmins in Kerala can be broadly classified into two groups the NamboothiriBrahmins and the Tamil and Tulu Brahmins. The Namboothiri Brahmins claimthemselves to be the true Malayala Brahmins of Kerala, who were the descendant of thefamilies brought to Kerala by Parasurama, the mythical creator of Kerala. However, thestories of the origin of many of the prominent Namboothiri families have roots inTamilakam. The Tamil and Tulu Brahmins who had migrated to various parts of Kerala atdifferent time periods were termed as Paradesi Brahmins by the indigenouscommunities. The migrants brought with them the new style of housing termed asagraharams.

The major Brahmin migrations into Kerala took place from the early Sangam age andextended till 1600 A.D. The last phase of large scale Brahmin migrations were catalyzedby the fall of the Vijayanagara dynasty of the Deccan, exposing the independent,provinces of the South to the invading Muslims from the North. The golden reign of therevered king of Vijayanagara, Deva Raya II, had ended in 1450.

Vijayanagara, the Hindu kingdom, geographically shielded the small, weak districts ofTami Nadu from the Muslim invaders of the North. However, Vijayanagara of the late15th and early 16th century, at the time of the Tamil Brahmin migration, was crumbling,creating widespread fear in the weak, scattered, former Pandya and Pallava kingdoms ofthe South. The kingdom of Vijayanagara was all that lay between the vulnerable southernkingdoms and the invading Muslims from the north. With the support of the GajapathiKing of Orissa, the Bahmini Sultanate of Delhi continued to attack the Northern frontierof the Vijayanagara kingdom. Therefore, the fall of Vijayanagara also proves to be anotherimportant historical event that could have caused turmoil in the southern kingdoms,

5triggering the Tamil Brahmin migration to safer abodes.4 This was the time when theagraharam housing patterns were established in various parts of south India.

3. THE SETTLEMENT PATTERN

The planning of the agraharams followed a grid iron or concentric ring patterns, with thetemple forming the main focus. The row of houses is either single or double storied, withthe traditional pitched roof form striking a significant profile against the sky. The streetswere narrow and formed an integral extension of the living space. The linear settlementpattern culminated at a temple or was arranged around the temple in various concentricrings, as seen in the great south Indian temple towns. Water bodies were always seen itthe vicinity of these settlements as the Vedic life recommended both spiritual and physicalpurity.

The row houses sharing a common wall had a long verandah running along the frontportion, supported by stone and wooden pillars. This unique architectural style finds itselfalienated from the vernacular architecture practices and traditions of the Kerala.However, this architectural style embeds within the true history of this community, theirlifestyle, customs and traditions.

The evolution of this particular architectural typology may also speak about the socialposition of the Brahmin community. Even though these migrant Brahmins wieldedpower in the caste ridden society, they were always a minority when compared to the localindigenous population. Moreover, when they moved into a new place and made theirsettlements, there was always a tendency amongst the members of the communities tosettle together to ensure safety. Another reason behind this was that in most cases theearly migrants to a particular place may be the members of a same family, and thus whenthey settle down in an alien land, they automatically evolved into a close knit communitywhose principles were based on strict religious norms. The settlements were often madeand donated to these families by the rulers.

The row housing pattern reflecting the lifestyle of the Brahmin community was unknownto the south Indian agrarian society. The indigenous communities had farmlands in closeproximity to their living spaces and often the individual houses stood apart in the centreof a large plot. The courtyard houses of Kerala, often termed as nalukettu and educatehad 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.

6to the Vedic period (500B. C. -200A. D.). The indigenous Dravidian population of southIndia who followed Jain and Buddhist religions, incorporated into their thoughts andpractices, some of the Vedic principles they adopted through the interaction with theBrahmins. Therefore, both in the basic planning of both traditional vernaculararchitecture of south India and in the agraharams one may come across some similarities.Yet there have been regional variations in the local vernacular architecture, governed byfactors 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 comprisingof many sections with specific usages. The basic units of these houses were square orrectangular structures where four blocks are joined together with a central courtyard opento the sky. The four halls on the sides are named vadakkini (northern block), padinjattini(western block), kizhakkini (eastern block) and thekkini (southern block). The architecturewas especially catered to large families of the traditional tharavadu, to live under one roofand enjoy the commonly owned facilities of the marumakkathayam5 homestead. Based onthe spatial arrangement of the rooms and the number of courtyards, this vernaculartypology is further classified into many different groups.

