This Work describes the feudal late medieval high-caste Kerala house.
It lays particular emphasis upon the so-called `four-house’ mansion,
called catuhsala in Sanskrit and nalukettu in Malayam, the vernacular of Kerala.
This palatial kind of mansion is regarded as ritually `complete’ and,
as such, appropriate ― according to local Sankrit treatise on architecture ―, to
the feudal clergy, royalty and aristocracy. The work describes the architecture
of thirty historic houses of this type, highlighting their relation to
Sanskritic architectural theory and to brahminical codes of daily life and
ritual. It concludes with an attempt to present an overview of the notion of the
architectural and ritual space of these houses as a
microcosm.
This Work describes the feudal late medieval high-caste Kerala house.
It lays particular emphasis upon the so-called `four-house’ mansion,
called catuhsala in Sanskrit and nalukettu in Malayam, the vernacular of Kerala.
This palatial kind of mansion is regarded as ritually `complete’ and,
as such, appropriate ― according to local Sankrit treatise on architecture ―, to
the feudal clergy, royalty and aristocracy. The work describes the architecture
of thirty historic houses of this type, highlighting their relation to
Sanskritic architectural theory and to brahminical codes of daily life and
ritual. It concludes with an attempt to present an overview of the notion of the
architectural and ritual space of these houses as a
microcosm.
