TRADITIONAL

ARCHITECTURE OF
KERALA
SEMESTER 4 B.ARCH MG UNIVERSITY ELECTIVE THEORY 1

AR. VISHNU P PRAKASH B.ARCH M.ARCH PHD SCHOLAR

  Philosophy of Brahmanda and Pindanda
 Basic concepts of Vastu shastra
 Universe, Prakrithi and Purusha, Vastupurusha, Mandala,
 Padams, Padavinyasam, Sutrams and Marmams their significance
in physical planning
MODULE I  Selection of Sites, Sectors and their significance in planning
 Fixing cardinal direction
 Planning principles
INTRODUCTION TO
KERALA TRADITIONAL  Ayadi formula,
ARCHITECTURE  Concept of veethi – 4 veethi and 9 veethi concept in planning
PRINCIPLES - VASTU  Minimum width of veethi and its relation to Habitable space
 Measurements basic Unit- Anthropometrics - Matrangulam –
Horizontal and vertical measurements
 Manangulam or Standard Angulam – Its significance in physical
aspect
 Actual measurement based on modern scales
  Brahmanda refers to the macrocosm or the universe as a
whole
 The universe is seen as an integrated whole, with each
part influencing and being influenced by every other
Philosophy part
 Pindanda refers to the microcosm or the human body
of  The human body is believed to be a miniature replica of
Brahmanda the universe
 The human body is made up of the same elements that
and make up the universe: earth, water, fire, air, and space

Pindanda  The philosophy emphasizes the interconnectedness of

all things and the idea that everything in the
universe is interconnected and interdependent
 It encourages individuals to recognize the divine essence
within themselves and to strive towards self-realization
 Self-realization involves recognizing the unity of the self
with the universal consciousness
  According to Indian philosophy, the Universe
‘Brahmandam’ is an all encompassing
system of immeasurable attributes whose
minutest element ‘Pindandam’ also exhibits
Philosophy of the whole.
of  In architecture – space is considered as the
Brahmanda universe and the built space is considered
its manifestation at a micro level.
and  Each space small or large thus becomes self
Pindanda contained with all attributes of the large
space.
 The built form is related to the space and
elements in the built form are related to each
other and to the whole.
  The term Vastu is interpreted in many ways, as given
in Rigveda, it means a site or building or both.
 Literal meaning of the word vastu is interpreted as
Basic “Vasanthi praninah yatra” (a place where living
beings reside)
Concept of  Literally the term praninah means those which has
Vastu pranah (life) and hence can include all living things.
 Mayamata describes vastu as a dwelling site where
Shastra mortals and immortals reside and categorises vastu
into ground, edifices, conveyances and seats,
 Vastushastra can be viewed as an all encompassing
science of design of built space and its environs.
  Universe: Vastu Shastra views the universe as an integrated
and interconnected entity where everything is made up of the
five basic elements - earth, water, fire, air, and space. These
elements are believed to have a specific energy and influence
on the environment.

Basic  Prakrithi: Prakrithi refers to nature or the physical

Concept of environment that surrounds us. It is the sum total of all the five
elements, and its balance is crucial for the well-being of all
Universe, living beings. Vastu Shastra suggests that by harmonizing the
design and layout of buildings with the natural environment, we
Prakrithi & can ensure a healthy and peaceful living environment.

Purusha  Purusha: Purusha refers to the cosmic being that is believed to

reside within the Vastu Purusha Mandala - the mathematical
grid used to determine the layout and design of a building. The
Purusha is seen as the divine force or energy that governs the
universe, and it is believed that by aligning the building with
the Purusha, we can ensure the flow of positive energy and
harmony.
  Vastu Purusha is a cosmic being or deity that is central to
the principles of Vastu Shastra.
 Vastu Purusha is believed to reside within the
mathematical grid called the Vastu Purusha Mandala,
which is used to determine the layout and design of a
building.
 The Vastu Purusha is depicted as a male deity lying face

