Chettinad 150424001331 Conversion Gate01

CHETTINAD ARCHITECTURE…
•RELIGION AND BELIEF
•CULTURE
•PROPORTIONS
•SETTLEMENT PLANNING
•PRINCIPLES OF PLANNING
•HOUSING TYPOLOGY
•MATERIALS & CONSTRUCTION
•CONSTRUCTION DETAILS
The Chettinad houses were originally single-storeyed
buildings
made of sundried brick of mud and bamboo and thatch.
They evolved to become tile-roofed with a small two-

storeyed
tower at both ends of the front elevation,
They later expanded vertically into two-storeyed

structures, and
horizontally through the addition of numerous halls and
courtyards
that could accommodate guests at marriages and other
ceremonies
It was not unusual for three generations to live together

in one house.
The Chettinad houses accommodate up to four
generations before
CHETTINAD
separate houses ARCHITECTURE…
are built by individual sons
PRINCIPLES OF PLANNING…
oThe houses are built on a rectangular, traversal plot that stretches
across two streets, with the front door opening into the first street
and the back into the second.
oLooking in from the main threshold, your eye travels in a straight line
across a series of inner courtyards, each a diminishing rectangle of
light, leading out to the back door .
othe courtyards supply ample light and air (pickles and papads were
dried there) but leave the rest of the house in deep and cool shadow.
The courtyards have tiles placed exactly under the storm-water
drainpipes so that the stone floor is not damaged.
o Underground drains run right through the house, with stone stoppers
carved exactly for their mouths.
o Large stone vats for water and wooden bins for firewood line the
inner courtyards.
First comes an outer thinai - Large raised platforms on either side of
the central corridor, where the host would entertain male guests.
The platforms lead off on one side into store rooms and massive
granaries and on the other, into the ( Kanakupillai ) or Accountant's
room.This area also usually leads off to the men's well.
From here, the huge elaborately carved teak front door, with image of
Lakshmi carved over the head and navaratna or nine precious gems
buried under the ( Vasapadi) threshold.
The door leads into the first open air courtyard, with pillared corridors
running on each side thatlead into individual rooms, each meant for a
married son, each with a triangular slot cut into the wall for the
evening lamp.
Then comes the second counrtyard with large dining spaces on either
side.
The third courtyard was for the women folk to rest and gossip, while
the fourth, or nalankattai comprised the kitchens, leading out to the
backyard with its women's well and grinding stones.
The wealthier the merchants the larger the house, often spreading
out to a second floor.
Let alone air conditioning, inside an authentic Chettinad house you

will never feel the need to use fans too amidst open courtyards,
amazing wall finishes and earthy tiles
thinai Kanakupillai
Cool space
The Chettinad houses were conceived as fortresses, guarding both
valuables and the even more valuable, cool air.
So, from outside, you perceive no idea of the house's design.

Thus instead of lawns in front of the house, the Chettiars had
courtyards inside.
But they retained the thinnai (platform outside the house that projects
towards the street from the house's front wall), typical of ethnic Tamil
architecture.
The thinnai ended in granaries on one side and a room,

generally the accountant's room, on the other side.
The heavy and elaborately carved front doors, with images of deities,
Goddess Lakshmi especially (from the shiploads of Burmese teak,
of course) sometimes had precious gems inlayed on it.
The courtyards
Most Chettinad mansions have at least a couple of courtyards.
The living space leads one immediately into the courtyard.
The first open-air courtyard, with corridors flanked by huge pillars

on its sides, generally was bordered by rooms along its sides.
You also notice triangular slots cut into the walls of these houses,
an inbuilt shelf for lamps.
The second courtyard opens out immediately and is flanked by

spaces used for dining generally.
The third courtyard served as a restroom for the womenfolk, while

the fourth one housed the kitchens.
•Each of the small rooms off the main courtyard is the property of one
married son in the patriarchal lineage of the ancestral builder of
the home.
•It is the only part of the house, besides a section of the

