CULTURE

&ARCHITECTURE
OF CHETTINAD
Prepared by : Mrs.S.H.R.Jawahar Benazir, School Of Architecture & Interior Design

 SOCIAL LIFE OF NAGARATHARS

SALIENT FEATURES OF A CHETTINAD HOUSE
TRADITIONS IN ARTS & CRAFTS
SPACE, FUNCTION & CLIMATE RESPONSIVENESS
COLUMNS,
COLUMNS PARAPETS AND CORNICES
RAJAS PALACE IN KANADUKATHAN
NAGARATHAR HOUSES IN KARAIKUDI.

Culture & Architecture

Culture & Architecture

 C H E T T I N A D is a region
of the Sivaganga district of
southern Tamil Nadu state,
India.
K A R A I K U D I is known as
the capital of Chettinad,
which includes Karaikudi and
74 ((traditionallyy its said as
96) other villages.
Since Chettinad was strategically located on the
old trade route, the Chettiars to work as traders
and moneylenders in Burma, Sri Lanka, Malaysia,
Singapore, Vietnam and other South-East Asian
countries.
They prospered, returned home & built massive
homes made of Burmese teak that gave them
their name
name, the Nattukotai (country fort)
Chettiars or Nagarathars
Nagarathars..
4

Culture & Architecture

 Nagarathars are an exclusive clan, famous

for their enterprise, hard work and
contributions
t ib ti to
t society.
it
They earned money by crossing the seas
and their business acumen made them
successful
f l andd prosperous.
Their social life is Unique. At the apex of
the family household, is the Aachi
Aachi the
senior most female in the house.
She controlled, if not every thing, the
finances of the household.
As a result of their traveling, the Chettiars
integrated diverse influences into their
traditions which contributed to their
uniqueness.
People started moving away from the
moneyy lendingg business in favour of other
professions.

Since the 1970s, many have become

professionals, entrepreneurs and industrialists.
While the Nagarathars still see their roots in
Chettinad, over the years, they have been moving
away from ancient traditions and customs.

Culture & Architecture

CHETTINAD CUISINE
Chettinad is known for its Culinary delicacies
Traditionally, meals for Chettiars are served on a large banana
leaf with rice,
rice vegetables,
vegetables pickles,
pickles papadams,
papadams along with meat
dishes.
Chettiars are very superstitious with numbers, dishes have to be
servedd in
i odd
dd numbers
b (i.e.
(i seven or nine
i dishes
di h per meal).
l)
Although the Chettiars are well-known for their delicious
vegetarian preparations, their recipes include fish and meats
also.
l
Chettinad can be considered as the master chefs who prepare
food that reflects the excellence of South Indian look for in the
preparation and serving of food.

Chettinad cuisine traditionally eaten on a

banana leaf (vaazhai ilai)

Culture & Architecture

The colorful Rituals in

Traditional Weddings

Culture & Architecture

CUSTOMS & TRADITIONS

CLAN TEMPLES
The community is organized around 9 clan temples. Each
member of the Chettiar community belongs to a clan and
each clan has its own temple.
AYANNAR SHRINES
Ayannar is the Tamil God of everything ": rain maker, god
of children
children, cattle
cattle, villages
villages, earth
earth, nature and villagers
villagers. He is
present in rural areas. His abodes are not necessarily
temples but outdoor shrines that are filled with terra-cotta
offerings.
offerings
MARIAMMAN TEMPLES
Mariamman, the Goddess of smallpox, is the deity of life,
especially
i ll off women andd children.
hild She
Sh grantst children
hild andd
cures them. The main festivals take place during the months
of March and April. There is great fervour during these
ffestivities,
i i i with
i h thousands
h
d off ddevotees gathering
h i iin hher
honour.

Culture & Architecture

F E S T I VA L S
D E E P A V A L I - On Deepavali day, there is
a grand festive lighting of traditional lamps
b the
by
h achis
hi (the
( h Chettiar
Ch i wives).
i ) The
Th lamps
l
are placed with other consecrated offerings
on banana leaves.
NAVARATRINavaratri is the
celebration of Goddesses Lakshmi,
Lakshmi Saraswati,
Saraswati
and Durga, the manifestations of Shakti
(Female Energy or Power). Customarily, the
Navaratri festival or Nine
Nine Nights festival
festival is
the culmination of nine days and nignts of
joyful celebrations when the women of a
hhousehold
h ld are particularly
ti l l celebrated
lb td.

