Kerala architecture is a kind of architectural style that is mostly found in Indian

state of Kerala

Kerala's style of architecture is unique in India

The architecture of Kerala has been influenced by Dravidian and Indian Vedic
architectural science (Vastu Shastra)

Sree Vadakkunnathan Temple,Thrissur

 Dravidian architecture was an architectural idiom that emerged in the
Southern part of the Indian

It consists primarily of temples with pyramid shaped towers

Constructed of sandstone, soapstone or granite

The Shore Temple of the Seven Pagodas of Annamalaiyar Temple in Tiruvannamalai

Mahabalipuram.
 The majority of the existing structures are located in the Southern Indian
states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana.

Various kingdoms and empires such as the Cholas, the Chera, the Kakatiyas,
the Pandyas, the Pallavas, the Gangas, the Rashtrakutas, the Chalukyas, the
Hoysalas, and Vijayanagara give contribution to the evolution of Dravidian
architecture.

The Brihadeeswarar Temple Virupaksha Temple at Hampi, Karnataka

 Chola style temples consist almost invariably of the three following
parts, arranged in differing manners, but differing in themselves only
according to the age in which they were executed:

The porches or Mantapas, which always cover and precede the door
leading to the cell.

Gate-pyramids, Gopuras, which are the principal features in the

quadrangular enclosures that surround the more notable
temples.Gopuras are very common in dravidian temples.

Pillared halls (Chaultris or Chawadis) are used for many purposes and
are the invariable accompaniments of these temples.
The Brihadeeswarar Temple, Thanjavoor
The characteristic regional expression of Kerala architecture results from the
Geographical
Climatic and
Historic factors
 The locational feature of Kerala has influenced the social development and
indirectly the style of construction.

The earliest vestiges of constructions in Kerala belong to this period dated

between 3000 B.C. to 300 B.C.

They can be grouped into two types

- TOMB CELLS
- MEGALITHS

TOMB CELLS - The tombs cells are roughly oblong in plan with single or
multiple bed chambers with a rectangular court in the east from
where steps rise to the ground level. Example at Porkalam,
Thrissur district.
MEGALITHS - A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a
structure or monument, either alone or together with other
stones. The word "megalithic" describes structures made of such
large stones without the use of mortar or concrete
 Megaliths are the monuments built of granite rocks erected over the
burials.
Recent findings in various parts of Kerala has provided enough proof of its
greater antiquity in the geological features and pre-historic cultures.
The prehistoric evidences obtained from Kerala constitute various culture
beginning from Paleolithic to megalithic period.
The first set of people of Kerala, can be identified only with reference to
their burial practices.
These people constructed burial monuments in granite, laterite and
pottery, most of which are strikingly similar to the megalithic monuments
of west Europe and Asia.

The term megalith is derived

from Greek megas, which
means great
and lithos meaning stone. So,
megaliths refer to the
monuments built of large
stones
 Based on archaeological evidences these cultures are placed between
the 3rd c. B.C and the 1st c. A.D. But, Megalithic culture of South India
had a much larger chronological span.

The origin of the most megalithic monuments is placed in the Mediterranean

region in the early neolithic period.

In the context of India this culture arrived with the Dravidian speakers who
came to South India from west Asia by sea

The Indian megaliths, on the other hand, belong to the Iron Age generally
dated to 1000 B.C onwards

The material and chronological differences between the megalithic culture of

northern India and southern India suggest that the coming of this culture into
the Indian subcontinent would have taken place by two routes one following
the sea route from the Gulf of Oman to the West coast of India and the other
following the land route from Iran
 These megaliths have been found in different chronological context
practically all over India, from the plains of Panjab, Indo-Gangetic
basin, the desert of Rajasthan northern part of Gujarat and especially
all regions south of Nagpur in the Peninsular India.