kitchen, to which a separate ownership can be attributed.
•Even today, men and women are segregated in a Chettinad house:

the men occupy the outer verandah and front room;
and the women occupy the kitchen courtyard and work around the
main courtyard.
•No house comes with less than two vast kitchens, not to mention
several giant grinding stones and rows of fireplaces in the last
courtyard – all meant to entertain gigantic gatherings
BELIEFS…
•A series of developments can be noted in
the houses owing to
the cultural changes and modernisation.
•The thinnai was provided on either side of

the house in the main
entrance which is mainly used by the male
members of the house
for the informal meetings
•In the later house when the intimate

contact with the neighbours
was reduced owing to the cultural change
the front thinnai was
enclosed to privacy
•This reduced the segregation between

the male and the female
of the house
Proportion
Well
Well proportioned
proportioned plan
•Culture is an all embracing word which includes all significant
aspects of human life beginning from philosophy, social organization
, religion and economy, social institutions and meanings etc.
• The land of Tamils,in the southern part of INDIA is CHETTINAD –

the land of NATTUKOTTAI, founded by Chettiars,called by their
preferred community name – NAGARATHAR .
•Chettiars,were one of the

earliest business communities
in India. They settled almost
mid-centre between the
capitals of the Pandya
Kingdom in Madurai and the
Chola Empire in Thanjavur in
the 13th century.
CULTUR
•Wood carving, silver embellishment, woven saris, palm-leaf
baskets, gold jewellery, hand-made tiles, architectural styling,
refined cuisine and egg plastering are among their contributions
of Indian arts and crafts. These masterful innovations justified the
self-proclaimed sobriquet the Chettiars gave themselves—
Nagarathars or the ‘sophisticated townsfolk’. Even today,
Chettinad is a heritage zone dotted with the palatial homes that
are called Nattukottais.
Towns like Karaikudi, Pallathur, Athangudi, and Kothamangalam,
have the most lavish houses in Chettinad.
The people of Chettinad

then moved on from their
settlement to other villages
not far from their first
settlement and, there were
nine main clusters of
villages. To each of them
the Pandya King granted a
temple in perpetuity.
CULTUR
Chettinad Houses:
•The Chettinad houses are built on a rectangular traversal plot that
stretches across two streets, with the front door opening into the
first street and the back into the second. Looking in from the main
threshold, your eye travels in a straight line across a series of inner
courtyards, each a diminishing rectangle of light, leading out to the
back door.
"conjugal" room second courtyard
Veranda. First courtyard columns.
open
garde
n
space
Tinnai Puja room and storage corridor kitchen. Veranda.

of dowry items.
PLANNING
•First comes an outer thinai - Large
raised platforms on either side of the
central corridor, where the host would
entertain male guests. The platforms
lead off on one side into store rooms
and massive granaries and on the
other, into the ( Kanakupillai ) or
Accountant's room.
• The door leads into the first open air courtyard, with pillared
corridors running on each side that lead into individual
rooms, each meant for a married son. Then comes the second
counrtyard with large dining spaces with the kitchens, leading
out to the backyard with its women's well and grinding
stones. The wealthier the merchants the larger the house,
often spreading out to a second floor.
•The courtyards supply ample light leaving the rest of the house in
deep and cool shadow. The courtyards have tiles placed exactly
under the strom-water drain run right through the house, with
stone stoppers carved exactly for their mouths. Large stone vats
for water and wooden bins for firewood line the inner courtyards.
HOUSING
AMM House in
Pallathur
The Meyyappans have converted the family clubhouse into

