Prepared by,

Teena Shyjan
S3
IES college of
architecture
An Agraharam or Agrahara is the name given to the
Brahmin quarter of a heterogenous village or to any
village inhabited by Brahmins. Agraharams were also
known as Chaturvedimangalams .

The name originates from the fact that the agraharams

have lines of houses on either side of the road and the
temple to the village god at the centre, thus resembling
Agraharams: The name literally means "a garland of houses".
aIt garland
originatesaround
from thethe
facttemple.
that the agraharams have lines of
houses on either side of 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 be two rows of houses running north-south on either
side of a road at one end of which would be a temple to Shiva an
d at the other end, a temple to
Vishnu. An example is Vadiveeswaram in Tamil Nadu.
 TEMPLE

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

The Brahmin settlers of south India had migrated

to various parts of the subcontinent and made
their settlements around temples.

As a community which handled the Vedasand religious

texts, the Brahmins wielded power and influence in the
social hierarchy.
As the priestly class they received royal patronage and
respect from the rulers and all the other communities.

Wherever they went, the Brahmins made their

settlements around temples, around which their
everyday life revolved.

The Brahmins in Kerala can be broadly classified into

two groupsthe Namboothiri Brahmins and the Tamil and
Tulu Brahmins. The Namboothiri Brahmins claim
themselves to be the true Malayala Brahmins of Kerala
 The planning of the agraharams followed a grid iron
or concentric ring patterns, with the temple forming
the main focus.

The row of houses is either single

or double storied, with the
traditional pitched roof form
striking a significant profile
against the sky.

The streetswere narrow and

formed an integral extension of
the living space.
The row houses sharing a
common wall had a long
verandah running along
the front portion,
supported
The house has by astone and at
verandah
wooden pillars.
the entrance for social
activities and a platform,
slightly raised from the street,
which runs the entire length of
the row houses. It also acts as
a transition from the street to
the dwelling.

A passage which starts at the street

face, runs through the house ending
at the backyard.

Doors leading to inner

areas
 THE SETTLEMENT PATTERN

The evolution of this particular architectural typology

may also speak about the social position of the
Brahmin community. Even though these migrant
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 new place and made their settlements,
there was always a tendency amongst the members of
the communities to settle together to ensure safety.
Another reason behind 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 evolved into
a close knit communitywhose principles were based
on strict religious norms.
The settlements were often made and donated to
these families by the rulers.
The settlement pattern followed by the
traditional Brahmin settlers were guided by
certain parameters like the:
Tindappadthe observance of certain distances between the
various castes in order to avoid pollution bycontact social
position of the community, their association with the temple
and of course, the patronage of the royals.
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 often the land was divided amongst the
migrant Brahmins based on the social hierarchy
existingwithin their caste group.
The highly regarded families, the priests and the
scholars acquired the position near the temple
and the palace complex; the others occupied the
outerfringes.
 PLANNING

The agrahara were usually followed a linear

planning, quite in contrast to the arrangement of
rooms around the courtyard as in the traditional
Kerala houses.

Layout of the Nalukettu and Layout of the agrahara and

Courtyard Courtyard
 The planning and architecture of these two housing
patterns have evolved over time taking into
consideration various parameters like the local climate
conditions, availability of local building materials and
the skill employed in the construction.
COURTYARD

The courtyard houses of Agrahara

show a direct response to the
climate conditions of the place. In
the hot humid climatic conditions of
this region, the courtyard ensures
easy ventilation
The opening in the. roof provides
light to the windowless rooms.

A well ventilated
spaces
Traditionally the sloping roof of the
houses lets in a little sunlight to the
interiors of the traditional Kerala
houses; this is compensated by the
presence of the large courtyard.

The courtyard has some religious

association too, traditionally in
Vastu, the open courtyard in a
house is considered as the
devasthana, The most sacred place
assigned to the gods and hence
construction are not allowed there.
The agraharams also incorporates a
courtyard in its design however,
The sacred tulsi planted and
here its position is not in the
worshipped in the center of the
deva sthana.
courtyard.
The court has provisions of taps
for ablution and also outlets for
water drainage which takes the
rainwater outside.
As in the traditional Kerala
houses, there is a well
attached to the kitchen and
water can be drawn through
the opening on the wall.

Another courtyard, larger in

size is seen next to the
kitchen and toilets which is
functions as a washing and
bathing space. The roofs had
glass tiles to
let in light.

Kodunthirapulli agraharam, Palakkad,

Kerala. Here is an old spacious airy
one with tiled roof and skylight.
The spatial planning of the
agraharams follows a linear
pattern with rooms arranged
one after the other.
The spaces inside have
special purposes, and among
them privacy of the
occupants is of the least
concern.

