Prose 36 : A Visit to an Ancient Architecture - 27/05/2023

A Visit to an Ancient Architecture - 27/05/2023

                                                               - T ABRAHAM 

    These days when we look around us we usually witness a sight which usually has buildings of fancy designs and architecture. It's really very rare to see houses, especially independent houses as many areas are getting converted into an apartment complex.

     So, getting a sight of an individual house is really very rare and that too if it has to be an older one it is something impossible. Many of us either go for the new and developed architectural designs and demolish the old structure completely or else we renovate our houses. But, when we think of the age old adage which says, 'Old is Gold', it's true in almost all cases except for a few instances. This adage stands good especially for the buildings and houses constructed these days.

    The ancient building about which we are going to compare our modern architecture is the great palace named 'The Padmanabhapuram Palace' which is located at Kanyakumari near Thuckalay.

Entrance of the Padmanabhapuram Palace 

    The Padmanabhapuram Palace is a great example for the ancient architecture which was in the Kingdom of Travancore (the present day Kerala and the Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu). This palace even though present in Tamil Nadu is being maintained by the Government of Kerala.

    So, to talk about my visit to this palace and it's beauty, it's actually a place where you need to pay for taking photographs and videos. There is a place where we have to leave our footwear outside and we are supposed to walk inside the palace barefooted. Since, it was May month at the time of my visit this place was quite hot and it was quite challenging to walk on the sand barefooted. To describe about the beauty of this palace it was purely a building which did not undergo any change and is being preserved to witness an ancient architecture. The rooms of this palace are being beautifully ventilated enough for us to have a good air-circulation inside the building, so there is no need for us to have ceiling fans and air-conditioners to keep us cool during the summers. The roof is made up of clay tiles which has a specialty of keeping the palace cool. There are very few furnitures in each room and these are usually made up of natural materials such as wood, stones or medicinal plants. Since there are very few furniture kept in each room there is more space for moving around freely. The stairs which are present inside the palace is a classic example for the ancient architecture. The stairs inside the palace are very much distant from each other and one has to be careful while climbing them. The palace has many plants and are well maintained by the ones who takes care of them.

Plants at the Padmanabhapuram Palace

    But, nowadays when we see there are houses which have large rooms but are congested with furniture and things which we do not really need and there is not much of space for a free movement. The roofs of the houses being built these days are done either by using the fancy ceiling or is being built using the cement and we need a ceiling fan to keep us cool and especially during the summers we need an air-conditioner. Then, it is also very rare to see people having a garden at their house these days and we are either cutting down all the trees to increase the size of our house, else we cover all the ground area with cement and we do not even make an attempt to have potted plants at our houses.

    Due to the lack of plants and trees in the houses being built these days it can be seen that there are certain disorderliness becoming prevalent on our healthy natural spaces. It is clearly visible that our locale is moving away from nature when we are unable to witness the nature with it's elements. When we say the elements of nature it is not just the plants, soil, water and air but also the insects that dwell in the nature. Nowadays it is seen that there are no butterflies, dragonflies and birds seen in the locale where our house is being built due to the lack or due to the absence of plants. The potted plants and a small garden might bring a few insects inside our locale but having a few trees would bring them in abundance.

    When the growth in nature is being suppressed by terminating the goodness it is providing us with, it is seen that the process of regression is on it's way. When these insects of pleasant nature are not allowed to thrive among us we can see that there is an increase in the number of pests that causes diseases and harm to the human race. Once the progression is being rejected the process of regression starts rapidly with these insects such as mosquitoes and spiders that can thrive in polluted spaces. When we get into this situation it is quite hard to bring back the nature and make it prosper on it's own because a natural process is more effective than a man-made one or an artificial one.

    It can be seen that our ancestors have lived in buildings which kept them close with the nature and all the things they got were directly from nature and were not man-made. We usually know that the things which we get from the nature gives us more benefits and helps anything to sustain for a longer duration of time when compared to the artificial ones or the man-made things.

    Thus, this palace not only stands as an example for an ancient architecture but also as an example for how our ancestors utilised the natural resources and lived a healthy and a happy life. It is seen that progress and development is making us move away from the environment but when one realises the comfort that nature showers upon us we would turn away from all the artificiality surrounding us and would never return from our mother nature's place.