The bangala, the S.A.R. Muthiah family has opened up some
rooms in its family mansion to tourists. Muthiah Chettiar, the
Raja of Chettinad, has opened his house in Kanadukathan for
public viewing, while his brother's house next door has a floor
converted to a museum that displays everything associated
with chettiars.
HOUSING TYPOLOGY
Chettinadu Mansion has 7 Air-conditioned
double rooms, each with an attached
bathroom, a dressing room and a private
balcony with an open air shower.
These rooms are comfortably furnished

with hand picked original Chettinad
pieces.
Chettinad Palace which is located just
behind Chettinadu Mansion.
Chettinad shandies, is where one gets idea

about local marketing skills of the village
folk and view the colourful arrangement of
vegetables, fruits, snacks, chettinad
baskets, and other rural produce, and may
be pick up some items at throwaway prices.
HOUSING TYPOLOGY
VIEWS OF CHETTINAD
HOUSING TYPOLOGY
Chettinad Palace in Kanadikathan
The 110-year-old Chettinad Palace in Kanadikathan village is the

oldest surviving building of this style, built by Dr Annamali
Chettiyar, founder of the Indian Bank and the Annamalai
University in Chidambaram
PALACES
Next to the palace is the Raja's brother's house, a treasure house
of all things Chettinad — furniture, ornaments, saris, vessels and
the like. Located nearby is the `Chettinad' railway station with a
rest-house close by, which belongs to the Raja's family.
ENTRANCE OF PALACE OUTSIDE VIEW ENTRANCE
INNER ENTRANCE COURT PRIVATE ENTRANCE DINING HALL

PALACES
GALLERY AROUND PATIO ENTRANCE
C O U R T Y A R D
PALACES
Building materials used are
•The walls are of baked bricks
•Plastered over by a secret

recipe of roots,
•Yolk and lime that leaves them

silken smooth and washable;
•The tiles are Spanish;
•The floors of Italian marble or

locally - crafted Athangudi tiles;
•The pillars of Burmese teak,

many houses have small
turrets,
•Elaborate guard houses on the

terrace.
•Inside an authentic
Chettinad house you will
never feel the need to use
fans too amidst open
courtyards, amazing wall
finishes and earthy tiles
•Plastered over by a secret
recipe of roots, Yolk and
lime that leaves them silken
smooth and washable
•The floors of Italian marble

or locally - crafted Athangudi
tiles;
•The pillars of Burmese teak,

many houses have small
turrets,
Karaikudi - Chettinad House
•Matchbox-like structures, tall endless mud and lime

copies of mass produced enclosures.
•Chettinad houses are built
on a rectangular traversal
plot that stretches across
two streets, with the front
door opening onto the first
street and the back onto the
second.
• Looking in from the main

threshold, your eye travels
in a straight line across a
series of inner courtyards,
each a diminishing
rectangle of light, leading
out to the back door.
Construction
Madras techniques.
terrace roofing.
•Handmade floor tiles from

Athangudi, are inlaid on the
madras terrace roof pattern with
the joists imported from Burma
as batterns are melamine Burma
teak.
Madras plastering
technique.
• Lime egg plastering, another

traditional technique used to
paint walls white and keep the
insides of houses cool, that lasts
virtually the entire life of the
building,
Madras terrace roofing.
Construction techniques.
•The construction material,
decorative items and
furnishings were mostly
imported from East Asian
countries and Europe.
•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 destinations
A typical
•The chettinadcarved
huge elaborately construction
teak
front door, with image of Lakshmi
carved over the head and
navaratna or nine precious gems
buried under the ( Vasapadi)
threshold.
•Pillared corridors running on

each side that lead into individual
rooms, each meant for a married
son, each with a triangular slot cut
into the wall for the evening lamp.
•Large dining spaces on either

side.
•The third courtyard was for the

women folk to rest and gossip,
while the fourth, or nalankattai
comprised the kitchens.
Construction
•The evolution of a whole
way of life, from culture and
history to the use of
materials and new
technologies, to an
understanding of the
environmental factors •Many of the windows, with
orange segment shaped
fanlights over some of
them, or barred and grilled
doors, with pierced screen
ventilators on top, have
been treated with dark
green paint.
•The basketwork has been
used as lamps, as decorative
flourishes in a niche and as
containers for holding food
in it.
•The central is surrounded by pillars of burma teak and there is a
•combination of scarlet tiles and sloping woodwork.
•The construction material, decor items and furnishings were

