Tharavad

Not to be confused with Theravada.

Tharavad, also spelled as Tharavadu (pronunciation^ⓘ) (തറവാട്), is the Malayalam word for the ancestral home of Hindu families except Nambudiri.^{[1] [2][3]} in Kerala, which usually served as the common residence for the joint family system practiced in the state.^[4][5] German linguist Hermann Gundert, in his Malayalam—English dictionary published in 1872, defines a Tharavadu as, "a house, chiefly of noblemen".^[6][7] By extension, the word refers not just to the family's house but to the extended family that shares that house. Heads of tharavadus - usually the eldest living male - were known as Karnavars, and junior members as Anandravans.

An eight-halled ettukettu tharavad

A typical tharavadu reproduced from K. M. Panikkar's article published in 1918. Capital and small letters represent females and males respectively. Supposing that the females A, B and C were dead and the oldest male member karnavar being d, if the male members t, k and others demanded partition, the property would be divided into three parts.

Architecture

A traditional nadumuttam

Inseparable from the traditional concept of a tharavad is, historically, Kerala's distinctive Nālukettu architectural tradition. A classic Nalukettu tharavad would be built with four halls, each with a defined purpose, and collectively enclosing a Nadumuttam, or open-air courtyard. Wealthier and more prominent tharavads would construct mansions with multiple such atria, such as the eight-halled Ettukettu, with two nadumuttams, or Pathinarukettu, sixteen-halled with four nadumuttams, and the preserve of royal families and tharavads of similar rank. Rarely, twelve-halled Pathrandukettu were constructed. with three courtyards,^[8] and there is a record of a 32-halled Muppathirandukettu being erected, although it was lost to a fire soon after construction.^[9]

1901 photograph of a tharavadu

Alummoottil Ezhavar Tharawad