Vastu down with his head in the northeast direction and his feet
in the southwest direction.
Purusha  The various parts of the Vastu Purusha's body are
associated with different elements, directions, and
energies, which are believed to influence the design and
layout of a building.
 The Vastu Purusha is seen as a protector and guardian of
the building and its occupants.
 The placement of rooms, doors, windows, and other
architectural features is determined by the location of
squares within the Vastu Purusha Mandala.
  The Vastu Purusha Mandala is a grid that is divided
into 64 squares, each representing a different deity,
Vastupurus energy, or direction.
 The Vastu Purusha is believed to influence the energy
ha Mandala flow within a building and ensure a harmonious and
balanced living environment that is conducive to
health, prosperity, and spiritual growth.
Mandala
Vastu
Purusha
Mandala
  Representation of three dimensional space in two
dimensional form within defined boundaries
 Mandala is a defined space of any form and scale
 Vastupurusha mandala as defined in Vastushastra is the
horizontal space confined within boundaries and which
represents the three dimensional universe in two dimensional
form.
 Classic texts specify Vastupurusha Mandala as a square

Mandala  However, circular, rectangular, triangular, hexagonal and

octagonal Mandalas are also explained in the scriptures
 Two or more Mandalas can be combined to form larger
Mandala and alternately a larger one is subdivided into
smaller ones.
 Each may thus be analysed independently.
 This aspect is identical to the modern system approach
adopted for analysing complex problems.
 There are 45 deities inside the Mandala and 8 deities
positioned outside the boundary making a total of 53.
Padavinyas
am
  In Vastu Purusha Mandala, a "Padam" refers to a specific
unit or module within the Mandala grid. The Vastu Purusha
Mandala is a sacred diagram used in Vastu Shastra, the
traditional Indian system of architecture.
 It is believed to represent the cosmic man or deity, known as
Vastu Purusha, who is said to govern the energy and
vibrations of a site or building.
 The Vastu Purusha Mandala is a square grid that consists of
multiple smaller squares or modules.
Padams  Each module within the grid is called a "Padam." These
Padams serve as the basic units of measurement and are
used to determine the proportions and layout of the building
or site.
 The number of Padams in a Vastu Purusha Mandala can vary,
but a common layout consists of a 9x9 grid, resulting in 81
Padams.
 Each Padam is associated with a particular deity,
energy, or aspect of life, and its placement within the
Mandala grid is considered significant.
  The division of larger space into smaller units is known as
Padavinyasam. (division into grids/squares)
 A Vastupurusha Mandala is divided into a number of smaller squares
generally from 1x1 to 32x32 Padams.
 Thes squares of interest in architecture starts from 5x5 Padams.
 For normal residential use only 3 Padavinyasam, Mandukapadam 8x8,
Paramasayikapadam 9x9 and Asanapadam 10x10 are considered.
 Smaller ones are used for religious and ritualistic activities.

Padavinyas  Larger Padavinyasams are used for planning building complexes for
residential, religious and public uses.
am  A Padam or combination of Padams depending on the Padavinyasam
selected are named after deities.
 Irrespective of the size of Mandala their positions are fixed with respect
to the central reference point and cardinal directions.
 The naming simplifies the process of identification of locations in the
site.
 The position of deities are also related to the limbs of the Vastupurusha
for identification of location in simplified graphical manner.
 The different Padavinyasam allows flexibility in built and open spaces
  The analysis of Vastupurusha Mandala by orthogonal
and diagonal lines is compared to study of
Vastupurusha with his Nadi (nerves), Sira (vein)
and Rajju (arteries)
 These orthogonal and diagonal lines are known as
Sutram (defined line)
 In practical Sutram represents the referral lines
Sutrams & (Longitudinal, transverse and diagonal)
Marmas  The points where two or more referral lines meet are
known as Marmams (Vital points or nodes)
 The Vastupurusha is inscribed within the Mandala in
such a way that the referral nodes or Marmam
coincide with the vital points on his body.
  As the site forms the support for all buildings and
development utmost importance was given to the
proper selection of the site.
 The principles of site selection are based on close
observation, simple experiments and dominical
tests.
Selection of  The selection of the site is very meticulously done
Site, Sector taking into consideration of the climate, soil
conditions, availability of water and type of
& its plant and animal life.