mostly imported,work were inspired by French and other
European architecture.
EXTERNAL FAÇADE TREATMENT
Private entrance of the house where still the authentic family of the
Chettiars live .
•Dining hall where at least 250 people can dine in the traditional
style, that is, by squatting on the floor.
•Dining hall with the door to the central inner courtyard and some old
paintings .
The entrance view showing the details of their façade treatment with the
combination of vibrant colours as well as the openings.
•This is the view of one of the chettinad house which was built
120 years ago.
One of chettinad house showing the richness which it had with
higher plinth
•The verandah is just next
to the iron-gate and was
converted into the waiting
area for the visitors.
•The meeting hall is decorated

with several pairs of tusks;
one of them is over 8 ft long
and shipped from South Africa.
•The walls are made 1.5 ft to

3 ft wide to keep the cool
without the use of any
electronic
equipment like the air
conditioners.
•Chettinad, rich in cultural heritage, art and architecture, is well
known
for its houses, that are embellished with marble and Burma
teak.
•The houses have wide inner courtyards and spacious rooms.
•The basic design comprises of a "thinnai" which is an
enclosed courtyard and this is surrounded by family
rooms.
•The plaster involves the application of the finely ground mixture
• of powdered shell, lime, jaggery and spices, including gallnut to
walls.
•This technique keeps the interior of the house cool during
the hot and humid Indian summers and lasts a lifetime.
•The architectural structure of a typical Chettiar home is a

study in how a human dwelling can be constructed in
harmony with nature.
•High ceilings, airy and well ventilated, the house has one
courtyard near the entrance leads to the imposing main door,
usually made of wood with extraordinarily intricate carvings of
mythological figures.
•The thinnai is a long narrow raised platform that serves as a

meeting place and also as a kind of accomodation for travellers
and visitors.
•The inner courtyard has special significance. It is lined with

classically beautiful pillars made out of granite or teakwood.
•The courtyard serves as the venue for the many

ceremonies that the community performs from births to
weddings to death.
•View showing the interiors with stout columns with lot of detailings.
•Huge large marbles single piece marble is used as flooring
•View showing the upper corridor having arcades connecting the
bedrooms with twin circular columns.
•Series of columns supporting the sloping roof covered with pot
tiles
which is adopted mainly to drain the rainwater.
•The ceiling has artistic patterns in vegetable dye over roofing
plates made of copper soldered with a special variety of
aluminum.
•The no cementing agent was used in the construction and the
bricks are bound together with a paste of egg white, the extract
of an unripe medicinal fruit found in the hills of Kadukkai and lime
grind.
•The hall leads to the central courtyard, which was used for
weddings and religious ceremonies.
•The pillars around the courtyard are made of Burma teak.
•There is a colorful combination of blood-red tiles and sloping

woodwork.
•The ladies' hall has another courtyard and a rectangular dining
hall.
•At least 250 people can sit and dine in the dining hall in the
traditional style, i.e., by squatting on the floor.
INTERIORS
•The third courtyard has several small
rooms around it. They were meant
to store crockery, food and other
kitchen items.
•The servants' quarters are situated

at the far end at a proper distance
from the residential area of the
family.
•A couple of large stone hand-grinders are fixed on the veranda

surrounding the courtyard.
•Eleven firewood ovens are lined along the kitchen wall and there are also
two teak wood cupboards.
•A puja room in a corner of the courtyard .
•The first floor comprises mainly of bedrooms and living rooms .