Traditionally nalukettu has one courtyard with four blocks/halls constructed around it incardinal directions. However some nalukettus have two courtyards, which are known asEttukettu (eight Blocked structure) as they have altogether eight blocks in cardinaldirections. Some superstructures have four courtyards, which then are known aspatinarukettu (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 floors. Mostof the nalukettus in South Kerala are single storied and mostly made with woodcompletely. Whereas nalukettus in North Kerala are two storied or sometimes even threestoried and have laterite and clay mixture as walls.

In North Kerala, most of the granaries are located outside the main house, whereas inTravancore side, it will be normally attached to the Kitchen area and mostly builtunderground.

5 Marumakkathayam matrilineal system of inheritance.

7A traditional Kerala house has the following components:

The padippura - It is a structure containing a door forming part of Compound wallfor the house with a tiled roof on top. It is the formal gateway to the compoundwith 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 open.

The chuttu verandah - From the Poomukham, a verandah to either side in front ofthe house through the open passage called chuttu verandah. Chuttu verandah will havehanging lights in equal distance hanging from its slope roof.

The nadumuttam - Traditionally nadumuttom or central open courtyard is the primecenter of the Nalukettu. The rooms are arranged around this courtyard.

Depending upon the social status and economic conditions of the family, the homesteadwill have further additions like ponds, granaries and cowsheds, all scattered inside a largecompound. The houses of the indigenous Brahman community known as theNamboothiries were also similar to this. The Nampoothiri Brahmins established thegramoms in Kerala, which were the forerunners of the later scattered agrarian settlements.The gramoms were villages with a family of the Nampoothiri family occupying the centralposition. The settlements of all the other caste members were concentrated around it. Thecaste system followed in south India was another player in the evolution of the hierarchyof the settlement patterns. The observance of tindappad 6 among the upper and lowercastes, the joint family and customs of the Kerala Brahmins which separate them fromtheir counterparts elsewhere, the matriarchal joint family and succession among the castesincluded in the Varna-jati system, and above all the peculiar forms of the feudal landrelations in Kerala; it is evident from all these realities that the formation of theagricultural village system in Kerala took shape in a different situation from that of thesouth and north,7 this contributed to the unique identity of the village settlements ofKerala.

The design and layout of the Brahmin agraharams are in contrast to the traditionalarchitectural style followed in Kerala. As explained before, the settlement patternfollowed by the traditional Brahmin settlers were guided by certain parameters like the

6 Tindappad the observance of certain distances between the various castes in order to avoid pollution bycontact.

7 Cherian PJ (State Editor) Essays on Cultural formation of Kerala.

8social position of the community, their association with the temple and of course, thepatronage of the royals. The agraharams now found in Kerala date back to the 15th and16th century A.D. The religious and political conditions that prevailed in those days alsoacted as an important factor in defining the agraharam settlements.

The agraharams built around the temples were either arranged along the three sides of themain temple (e.g. the agraharams inside the Fort, Thiruvananthapuram); otherwise, themost commonly seen pattern is the concentric circles around the temple (e.g. agraharamsof Srirangam). The agraharams were often built on land donated by the royals and oftenthe land was divided amongst the migrant Brahmins based on the social hierarchy existingwithin their caste group. The highly regarded families, the priests and the scholarsacquired the position near the temple and the palace complex; the others occupied theouter fringes.

The agraharams were usually followed a linear planning, quite in contrast to thearrangement of rooms around the courtyard we see in the traditional Kerala houses. Theplanning and architecture of these two housing patterns have evolved over time takinginto consideration various parameters like the local climatic conditions, availability oflocal building materials and the skill employed in the construction. The courtyard housesof Kerala show a direct response to the climatic conditions of the place. In the hot humidclimatic conditions of this region, the courtyard ensures easy ventilation. Traditionally thesloping roof of the houses lets in a little sunlight to the interiors of the traditional Keralahouses; this is compensated by the presence of the large courtyard. The courtyard hassome religious association too, traditionally in Kerala Vastu, the open courtyard in aKerala house is considered as the deva sthana the most sacred place assigned to the godsand hence construction are not allowed there. In old houses we can often see the sacredtulsi planted and worshipped in the centre of the courtyard.