Significance  The land is classified into three broader categories in

Samarangana Sutradhara depending on the
in Planning climate and other characteristics.
 They are Jangala (arid), Anoopa (coastal) and
Sadharana (moderate).
 Only Anoopa and Sadharana type are
considered suitable for habitation.
  The broader categories are again subdivided into
sixteen types according to the micro climate and
environmental conditions and activities taking place.
 The regional text of Tantrasamuchaya classifies the
Selection of land into four categories: Supadma, Bhadra, Poorna
and Dhoomra depending on environmental
Site, Sector conditions.
& its  Manushyalayachandrika states site is where there
are vegetation of useful fruit bearing and
Significance flowering trees, where the land is flat, the soil
in Planning is fine, water flowing in a clockwise direction,
soil very fertile and well consolidated, water is
available in plenty throught the year and where
climate is moderate, is suitable for habitation.
 The various factors looked into are the following
Selection of  1. Fertility of soil

Site, Sector  2. Water retaining capacity of the soil

 3. Consolidation
& its  4. Availability of sunlight and wind
Significance  5. Sufficient oxygen content in the atmosphere
in Planning and earth
 6. Indication of previous habitation
  If the soil sustains edible fruit bearing trees and
useful flowering plants, it is assumed that it is
fertile.
Fertility of  The fertility is further tested by sowing gingelly
the soil seeds and watching them sprout. If they sprout
within 3 days the site is considered as fertile.

 The presence of grass used for religious and

ritualistic sacrifices is taken as indicator of soil
Water moisture.
retaining  It is further tested with a simple experiment A pit
measuring 1Kx1Kx1K (72cm x 72cm x 72cm) is dug
capacity of and filled with water. The examiner walks 100 paces
away from the pit and returns (approx. 2m) if the
soil water level in the pit remains steady then the water
retaining capacity of the ground is considered good.
  Here the pit of the same size as mentioned in the
previous experiment is dug and the soil is removed.
Consolidatio  The pit is then filled with the same soil, if the soil is in
n excess, the earth is considered as sufficiently dense
and consolidated

Availability  The presence of lush green vegetation is an

of Sunlight indicator of sufficient sunlight.
 The eastern and northern slopes are considered
& Wind good as it reduces the strong unwanted wind and rain
from west and southwest directions
  This is ascertained by ploughing the site and
examining the site for remains of such habitation.
Indication of  Presence of pots, bones, ashes, hair, husk of
previous paddy, etc. tell us that the site was previously
occupied and abandoned due to some natural or
habitation other calamities.
  To orient the building towards cardinal directions, the
directions are to be fixed first.
 The cardinal points are fixed with respect to position of the
sun, by using the shadow principle.
 A Sanku (peg) of length 12 Angulam (36cm) is fixed on a flat
ground.

Fixing  A circle of radious 24 Angulam is drawn with Sanku as the

centre.
Cardinal  In the morning and in the afternoon, when the shadow of the

Directions Sanku touches the circle the points are marked.

 The exercise is repeated in the next morning.
 The difference of the shadow points on the western end is
divided into 3 and the eastern point is joined to first division.
 This gives the exact east west direction.
 The correction is done to account for the declination of the
sun.
  A number of planning principles are prescribed in the
texts to harmonise the building activity with natural
environment.
Site  To emphasise these principles religious injunctions
and taboos are imposed against their violation.
Planning  They serve as psychological control serving more or
Principles less the same way as the modern byelaws
regulations.
 These principles mainly refer to ground coverage,
setbacks, volume of building and size of plot.
  Any residential plot is divided into Padams and
Veethis.
Site  In any plot full permissible ground coverage is
assumed in Chaturshala type of construction.
Planning  This type consist of a central courtyard and
Principles surrounding built up area.
 The building may be of one or more storey subject to
principles governing the volume of the building.
Plot  For the construction of Chaturshala, the inner Veethi
Coverage & is left open as courtyard and the outer Veethi is left
open as setbacks from the plot boundaries.
Setbacks  The maximum ground coverage is 50%, 49.38% &
48% respectively in Mandukapadam,
Paramasayikapadam and Asanapadam
Site
Planning
Principles