INTERIORS
•Near the kitchen provision has been made in the roof to hold the
traditional tools of the kitchen activities
INTERIORS
PLANNING CONCEPT
•The concept of chettinadu house is believed to have arrived

from kaveripoompatinam.
•The planning concept was essentially based on occupation of

the people and their desires .
•Since they were traders they need spaces for keeping their
valuables called inside room and outside room which served
the purpose.
•The dictated introverted planning was adopted to avoid multiple

access.
•The scale of spaces like kalyana kottagai and bhojana hall was
determined by the religious and family festivals.
INTERIORS
SPATIAL ORGANISATION
SERVICE SPACE-
the scale for these spaces is not fixed the day
to day activities but by the festive usage. Their
location in the linear arrangement follows the
living area.
MULTIPURPOSE CENTRAL OPEN SPACE-

located amidst the room and often used as the
semipublic and commercial space.
FEASTING SPACE
though this space is less commonly used it is
considered as the important space and exists as
the status symbol of the household
INTERIORS
SPATIAL ORGANISATION
RECEPTION- this is designed to express the stately image of the owner

it has level variations and used both for receiving the guest and for
relaxation.
PATTAGASALAI- This is used for relaxation as well for the confidential

dealings which is usually a raised platform. This space
usually mixes with the central space.
SECURED AND SECLUDED SPACE-

This space is created to serve the need for storage .
The scale and the intimacy of the space reveals the
material stored. The composition is such that the
outer room buffers the inner room.
INTERIORS

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CHETTINAD ARCHITECTURE…

•RELIGION AND BELIEF

•MATERIALS & CONSTRUCTION

They evolved to become tile-roofed with a small two-

They later expanded vertically into two-storeyed

It was not unusual for three generations to live together

Let alone air conditioning, inside an authentic Chettinad house you

So, from outside, you perceive no idea of the house's design.

The thinnai ended in granaries on one side and a room,

Most Chettinad mansions have at least a couple of courtyards.

The living space leads one immediately into the courtyard.

The first open-air courtyard, with corridors flanked by huge pillars

The second courtyard opens out immediately and is flanked by

The third courtyard served as a restroom for the womenfolk, while

•It is the only part of the house, besides a section of the

•Even today, men and women are segregated in a Chettinad house:

•The thinnai was provided on either side of

•In the later house when the intimate

•This reduced the segregation between

• The land of Tamils,in the southern part of INDIA is CHETTINAD –

•Chettiars,were one of the

The people of Chettinad

Tinnai Puja room and storage corridor kitchen. Veranda.

The Meyyappans have converted the family clubhouse into

These rooms are comfortably furnished

Chettinad shandies, is where one gets idea

The 110-year-old Chettinad Palace in Kanadikathan village is the

ENTRANCE OF PALACE OUTSIDE VIEW ENTRANCE

INNER ENTRANCE COURT PRIVATE ENTRANCE DINING HALL

•Plastered over by a secret

•Yolk and lime that leaves them

•The tiles are Spanish;

•The floors of Italian marble or

•The pillars of Burmese teak,

•Elaborate guard houses on the

•The floors of Italian marble

•The pillars of Burmese teak,

•Matchbox-like structures, tall endless mud and lime

• Looking in from the main

•Handmade floor tiles from

• Lime egg plastering, another

•The marble was brought

•The woodwork and

•Pillared corridors running on

•Large dining spaces on either

•The third courtyard was for the

•The construction material, decor items and furnishings were

•The meeting hall is decorated

•The walls are made 1.5 ft to

•The architectural structure of a typical Chettiar home is a

•The thinnai is a long narrow raised platform that serves as a

•The inner courtyard has special significance. It is lined with

•The courtyard serves as the venue for the many

•Huge large marbles single piece marble is used as flooring

•There is a colorful combination of blood-red tiles and sloping

•The servants' quarters are situated

•A couple of large stone hand-grinders are fixed on the veranda

•A puja room in a corner of the courtyard .

•The first floor comprises mainly of bedrooms and living rooms .

•The concept of chettinadu house is believed to have arrived

•The planning concept was essentially based on occupation of

•The dictated introverted planning was adopted to avoid multiple

MULTIPURPOSE CENTRAL OPEN SPACE-