The agraharams also incorporates a courtyard in its design; however, here its position isnot in the deva sthana. The function of the courtyard in an agraharam corresponds to thatof the traditional Kerala courtyard, however, here the scale and proportion are inaccordance with the design of the agraharam itself. These courtyards were used forreligious purposes, the backbone of the life of the Brahmin community.

The spatial planning of the agraharams follows a linear pattern with rooms arranged oneafter the other. The spaces inside have special purposes, and among them privacy of the

9occupants is of the least concern. The various components of the agraharam are thefollowing:

Puramthinna the long corridor/verandah running in front of the agraharams.This space also acted as a community gathering place where the men assembledfor religious discourse.

Akamthinna the small room next to puramthinna, this room incorporates thekonippadi (stairway) leading to the upper storey.

Rezhi this is the central room in an agraharam which acts as the living/bedroom, the important religious ceremonies and rituals associated with the Brahmincommunity are also performed in this place.

Thalam it is the space around the courtyard, the homakundam or the place for thesacrificial fire is located here.

Mittam the courtyard is a part of the rezhi itself and often there is no separationbetween these two spaces.

Adukkala this is the kitchen.

Kuchil these are the rooms located at the extreme end, where the ladiesduring their menstruation are housed.

Machil Machil is the attic room. The stairway from the akamthinna leadsto the machil. This room is assigned for the use of newly wedded couples.

Kottil the independent structure located at the extreme end, it is oftenused as a cow shed or as storage space.

In the old days the agraharams did not have toilets associated with the house and thesystem of scavengers lanes thus came into existence. There were narrow lanes runningbehind the agraharams, through which the scavengers came and collected the night soilfrom each agraharam.

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THE PLAN AND SECTION SHOWING THE SPATIAL PLANNING OF THE AGRAHARAM.

The culture and life that developed within the agraharam settlements were entirelydifferent from those seen in the traditional indigenous settlements. The matriarchalsystem of family led to the joint family system, where we had the members of a familyliving under the same roof. The head of the family was the male head, the karanavar andthe senior most females of the family. This joint family system brought in a system ofgroup living and sense of sharing amongst the local communities. However, in the case ofthe agraharams the qualities of living together and sharing each others space got reflectedin their planning of the settlements and it zoomed down into the architecture of theirhouses. The traditional houses of Kerala often had a private pond associated with it,which was used exclusively by the members of the family. In the case of the agraharamsettlements, the linear division of the plots and the houses which covered almost thewhole of the plot area did not allow its settlers to have the luxury of a separate pond foreach house. The settlers depended upon the temple pond. The sense of sharing the spacesis then best exhibited in the design of the puramthinna; the long connected verandahsrunning in front of all the agraharams. The puramthinna was an interstitial space whichconnected the street and the interiors of the house and this was also the place wherereligious as well as philosophical debates were held.

The culture of living together and sharing has also played an important role in theeveryday life of the inhabitants of the agraharams. They have bhajana madhoms (prayerhalls) which also was a place where the people from the settlement gathered for thefestivals and during important occasions. The indigenous agrarian settlements of Keraladid not have such a gathering place, other than the temple.

The agraharams were introvert settlements, often open to the members of the particularcaste group, however within the introvert settlement there were designed built and openspaces that well catered to the needs of the settlers. The streets within the settlementswere narrow and not designed for vehicular transportation. The streets were also a part ofthe life of the Brahmin communities as many of the important religious functions andmarriage feasts were conducted in the streets. In Kerala there is no community which hasintegrated the streets with their daily life.

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5. THE PLANNING ACCORDING TO VASTUPURUSHAMANDALA

The selection, orientation and location of the house in traditional Kerala concept weregreatly influenced by the concept of vasthupurushamandala, the cosmic diagram and relatedgeometric ways of spatial planning in relation with time and nature based on astrologyand mathematical computation, which formed the primary resource of Hinduarchitecture.8 According to vastu, the site is divided into nine veedhis or paths by concentricsquares. The seventh and eighth paths known as devaveedhi and manushyaveedhi are reservedfor ancillary structures. The outermost veedhi is the pishachaveedhi, where no constructionother than the compound wall and the gateway are permitted. The two innermost pathsare dedicated to the gods- the brahmaveedhi and ganeshaveedhi, these are considered as sacredand no construction is permitted over it. This in turn developed into the open courtyardin the traditional Kerala house.