A passage which starts at the street face,

runs through the house ending at the
backyard. There are some open spaces
too, in the form of sunken courtyards or
The various components of
the agraharam are the
following:
Puramthinna
the long corridor/verandah
running infront of the
agraharams.This space also
acted as a community gathering
place where the men assembled
Akamthinna
for religious discourse. thinnai
the small room next
topuramthinna, 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/bedroom, the important
religious ceremonies and rituals living area
associated with the Brahmin
community are also performed
Thalam
it is the space around the
courtyard, the
homakundamor the place for Thalam
the sacrificial fire is located
here.
Mittam
the courtyard is a part of
the rezhi
itself and often there is no Mittam
separation between these two
spaces.
Adukkala
this is the kitchen.

kitchen
 Kuchil
these are the rooms located
at the extreme end, where the
ladies during their
menstruation are housed.
Machil
Machilis the attic room. The
stairway from the stairway
akamthinnaleads to the
machil. This room is assigned
for the use of newly wedded
Kottil
couples.
the independent structure
located at the extreme end, it is
often used as a cowshed or as Rooms on first
storage space. In the old days the floor
agraharams did not have toilets
associated with the house and
the system of scavengers lanes
thus came into existence. There
were narrow lanes
runningbehind the agraharams, Terrace on second
 strairway Courtyard Thalam Toilet

Puramthinna
AkamthinnaRezh Toilet Well Room Kuchil
Adukkala
i

THE PLAN ANDSECTION SHOWING THE SPATIAL PLANNING OF

THE AGRAHARAM.
CULTURE AND LIFE

The matriarchal system 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
karanavarAnd the senior Majority of the
most females of the family. Brahmins were
This joint family system brought employed in the
in a system ofgroup living and temple as staffs and
sense of sharing amongst the in the temple kitchen,
local communities. However, in mukkanaiya a sub
the case ofthe agraharams the caste of Iyers were
qualities of living together and Brahmins
money beingand
lenders a
sharing each others space got priestly
were class were
appointed as
reflected in their planning of the less familiar with
accountants.
settlements and it zoomed down farming techniques.
The agraharam settlements, 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 for each house.
The sense of sharing the spaces is then best
exhibited in the design of the
puramthinna; the long connected verandahs
running in front of all the agraharams.
Thepuramthinnawas 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 an important
role in the everyday 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 the festivals and
The agraharams
during important were introvert
occasions.
settlements, often open to the
members of the particular caste
group, however within the
introvert settlement there were
designed built and open spaces
that well catered to the needs
The streets
of the within the
settlers.
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
and marriage feasts were
THE TRADITIONAL PLANNING OF A TEMPLE TOWN WITH THE
TEMPLE OCCUPYING THE DEVA STANA THE LAYOUT OF THE OLD
TEMPLE TOWNS OF MADURAI AND SRIRANGAM.

The planning of a
temple town, we can
see that the
agraharams were
constructed in the
Veedhis which were
assigned for human
habitation.
In a traditional
temple town, the
temple is the
nucleus, around
which the
settlements are
made, i.e., the
temple occupies the
brahmaveedhi.
Life in agraharams
The women of agraharams
rises and after bathing draw
arippodikolam in front of
their houses.
Arippodikolam- a painted
prayer. It is believed that Door to agrharam.
drawing a kolam in front of
the house brings prosperity.
Moreover,
Brahminsthey provide
being food class were less familiar with farming
a priestly
for insects andthe
techniques, birds.
lack of open spaces and the life style that
revolved around the temple made then depend on vegetable
sellers and other street vendors who came daily to sell their
wares. However, few coconut trees can be spotted in the
backyard spaces. People belonging to different castes ranging
from bangle makers, the Vala Chettis, to basket makers
came there to sell off their products. However, no one from
outside
At nightwas
theadmitted inside
road would the fortup
be lighted after
by 10pm. There
the stone were
lamps;
guards at eachwere
stone lamps opening
therechecking
attachedon
tothose whoof
the walls enter
everyand
leave the place.
agraharams. . Theses stone lamps hold oil for a longer
time illuminating the street
DRAINAGE

They had special paths known as scavengers lane

made behind every stretch of streets. The wastes were
collected outside the fort (southwest corner) and later
taken to far off places to be disposed.
The drains running through the front were
cleaned daily. The roads were also cleaned
and sprinkled with water daily.
There were common wells, two wells for each
street that provided them with water, every
morning the women folk crowded around the
well for collecting water for their daily use.
As in the traditional Kerala houses, there is a well attached to
the kitchen and water can be drawn through the opening on the
wall. Another courtyard, larger in size is seen next to the kitchen
and toilets which is functions as a washing and bathing space.
All houses shared a
common wall and
were made of
Cheekkal katta, a
strong locally
available building
material, these
blocks were
cemented with lime
plaster and the plinth
in which the house
stood was made of
large granite blocks,
which were laid in a
special manner, which
according to the him
In old days the roofs were
is very efficient
thatched and thethat
supporting
the centuries
pillars old
and mezzanine floors were
houses
made ofhad not Later
timbre. beenthatch roofs
affected by the
were replaced by Mangalore tiles
when they were made available in
earthquakes.
EXAMPLES :

Valiya Sala which is the

lengthiest Agraharam in
India.
(Thiruvananthapuram)

Agrahrams in
Kalpathi
-Palakkad
AT PRESENT-

Agraharams the
traditional row houses,
are today a vanishing
part of architectural
heritage.
The few surviving
examples are either
owned by the temple
trusts or by individuals
who haven't had the
heart and/or the
finances to raze them
down.
Some are restored
and make use of
apartments.