Culture & Architecture

Temple Festival the 5

decorated
gods,
Panchamurthi
- the
annual procession in
open bullock carts

Vaikasi
carrying
V ik i Visakam
Vi k
i off
kavadi, Fire walking &
piercing the body with long
needles & sharp hooks

Culture & Architecture

Sevvai(Tuesday)Pongalcelebrated on first Tuesday of

pongal, the harvest festival

Puravi Edupu Horse festival

beseeching the rain gods for their
mercy

Culture & Architecture

AT H A N G U D I T I L E S
Athangudi
g
tiles
are
prepared by a unique
process in which local soil
alongg with cement, babyy
jelly and synthetic oxides
are used.
The tiles are cast from the
locally available clay that is
first burnt and then glazed.
It is the play of base
colours
with
typical
conventional flora and line
line-drawing designs that makes
them unique.
It is used for flooring, wall
cladding both in interiors
as well as exteriors.

Culture & Architecture

STREET VIEWS

Culture & Architecture

ARTS &
CRAFTS OF
CHETTINAD
Culture & Architecture

 The arts & crafts of Chettinad occupy a distinct

position in South Indian folklore.
Wood
W d carving,
i silver
il
embellishment,
b lli h t woven saris,
i
palm--leaf baskets, gold jewellery,
palm
jewellery, handhand-made tiles,
architectural styles, refined cuisine and egg plastering
h i more visible
i ibl contributions
ib i to the
h
are among their
wide-ranging repertoire of Indian arts and crafts.
Traditional Jewellery
Chettinad baskets has a special attraction as they
have intricate patterns made with date-palm leaves.
Traditional thaali Marriage necklace
Intricate
wooden carved
doorframe
Twin Chettinad
baskets woven
in fine silver

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15

Ornamental
wooden carving

Kandanghi sareeshand woven

Kidarams-big
Kidarams
big
water storage
vessel
Sombu
Brass vessel
Palmyra
y
leaf
Baskets
Kottans
&
Koodais

SpitoonsEchilpanickam

Culture & Architecture

Crafted
f
aruvamanai

16

The
Traditional
Wooden
Dolls

The
Chettiar &
The Achi
Use of Burmese teak and multi-color
tiles for cupboards.

A special feature of any chettinad house is the

decorative art of "Kolam
Kolam" practiced everyday at
dawn on the cleansed threshold of the house.
house
During auspicious days and especially on lifecycle
rituals like birth and marriage related
celebrations
celebrations, this art form on the floor takes on a
special meaning and is very elaborately done.

Nadu veetu kolam

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17

ARCHITECTURE OF CHETTINAD

Culture & Architecture

TYPICAL NAGARATHAR HOUSES

Most Chettiar mansions comprised of a
public reception area abutting the street.
The basic floor plan of a Chettinad house
consists of an outside verandah (thinnai) for
guests,
with a room for conducting business on
one or both ends;
an interior courtyard to be used in
ceremonies, with a raised seating area at
one or both ends;
a series of small double rooms opening off
the main courtyard, for storage, prayer and
sleeping and a small courtyard behind for
cooking and for the women to socialize.
The Chettinad houses were usually tilef d with
ith a smallll ttwo-storeyed
t d ttower att
roofed
both ends of the front elevation.

They later expanded vertically into twostoreyed structures, and horizontally through
the addition of numerous halls and
courtyards that could accommodate guests at
marriages and other ceremonies.
The rear hall served as the womens domain
where the women of the community reared
children, engaged
g g in food ppreservation and
went about other domestic activities.

Culture & Architecture

 Chettinad architecture
stands out for its
use of large spaces
in
halls
and
courtyards, ornate
embellishments like
Belgian
glasswork,
intricate woodwork,
spectacular ceramic
tiles, stone, iron and
wooden pillars like
nothing
thi else
l that
th t can
be seen in this part
of the world.