The early part of the 19th century witnessed the studies on the
megaliths of Kerala with the discovery and excavation of a few burials
in the Kannur district.

large-stone structures resembling some of the usual megalith types

have also been reported from some places in North India, Central India
and Western India.
 Kerala is rich in megalithic monuments,
- rock-cut caves,
- rock-cut pits,
- urn burials,
- Umbrella stones (Kudakkallu),
- Hat stones (Toppikkallu),
- slab cists,
- Port-holed cists,
- dolmens,
- menhirs
The monuments and burials called
'Megaliths' are the predominant
archaeological remains of the Iron Age
that represents a formative phase in the
history of Peninsular India in general and
Kerala in particular.
 These are scooped out on soft laterite, as found in the southern part of
the West Coast. These rock cut cave tombs are peculiar to this region
and occur in the Cochin and Malabar regions of Kerala.
They also occur in other regions. On the East Coast of South India, they
are present in Mamallapuram (Mahabalipuram) near Madras.
 In the Deccan and western India they are observed at Elephanta, Ajanta,
Ellora, Karle, Bhaja etc. But these belong to a later date and were used
for entirely different purposes while those in Kerala are
purely megalithic and funerary ones, the others being of different
tradition.

The Kerala funerary rock cut caves consist of an open well, roughly
rectangular or square, cut vertically down the rock and provided with a
flight of steps for descending to the floor.

Such caves are found at many sites like Chovvannur, Kakkad,

Porkalam, etc. More elaborate specimens of such caves occur at sites
like Eyyal,Kattakampal, etc.
 Allied with the rock cut caves but of a simpler form are the Hood
stones or Kudaikallu. These consists of a dome-shaped dressed laterite
block which cover the underground circular pit cut into a natural rock
and provided with a stairway.

In some cases the hood stone

gives place to a hat
stone or toppikkal, which is a
plano-convex slab resting on
three or four quadrilateral
boulders, forming a square base
and a truncated top on which
rests the the hat stone.
 Similar monuments are commonly encountered
in Cochin and Malabar regions extending along the Western Ghats into
the Coimbatore region upto the Noyyal river valley in Tamilnadu

Shaped like a hat or a an umbrella, an Iron

Age megalithic burial site at Cherumangadu
near Thrissur, Kerala
 Menhirs are monolithic pillars planted vertically into the ground. These
may be small or gigantic in height. They are dressed or not dressed at
all.

Menhir Megalith in Hazaribagh, Jharkhand

The menhirs of Vangchhia village,Champai
district of Mizoram to be protected by ASI.
 Alignments are closely associated to the menhirs. These consists of
a series of standing stones.These stones are sometimes dressed.
The alignments are found at Komalaparathala in Kerala and at a
number of sites in Gulbarga, Raichur, Nalgonda and Mahboobnagar
districts of Karnataka.

Menhir in Manipur
 Avenues consists of two or more parallel rows of the alignments and
hence many of the sites in the Deccan, mentioned above under
alignments, may be considered as examples of this category of
monuments when they are in parallel line
 Dolmen consists of square or rectangular box-like graves built of
several orthostats one or more for each side, supporting the super
incumbent capstone consisting of one or more stones, often with the
floor also paved with the stone slabs.
Dolmens of Marayur. Marayur in Kerala is
also famous for Ancient rock paintings.
 The dolmen occur at large number at Sanur near Chingleput (T.N.) and
many other sites in this region.

There are many sub-types of this in Tamilnadu

(i) Dolmen with multiple orthostats,

(ii) Dolmen with four orthostats with U-shaped port-hole in the east or
west,
(iii) Dolmen with four orthostats with U-shaped port-hole on the top
corner of the eastern orthostat, and
(iv) Dolemn with four orthostats with slab-circles.
A Munda dolmen with a table top capstone
in Jharkhand
RAMAVARMAPURAM :
o The Ramavarmapuram Menhir is in granite and is 15 feet height and 12.4 feet
broad

o The monument is locally known as patakallu. Menhirs are memorials for the
departed souls put up at burial sites

o They belong to megalithic age of Kerala, which is roughly

estimated between 1000 BCE and 500CE

o The Ramavarmapuram menhir is also believed to be a

monument belonging to the sangam period in the South
Indian history
ARIYANNOOR :
o Ariyannoor is a megalithic site with huge umbrella- like stones covering the
burial.

o Six umbrella stones stand here in a group. Among them, two are partly broken.

o An umbrella stone consists of a curvilinear laterite.

o The place is made up of laterite outcrops.

