Tharavad
Malayalam word for ancestral home
Tharavad, also spelled as Tharavadu () (തറവാട്), is the Malayalam word for the ancestral home of aristocratic Nair families in Kerala, which usually served as the common residence for the matrilineal joint family under the Marumakkathayam system practiced in the state. German linguist Hermann Gundert, in his Malayalam—English dictionary published in 1872, defines a Tharavadu as, "An ancestral residence of land-owners and kings", and also as, "A house, chiefly of noblemen". It was classically the residence of Jenmimar, but contemporary usage of the word is now more generic to all social classes and religions in Kerala. By extension, the word refers not just to the family's house but also 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.
Architecture
Although Tharavadu houses come in different typologies, certain elements remain consistent in their layout. At the heart of the design is the nadumuttam, or central courtyard. The number of courtyards within a house traditionally spoke of the family’s wealth, status, and size.
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 collectively enclosing a Nadumuttam, or open-air courtyard.
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