THE TRADITIONAL PLANNING OF A TEMPLE TOWN WITH THE TEMPLE OCCUPYING THEDEVA STANA, THE LAYOUT OF TEMPLE TOWN OF MADURAI.

The vastu planning which was a unique feature of the traditional Kerala houses was notheard of in the planning and design of the agraharams. The linear pattern of agraharamscannot be overlaid on the vasthupurushamandala. However, taking into consideration theplanning of a temple town, we can see that the agraharams were constructed in the veedhis

8 Jacob Joseph Koduveliparambil, Construction Practices in Traditional Dwellings of Kerala (Thesis), 1997.

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which were assigned for human habitation. In a traditional temple town, the temple is thenucleus, around which the settlements are made, i.e., the temple occupies the brahmaveedhi.

CASESTUDIES: Examples for extensive agraharam settlements can be seen in the layoutof the old temple towns of Madurai (FIG 3) and Srirangam. In Madurai the settlementpattern and its hierarchy are rather interesting as we can see that there the Brahmins werenot 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 hands of the traders. TheChettiar (Vaisya traders) and the settlers from Sourashtra and the Yadava communitieswere associated with trade and they enjoyed higher position and status in the socialhierarchy. Their social position reflected in the settlement patter, in Madurai, thesettlements of the trading communities are seen in proximity to the temple complex. Thecommunity of traders who thus lived alongside the Brahmins adopted their mode of rowhousing and thus the housing of the trading communities in Madurai is similar to theagraharam row housing pattern of the Brahmins.

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In the more traditional temple town of Srirangam we can still see the remnants of the pastglory of the agraharams. Here the Brahmin settlements are seen in concentric ringsaround the main temple complex. It is important to note that in this temple town, thetemple occupies the brahmaveedhi, the central scared portion and the settlements areseen 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 the timber works of theindigenous craftsmen. The traditional buildings of south Kerala, including the heritagestructures found in the fort area which predates 19th century use timber as the majorbuilding material. The superstructures as well as the roofing framework in these buildingsare made using timber. Whereas, in north Kerala the major building material was lateritestone which was easily available. The reliance on the building materials has contributed tothe scale and proportion of the traditional housing patterns.

In the case of the agraharams in Thiruvananthapuram the major building material usedwas a locally available inferior variety of laterite stone, locally known as cheekkal. Thenow availability of this stone has made the owners to go for ordinary bricks. Thecementing materials as well as the plastering materials used in the old days were differentfrom those used today. In the past mud mortar was used, in the palaces and the houses ofthe nobles and other prominent communities they used lime plaster, with jaggery, sandand the oil extracted from a fish9 as the ingredients added to it. Roofing was done usingthatch or clay tiles (fish scale tiles and Mangalore tiles). The thatch roof demandedperiodic care as it has to be renewed every year; this ensured the proper maintenance ofthe roofing system.

The building materials used and the scale of the building reflected the economic status ofits occupants. When compared to the agraharams in Thiruvananthapuram, the agraharamsof Kalpathy in Palakkad District of north Kerala are much larger and embellished. Thereason behind this was undoubtedly attributed to the higher economic viability of itsoccupants. Unlike the Brahmin migrants in Thiruvananthapuram, who were employed inthe temple, the Brahmin settlers in Kalpathy were associated with trade. The commercialactivities boosted the economic profile of these settlers and 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 thelime mortar.

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architecture also. The agraharams in Kalpathy come under the category of muzhumanaor the complete form of the house, whereas the agraharams in Thiruvananthapuram areusually of the lesser scale. The different typologies of the agraharams within a samesettlement suggest the existence of the various hierarchies within the Brahmin communityitself. The most venerated scholarly class of Brahmins always occupied the largeragraharams which were known as muzhumana, whereas the ordinary temple staffsowned the aramana and the mukkalmama. The lowest in the hierarchy were those whodid service works within the community itself; their houses reflected their lower socialstanding as they lived in kalmana, the smallest of the agraharam typology.

THE MUZHUMANA, ARAMANA, MUKKALMANA AND KALMANA TYPOLOGIES WITH THEIRRELATIVE SIZE.