Culture & Architecture

CHETTINAD HOUSES
Chettinad houses are signs of successful joint
families that existed in the older days.
Buildings are divided into portions -Kattu
Kattu.
Each house in chettinad is made upp of
Mugappu, Valavu, Irandankattu, Moonankattu &
thottam
Mugappu
g pp The reception;
p
entrance of the house
Valavu Living area of the house
In the valavu, there are 4 platforms that are
called as Pattalai,, each at 4 corners of the
valavu.
Pattalai Living halls of each family
Along with Pattalai, valavu consists of numerous
Irattai veedu.
Irattai veedu rooms used by each family to
keep their belongings(2 rooms connected by a
single door)

Mugappu"
Mugappu" held by pillars made of granite

Nadai Corridor
Irandankattu
randankattu used for dining / with
storerooms for storing crockery/kitchenware
Moonamkattu Kitchen(adukala)
Thottam
ttam Garden
Stables, cowsheds etc.,

Culture & Architecture

 The magnificent mansions in

Chettinad are the finest examples
of combinations of vernacular
architecture & amalgam of South
East & European architecture
architecture.
The source of inspiration derived
from can be attributed to their
connection with Trade, Travel,
Te les Tradition
Temples,
T aditio and
a d Taste.
Taste
From birth to burial, the
Nagarathars observed numerous
ceremonies.
i
All such functions were held
within their own premises as
many off their
h i palatial
l i l buildings
b ildi
have Marriage Halls (Kalyana
(Kalyana
Kottagai)) and Banquet Hall
Kottagai
((Bhojan
Bhojan Hall or panthi kattu
kattu)).

The
pillared
corridors
around
the
'valuvu
valuvu''
(courtyard),
lead
into
individual rooms, each
meant for a married son.
son.

Culture & Architecture

The long corridors of

second kattu
kattu--used for
dining

 Their villages were constructed upon

precise and sophisticated rules of urban
planning, represented namely by orthogonal
streets and specific water management
systems, which are also directly linked to
the earlier Tamil traditions of rectangular
g
plots and houses with an inner courtyard
courtyard.
The houses, which evolved over two
centuries,, are veritable ppalaces.
On the ground floor, the architecture is
typically Tamil, while one can see Western
influences on the higher
g floors.
This reflects the Chettiar way of life, a
combination of their vibrant traditions with
the global economy
economy.

The marble was brought from Italy, chandeliers

and teak from Burma, crockery from Indonesia,
crystals from Europe and wall-to-wall mirrors
from Belgium.
The woodwork and stonework was inspired that
of the houses in France and other European
p
destinations.
The walls of Chettinad Nagarathars buildings
are embellished with Chettinad pplaster whose
other names are:
White Vellai poochchu
poochchu;
Egg
gg plastering;
pplasteringg;
g;
Muthu Poochchu
Such walls were coated with several layers
comprising mixture of lime base, ground white
seashells, liquid egg white, etc.

Culture & Architecture

Thinnai

kitchen 3rd Courtyard

2nd Courtyard

1st Courtyard

Kanakupullais room

TYPICAL PLAN OF A CHETTINAD HOUSE

The open aired 'valavu

valavu'' (courtyard)
with woodenwooden-pillared corridors on each
side.. The pillars were made out of
side
Burmese Teak.
Teak.

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24

The most important characteristic features of

Chettinad Buildings are
1) Cluster Houses,
Houses with
2) (Mostly)East West orientation
3) High rise compound wall (front side)
4) Entrance Arch with stone steps
5) Elevated plinth,
6) Tiled Portico,
7) Facade with stucco sculptures,
sculptures
8) Verandah Thinnai (two Platforms),
9) Wooden Pillars on it,
10) High
Hi h door
d frame
f
with
ith ornate
t woodd work,
k
11)Double
main
door,
12) pattalai
pattalai or pattasalai (smaller version of the
thinnaihi i
platforms),
l f )
13) Open Courtyard (Mutram Valavu),
14) Second /third courtyard/s,
15) Passage on all the four sides around the
Mutram, is called Suththupathi,

16) Edges
Ed off the
h passages are lined
li d with
i h cut
stone slabs known as vellaikkallu,
17) The stone pillars meant for supporting the
roof
18) Sloping clay - tiled roofs

The colorcolor-glass arch flanked by pillars on

either sides

Culture & Architecture

19) Square flat tiles floor of the mutram

will have rectangle stone slabs on all the four
corners to
t bear
b the
th brunt
b t off the
th falling
f lli rain
i
water,
20) Small single / double rooms on one side
or either
i h side
id off the
h passage (suththukkattu)
( h h kk )
length wise,
21) Kitchen on the last kattu,
22) Staircase on one or two or all the four
corners,
23) Banquet Hall Bhojan Hall Panthi kattu on
the side of the first kattu,
24) Floors laid with -Italian marble Black and
White, Granite & Athangudi tiles - Pookkallu,
25) Japanese and Spanish tiles were both used
for side walls
26)) Beams, pillars,
brackets, capitals,
frames all
p
p
made of Burma teak,

27) All the

h mediums
di
usedd in
i making
ki columns
l
viz,
i
wood, stone, brick, and iron,
28) First floor facade is invariably adorned by
colonnade made of stone, wood, and bricks,
29) Window niches and arches above are decorated
with stucco work or paintings.
30) Designed for collecting / harvesting rain water
(especially in courtyard (Mutram).