CHEREMANGANAD:
o Cheremanganad is well known for the typical megaliths of Kerala state, i.e.,
umbrella stones, Thoppikkallu, stone circles, and hood stones.

o It is the laterite zone. There are 69 megalithic monuments grouped in a small

area.

o The largest Kudakkal has 270 cm in height from the apex to the middle base,
which is 150 cm long while

o The other measures 210 cm x 130 cm above the ground out of nine, one

o Thoppikkal was excavated and it

yielded three pots without any
bone remains
CHOWANNUR:
o The cave at Chowannur is situated on the northern, side of the Kunnamkulam-
Wadakkancheri road.

o It is entered through a recessed opening on the east, the entrance being 1 ft. 6
in. wide and 1 ft. 1\ in. high.

o The inside surface of the cave is unusually smooth, testifying to the advanced
workmanship of its builders.
KANDANISSERI:
o The cave at Kandanisseri, which is situated half a mile south of Ariyannoor in
Ariyannur-desam, is also entered through a recessed opening, although the
opening here is inclined towards east-south-east.

o The inner recess, 2 ft. 3 in. wide and 1 ft. 10 in. high, leads into a chamber with
a hemispherical dome and a paraboloid floor,

o on all sides of which, excepting the entrance-side, are three benches, each
with three legs cut out of the rock,

o the hollowed-out space between the legs taking the shape of the base of the
benches;

o they are only 6 in. wide and do not extend under the whole width to the back
of the benches
o on all sides of which, excepting the entrance-
side, are three benches, each with three legs
cut out of the rock,
It is entered through a recessed opening,
although the opening here is inclined
towards east-south-east.
KAKKAD:
The cave at Kakkad, situated on the slope of a hill 1 mile north of the town of
Kunnamkulam

It has a narrow entrance on the east, 1 ft. 9 in. wide and 1 ft. 7 in. high at the
outer edge, and its top opening, 2 ft. 4 in. in diameter, places it in the same
category as the Kandanisseri cave.

The cave is dome-shaped and paraboloid on plan with an almost straight edge on
the entrance-side.
Access to the entrance through a flight of steps. Caves dome shaped
and parabolic on plan
 A circular opening on the cave ceiling.
Height of cave 1.8m from floor to the top opening(unusual)
 PORKALAM:
At Porkalam, 2 miles north of Kunnamkulam, two caves were examined and surveyed.
Both of them face west-north-west and are situated one behind the other, with
a gap of 6 ft. 3 in.

The entrance of Porkalam-1 is 1 ft. 4 in. wide and 1 ft. 6 in. high. Its top-cutting is not
exactly horizontal; instead, it is slightly curved on either end, thus having the shape
approximately of a horizontal arch. There are two benches inside the cave.Porkalam-2
has no bench at all; But both the caves have a rock-cut central pillar.

The entrance of Porkalam-2, originally 1 ft. 6 in. wide and 1 ft. 8 in. high, but now
assymmetrically wide owing to the disintegration of the rock, is also horizontally
arched.

The central pillars in both the Porkalam caves are narrowest in the middle, from where,
both downwards and upwards, they gradually spread out, until at the top, which is 3 ft.
1 in. high in Porkalam-1 and 2 ft. 9 in. in Porkalam-2, they merge with the surface of the
vault.
EYYAL:
At Eyyal,22 miles south of Cheramanangad on the Kunnamkulam
Wadakkancheri road, is situated a double-chambered cave

The same outer court leading in front to the main chamber, X, with its roof now
partly collapsed, and on the right hand, side to a smaller chamber, Y. The main
chamber faces east and is nearly double the dimensions of the side.

Common outer court leading to main chambers.

East facing main chamber.
Main chamber higher than the smaller one.
A bench each inside main chamber and small chamber.
Crude irregular shaped flat surfaced blocks for keeping vessels and other
objects.
The potteries and iron implements were recovered from chamber.
First century AD Roman coin datable to first century AD was unearthened near
the site.