An ordinary work meeting with an acquantaince in Chennai led to a beautiful discovery, called DakshinaChitra. DakshinaChitra, which literally means 'a picture of South' is a heritage museum, spread over about 10 acres of land, in the city of Chennai, the capital city of the Tamil Nadu state, in southern India. A foreigner lady named Dr. Deborah Thiagarajan married to an Indian, started the Madras Craft Foundation (MCF) with like-minded people and conceived the idea of showcasing the heritage of southern India, here in Chennai. DakshinaChitra was born out of MCF. Its founder, as well as Laurie Baker, a renowned architect behind DakshinaChitra, went to all the four southern Indian states; Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Karnataka, and literally transported houses to DakshinaChitra. Well, not entire houses, but as much as they could salvage, minus the concrete, but the doors, windows, roofs, tiles, kitchen / hall / bedroom and whatever else paraphernalia that they could bring. The idea was to showcase the culture of southern Indian through their homes.
The museum tells us that all the houses brought and reconstructed at DakshinaChitra had been given up for demolition by their owners. If the museum couldn't convince the owner to keep the house, the museum then purchased the houses from the timber merchants to whom the contract for demolition had been given. DakshinaChitra, then, entered into a contract with the merchant in which he agrees to install the timber, stone, laterite, tiles and any other salvageable material from the old house into the new construction for the house. The wood seen in these houses were cleaned several times before installation.
The museum tells us that all the houses brought and reconstructed at DakshinaChitra had been given up for demolition by their owners. If the museum couldn't convince the owner to keep the house, the museum then purchased the houses from the timber merchants to whom the contract for demolition had been given. DakshinaChitra, then, entered into a contract with the merchant in which he agrees to install the timber, stone, laterite, tiles and any other salvageable material from the old house into the new construction for the house. The wood seen in these houses were cleaned several times before installation.
A drainage outlet to let the excess water out in the garden
Tamilnadu merchant's house
The detailing inside a Tamilnadu merchant house
Tamil Nadu merchant's house. All the doors, windows, pillars and floorings have been transported from an existing merchant's house somewhere in Tamilnadu; dismantled and relocated here. It's a wonder how DakshinaChitra managed to accomplish that
Inside a Tamil Nadu Brahmin's house
This is an actual representation of a typical village street in Tamil Nadu. These houses, transported from Ambur village, belonged to the Brahmin community of Tamil Nadu.
A Tamil Nadu Brahmin's house
A Syrian Christian home. The front of the house directly leads to the granary. And there is usually a cross at the top of the main door
The detailing on the wood-carved ceiling of a Syrian Christian home
Look at the beautifully carved bed in a typical Syrian Christian bedroom
A Syrian Christian home is characterised by a "general emphasis on storage of food items, the well in the kitchen, the steeped roof and the long verandah". Christians make up around 19% of Kerala's population.
A latch found in a Syrian Christian home
Inside the Granary. The cabinet with little drawers are where the species are stored. Notice the large storage bins at the top, made of clay. These large storage bins are also found in most Parsi homes, used to store pickles mainly and even rice / dal.
The Granary (and the adjoining cowshed which is not seen in this picture); part of a Syrian Christian household. The British influence can be seen in the arches on the ground level.
This is a typical Chikmagalur district house. It was built by K.A. Mohamed Ismail in 1914. His ancestors had shifted from Turkey to Bijapur and later to Chikmagalur. The various artefacts in this home were outstanding. So well restored and well maintained.