Culture & Architecture

 Chettinad is rich in cultural

heritage,
art
and
architecture, and is well
known for its houses,
embellished with marble and
Burma teak, wide courtyards,
spacious rooms, and for its
18th century mansions.
Local legend tells that their
walls used to be polished
with a paste
p
made out of
egg--whites to give a smooth
egg
texture.
texture
The construction material,,
decorative
items
and
furnishings were mostly
imported from East Asian
countries and Europe.

The Reception
area
Chettinad
House with
imported
Italian Marble
flooring

Extensivelyy
carved Wooden
Ceiling of a
Chettinad
mansion

Culture & Architecture

The Hall

The Pillared Verandah

Moonamkattu the kitchen courtyard

Culture & Architecture

courtyard

RAJAS PALACE
R
KANADUKATHAN

Culture & Architecture

 The Chettinad Rajas Palace, home of the

Chettiar family, was built in 1912.
The pillars around the courtyard are in
Burma teak, and there is picturesque
combination of scarlet tiles and sloping
woodwork The construction material,
woodwork.
material decor
items and furnishings were mostly
imported, from east Asian countries and
also
l from
f
E
Europe
where
h
th Raja
the
Rj
Chettiyar had spread his sprawling
business .
The
Th woodwork
d k andd stone workk were
inspired by French and other European
architecture.

Culture & Architecture

The elegant wooden bracketing

Mugappu - belgium glasswork

Culture & Architecture

Imported Italian chandelierschandeliers- Unique

decorated wooden columns

The Central courtyard

is used for
weddings
y
f
g and
religious ceremonies.
ceremonies.

Culture & Architecture

The third courtyard

Entrance
Hall
The elegant Dining Hall

Culture & Architecture

PARAPETS,
CORNICES &
PILLARS /
COLUMNS

Culture & Architecture

Use
of
animal
motifs for
brackets

iintricate
t i t poetry
t on woodd- richly
i hl
wood
carved doorway

Wooden carvings

El
b t wooden
d ceiling
ili iin a mansion
i
Elaborate

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35

Pillars/Columns

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36

The
rich
and
intricate detailing
off the
h parapets and
d
cornices across the
houses of chettinad

Parapets/Cornices

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37

The colorful Belgian Glasswork

Windows

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38

STUCCOWORK
Stucco work was used on the interior & exterior walls; stucco
sculptural work was employed on the entrance tower, faade,
railing wall & compound wall.
The icons of Gods/Goddesses- Gajaj Lakshmi, Meenakshi Sundareswarar,Shiva
Parvathi on Rishaba bull was often a repeated theme in Chettinad.
Images of God, goddess, angels, flora and fauna
are generally
ll portrayedd by
b using
i the
h medium
di off
stucco.
Gajalakshmi symbolizes protection and prosperity
prosperity;;
Shiva Parvathi pair represents happy family life.

Stucco Work
Work-Architecture
cum
Sculpture

Stucco--work
Stucco

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39

CLIMATE RESPONSIVENESS
MAIN COURTYARD Prime place for
interaction ; Since, Chettinad is a hot
and semi-arid region,
g , The climate was
taken into consideration in the design
of their homes and the materials used.
The houses were built around an
East/West central courtyard which
brings shade, light, coolness and air to
the entire home.
BUILDING MATERIALS USED - The
materials used for construction and the
essential components of this luxury
home are brick and lime plaster walls,
terracotta tiled roofs, stone pillars, teak
columns
columns, and marble and stone floors
floors.

ROOFING - The roof is terracotta tiled which helps

in shutting out the immense heat; as chettinad is a hot
and arid region.

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40

BIBLIOGRAPHY
http://www.wikipedia.org/
http://www.google.co.in/
http:// chettinad-chettinadarchitecture.blogspot.com
The Chettiar Heritage, S. Muthiah, Meenakshi Meyappan, Visalakshi
Ramaswamy

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