The rice stacks were placed on a large banana leaf spread in the middle of the courtyard. Following the festive rituals, the stacks of paddy were distributed to everyone. After hanging a few stacks on the doors of the ancestral home, we took the remaining stacks to our individual homes and hung them on doors and placed them in our ari mancha, the huge wooden box where rice is stored.

Family Celebrations
There was a time when weddings of the girls in the extended family were celebrated here. Under the ancient matrilineal system the house belonged to the women and they continued to remain at home after marriage. Brides of our men were ceremonially welcomed at this home after weddings; later they returned to their own ancestral home. For centuries foreign visitors and anthropologists have been fascinated by the Nayar community of Kerala for their matrilineal kinship and descend traced through the female line. Social, political and economic changes that began during close of 18th century and continued throughout 19th century and the constant contact with the outside world slowly brought considerable change to the matrilineal system. . By the dawn of 20th century Nayar women began to set up separate households with their husbands. The breakup of a joint family into smaller units did not necessarily represent total rejection of the joint family ideal. Even when the ideal joint family is seldom found, still people continue to observe the ritual aspects of this ancient social system.

The inner veranda around the nadumittam easily seated fifty people for wedding feasts. Of course there were several rounds of seating as guests usually numbered anywhere from four hundred to six hundred or more. When the number of guests was greater, both the inner and the larger outer verandas were used. Guests sat cross-legged on straw mats and wedding feasts were served on green banana leaves laid out on the floor in front of them. The fragrance of sambar and rasam in the air dominated the other less fragrant dishes. A cloud of steam rose up as the thick hot paayasam (dessert course) was spread over the banana leaves. When the first round of guests rose to wash their hands, the cleaning crew would march in to remove the banana leaves and clean the floor for the next round of serving.

It was not just on these happy occasions that the family gathered here. The sad and somber occasion of death of the elders in the family was also observed here with various religious rites. During the fifteen-day mourning only simple food was cooked and served. Desserts and deep-fried foods considered ceremonial were avoided. The life of the demised was then celebrated with a feast on the sixteenth day. This feast always included some special dishes: ingithayir a ginger, green chilies and yogurt chutney, Pulisseri, a squash curry in sour buttermilk sauce and ellunda a sesame seed and brown sugar sweet.

Ancient Kerala Architecture
This old tradition of domestic architecture is one of the richest components of Kerala’s cultural heritage and has remained unswayed by external influences. Designed and built according to the rules of Vasthu Sastra and Tachu Sastra , sciences of architecture and carpentry, the naalukettu manifests the creative and aesthetic skills of the Malayali homebuilders. The wooden decorations of the building, especially the front door and pillars, are solid and beautifully carved. Up above the flight of granite steps leading to the entrance of the house, a wooden ring on a twisted wooden rod, all carved out on a single piece of wood, is fitted under the sloping roof overhang. It is a symbolic signature signifying the expertise of the master carpenter. The beauty of the naalukettu lies in the lack of ostentation. Decorations are modest and practical. The walls are made of brick and mortar and whitewashed. Wooden ceilings, pillars, windows and doors retain their natural coloring. The earthy color of the floor owes its rich shade to natural dyes. ...more>