The Brahmins being a religious faction took care to incorporate within their architecturecertain patterns and traditions that reflect their Vedic roots. During the late 19th and early20th centuries, with the Colonial influence and trade relationships with other nations, awide variety of building materials became available in the Indian market. When the richand influential Brahmin settlers went for imported Burmese teak, most of the orthodox

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stock still opted for the simple bamboo as a major building material.10 The reason behindthis is the religious association the Brahmins had with the bamboo plant. The newbuilding materials exported via ship was ridiculed by the orthodox Brahmins as impureand thus not considered for building activities. If this was the scene in the orthodoxsetup, then there was another group of Brahmins who were more exposed to the Westernways of life. With the British occupation of India, the Brahmins were one of thecommunities to embrace the new ways of Western education which in turn helped themto acquire the favour of the British. Learned Brahmins were always associated with theroyals as well as the British, who were their new masters.

7. CONCLUSION

The agraharam settlements of today have undergone transformation. The agraharamsettlements in Thanjavur, near Kumbapettai in the post independence period consisted ofthirty six households, a small settlement; however, still it was a powerful, introvertcommunity holding firm to the old taboos of caste system and Brahmin dominance in thesociety. They had imposed several restrictions on access to the agraharams. Even in1950s, the non-Brahmin and Dalit communities were not allowed to set foot on the mainstreet; they had to come to the back door. The Temple Entry act of 1947 meant thatmembers of all castes had the legal right to go to the Vishnu and Shiva temples in theagraharam, but in practice they did not do so and the old ban on their admission was stillbeing observed in the post independent Kumbapettai.11 This high degree of internalinteraction and external exclusiveness (Gough 1960) exhibited by the Brahmincommunity is exhibited in their settlement pattern and in the spatial organization of theirhouses. The agraharams in East Fort, Thiruvananthapuram dates to the 18th century.When compared to the agraharam settlements of the great temple towns of Tamilnadu,the Thiruvananthapuram agraharams are far less in concentration; the restrictions to othercaste members were also less. The old form of life in the agraharams changed during the1940s, with the Hitlers War (World War II), says 92 year old Krishna Iyer. During thetime of the war and after, many youngsters from the agraharams migrated out in search of

10 Bamboo was an integral part in the upanayanam and marriage ceremonies associated with the Brahmincommunity. As a building material, it was generally used as rafters of the roof frame which supported thetiles or thatch on top.

11 A Companion to the Anthropology of India, Isabelle Clark-Decs, from the description of theKumbapettai agraharams given by the anthropologist Gough, where she stayed in 1951-52.

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better employment opportunities.12 The transformation of the old form of agraharamshad started then. With the emigration of the local Brahmin community, the agraharamswere often occupied by the members of other castes. The remaining Brahmins shutthemselves away from the new occupants. The open thinna in front of the agraharams wasclosed and the once active space of interaction and heated Vedic discussion have beenlost forever. After independence most of the great temples came under the control of thenew government and thus the traditional system of management changed, with this manyof the Brahmins who were traditionally associated with the temple lost their job. This inturn made them to look for alternative ways of living. Many of the agraharams began torun catering service, supplying homemade vegetarian food. A few of them were evenconverted into hotels; the thinna got converted into shops.

From the architectural point of view the agraharams in Kerala are unique and differentfrom the other agraharam settlements of the great temple towns of Tamilnadu, at thesame time it draws a contrasting picture of the traditional Kerala style of architecture aswell. The prime objective of this research was to compare the vernacular architecture withthe design and planning of the agraharams, and the various socioeconomic, religious andpolitical factors behind it. The agraharams in Kerala have borrowed some features fromthe traditional vernacular architecture, like in the case of building materials, timber whichwas easily available and common in Kerala was also used extensively in the agraharams.However, other than this, the spatial organization of the Tamil Brahmin houses in Keralaremains unique and untouched.

12 Interview with Krishna Iyer, Tippu Street, East Fort, Thiruvananthapuram (2011).

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8. REFERENCES:

Published works:

1. Thapar Romila, Early India: From Origins to AD 1300, 2002; Penguin Books2. Sadashivan S.N., A social history of India, APH Publishing, 20003. Social Formations of Early South India, Rajan Gurukkal.4. A Companion to the Anthropology of India, Isabelle Clark-Decs5. 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 Housing, Fort areaThiruvananthapuram, Ayyappan K.A. (2000), S.P.A. Conservation Dept Thesis work

2. Agraharams, a changing paradigm work from College of Engineering 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 Traditional Dwellings of

Kerala (Thesis), 1997.