Plot
Coverage &
Setbacks
  In very small plots it is allowed to construct in the
Brahmaveethi also, thus making marginal increase in
the ground cover to 56.3%, 60% and 64%
respectively.
Site  These is no concession regarding the setbacks which
is fixed as one padam.
Planning  For the minimum plot size of 16K x 16K specified in
Principles Brihat Samhitha this setback amount to 1/8 0f 16K or
2 Kols (1.44m)
 The setback are not arbitrarily fixed as in modern
Plot byelaw, but become proportional to the width of the
residential plot.
Coverage &  The setback varies from 1/10W to 1/8W where W is
Setbacks the width of the plot.
 Consequently for large plots the setbacks are
correspondingly larger.
Site  In traditional Architecture, the maximum volume of
built space controlled by the concept of universe.
Planning  Here the total development consisting of buildings,
Principles open yards and surrounding setbacks sustainable
within a ground space is to be confined within the
pyramidal space whose height is equal to ½ the
Volume of diagonal of the base square.
 Hence it can be noted that built space, open space,
the built volume, height and setbacks are all intimately related
space to the ground space
Site
Planning
Principles

Volume of
the built
space
  According to Briha Samhitha, minimum measurement
of a house site is given as 16K.
 When this ploat is divided into 4 Veethis according to
8x8 mode, the width of one Veethi comes out as 2K
Min width of and the width of the built space as 4K (2.88M).

Veethi and  The smallest housing plot designated as Aramana has

a width of 1Dandu (4K) substantiating this
its relation prescription of the width of built space.

to Habitable  Vastulakshanam states that the minimum width of

any plot which is to be divided into 9 Veethis should
Space be 18 Dandu and accordingly the minimum width of a
Veethi is 1 Dandu.
 In Eakakudambaka settlement a single Veethi can be
considered for construction and hence the width of
built space is restricted again as 1 Dandu.
  The length of the built space is equal to its width
corresponding to 8x8 divisions, 1 ½ times the width in
case of 9x9 divisions and twice the width for a 10x10
Min width of division.
Veethi and  Mayamata prescribes the maximum length as 3 times
the width implying the division of the plot into 9x9
its relation grid and main hall (Shala) confined to one Veethi
to Habitable width.
 This is further substantiated by the field studies
Space where maximum length of the core of the building
was not found to exceed the limit of 3 times the
width, as tabulated
  The dimensioning system of Vastushastra is derived from two
sources
 Anthropometry & Measure of grain size
 The basic dimension in the anthropometric scale is an Angulam
(Finger, digit).
 This Angulam is known as Matrangulam (proportionate Angulam)
and in a proportionate scale is 1/96 part of the height of an
Measureme average man.
 Standardise the Angulam by taking 6’ as the height of a standard
nts Basic man by which Angulam comes to ¾ of an inch.

Units  Angulam is also given as the measure of the circumference of the

mid finger on the right hand of Yajamanan.
 At present this measurement is only used for construction of
Yagashalas.
 The need for a practical standard scale has produced the
Manangulam (Standard Angulam) whose dimensions are related in
the octal scale.
 According to this scale one Manangulam is equal to 8 Yavams
commonly taken as equal to a length of 3cm in Kerala.
Measureme
nts Basic
Units
  The etymological meaning of the word Manasara is "the essence of
mea~urernent'~S,a ra meaning "essence" and mana, "measurement." It
may however be rendered 'the standard measurement' or 'the system of
proportions.’
 This implies that the traditional science of architecture is grounded in
principles of measurements and proportions.

Measureme  From the ancient times, acharyas or master craftsmen found and organized
simple and convenient dimensional systems to accurately measure al1
nt System sizes.
 These systems made it possible to work out details of prefabricated units to
perfection, and simplified the task of assemblage of these prefabricated
units.
 The system of dimensioning can be broadly classified into two
anupadhikarn or proportional and kevalam or absolute dimensional
system.
Anupadhika
m  Anupadhikam or proportional dimensional systern is based on proportional
theories which can be again classified into two major measuring systems.
Proportional  The system derived from the proportions of human body is called
Dimensional thalamanam and that derived from mathematical tables, as dhaizdumanam

System
  This absolute dimensional systern is based on the human body. The
horizontal width of an adult male with hands stretched forms the unit
vyamam.
 This vyamam is equal to this persons height called kayam. One eighth of
Angulaman vyamam or kayam forms padam and one eighth of padam is called angulam
or finger.
am  The dimension of angulam corresponds to the length of middle fold of the
fore finger which is called mathrangularn
 Proportionately, mathrangularn is equal to 1/20 of the height of the human
body with its hands in folded position above the head, this posture known
as purushartjali