South India domestic architecture

Bishwa also explained the layout of a typical residence. Our hotel is a very grand version of this, but even in the very small houses, the same basic template is used.

(It's very late, so this is more in note format. I forgot to take pictures, but might get some of the hotel before we leave.)

Awnings over footpath to encourage potential guests by providing shelter from the searing sun or drenching rain.

Raised verandah at the front - smaller one for the businessman and his advisors (with the older generation in the room immediately adjacent to provide guidance if required). The larger one is for the farmers or others bringing their wares to sell. For those unable to conclude their business during the day, the houseowner provided mats and pillows for the traders to sleep on, and a large sheet was wrapped around the section of the verandah to provide privacy and protection from mosquitos.

Front door is wide and ornate, to encourage the gods to enter, especially ?Ganesh, carrying bags of money. Inside there is a small dark foyer and a smaller door. This leads to a courtyard, open to the sky, off which all the bedrooms come. The heat into the courtyard sets up convection currents which draws hot air out of the bedrooms. Further back in the house, on the rear east side (with the energising rising sun), is the kitchen and dining areas, and the toilets and washrooms are in the rear west corner, again arranged around a small courtyard. As their presence contaminates the temple-house, a pool of water (well, pond, etc) is placed in this courtyard to purify the space.

There is a substantial threshold at the front of the house, to force you to look at your feet as you enter, and therefore bow as required when entering a temple. The second door is low, again to force you to bow as you go in.

Outside the houses, at dawn and at dusk, the woman of the house will draw symbols and patterns on the threshold and out to the street. Although cloaked in religious meaning, like many religious practices, it has a practical benefit. The patterns are made with rice flour, which attracts the ants and thereby discourages them from coming further into the house.Similarly, the lower part of the door jambs are painted yellow, although this was originally stained with turmeric, a known antiseptic, also intended to keep out disease and illness.