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The cultural heritage of any country is seen best exposed in its architectural monuments. The ways in which the buildings are designed, constructed and decorated speak not only the technical and artistic capabilities of the craftsmen, but also of the aspirations and visions of the perceptors, for whom the construction is only a medium for thematic expression. From the single dwellings to the magnificent edifices, architecture also reflects the human endeavour meeting the ever changing social needs. Kerala abounds with many such architectural monuments-prehistoric megaliths, tombs, caves, temples, mosques, churches, theatres, houses, palaces and public buildings, built and renovated over centuries representing a panorama of architectural development.
The characteristic regional expression of Kerala architecture results from the geographical, climatic and historic factors. Geographically Kerala is a narrow strip of land lying in between western seaboard of peninsular India and confined between the towering Western Ghats and the vast Arabian sea. Favoured by plentiful rains and bright sunshines, this land is lush green with vegetation and rich in animal life.
The natural building materials available for construction in Kerala are stones, timber, clay and palm leaves. Laterite is the most abundant stone found as outcrops in most zones. Soft laterite available at shallow depth can be easily cut, dressed and used as building blocks. Clay was used in many forms - for walling, in filling the timber floors and making bricks and tiles after pugging and tempering with admixtures. Palm leaves were used effectively for thatching the roofs and for making partition walls.
The variety of temples, numbering more than 2000 dotting the Kerala state has no match with any other regions of India. In its stylistic development, the temple architecture can be divided into three phases. The first phase is that of rock-cut temples. Rock-cut temples are mainly located in southern Kerala. Historically the cave architecture in India begins with Buddhism and the technique of rock-cut architecture in Kerala seems to be a continuation of similar works in Tamil Nadu under the Pandyas. The rock-cut temples are all dated prior to the eighth century A.D.
The structural temples appear in the second phase spanning the eighth to tenth centuries, and patronised by the Cera, Ay and Mushika chieftains. The earliest temples had a unitary shrine or a srikovil. The srikovil may be built in different plan shapes - square, rectangular, circular or apsidal. Of these the square plan shows an even distribution throughout Kerala state. The square shape is basically the form of the vedic fire altar and strongly suggest the vedic mooring. It is categorized as the nagara style of temple in the architecutural texts. The rectangular plan is favoured for the Ananthasai Vishnu and the Sapta matrikas. The circular plan and the apsidal plan are rare in other parts of India and unknown even in the civil architecture of Kerala, but they constitute an
important group of temples.
The middle phase of the evolution of the temples is characterised by the emergence of the sandhara shrine. In the unitary shrine of the earlier type _ nirendhara _ there is a cell with a single doorway to the cell. But in the sandhara shrine the cell has twin wells leaving a passage in between them. Also there are often four functional
doors on all the four cardinal directions and pierced windows to provide subdued light in the passage. Sometimes the functional door on the sides and the rear are replaced by pseudo doors _ ganadwaras _ decorated in the pattern of real doors.
The concept of the storeyed temple is also seen in this phase.
In the last phase, (1300-1800 A.D.) the stylistic development reached its apogee with greater complexity in the temple layout and elaboration of detail. A significant feature of big temple complexes is the presence of a theatre hall - koothambalam-meant for dance, musical performance and religious recitals. This is a unique edifice of Kerala architecture, distinct from the natyasabha or natyamandir seen in north Indian temples of this period. koothambalam is a large pillared hall with a high roof. Inside the hall is a stage structure _ rangamandapam _ for the performances. The stage as well as the pillars are ornately decorated. Visual and acoustic considerations are incorporated in the layout of the pillars and construction
details so that the performances can be enjoyed by the spectators without discomfort and distortion. The koothambalam design seems to have been based on the canons given in the Natyasastra of Bharata Muni.
In the southernmost Kerala, the temple architecture was also influenced by the developments in Tamil Nadu. Technically the most important feature of the temple architecture of Kerala is the construction technique using a dimensional standardisation. Temple architecture is a synthesis of engineering and decorative arts. The decorative elements of the Kerala temples are of three types - mouldings, sculptures and painting. The moulding is typically seen in the plinth where in horizontal hands of circular and rectangular projections and recesses in varying proportions help to emphasize the form of the adisthana. The sculptural work is of two types. One category is the low relief done on the outer walls of the shrine with masonry set in lime mortar and finished with plaster and painting. The second is the sculpturing of the timber elements - the rafter ends, the brackets, the timber columns and their capitals, door frames, wall plates and beams. The painting was executed in organic pi gments on walls when the plaster was still wet - in soft subdued colours, making them into a class designated as Kerala murals. The theme of these paintings is invariably mythological and the epic stories unfold as one goes around the temple in circumambulations.
The Arab world, the cradle of Islam also had trade contact with Kerala coast from very early times. As tradition goes, a Cera King, Ceraman Perumal embraced Islam and made a voyage to Mecca. In his return trip accompanied by many Islamic religious leaders including Malik Ibn Dinar, he fell sick and passed away. But he had given introductory letters for the party to proceed to Musiris, the Cera capital.
The mosque architecture of Kerala exhibit none of the features of the Arabic style nor those of the Indo-Islamic architectures of the imperial or provincial school in north India. The reason for this is not far to seek. The work of mosque construction was done by the local artisans under instructions of the Muslim religious heads who wanted to erect the places of worship. The pulpit in the mosque present the best example of wood carvings associated with Islamic architecture of Kerala. The Jama Masjid at Beypore and Mithqal Mosque at Kozhikode have the pulpit (mimbar) built by the ship masters of the Arab vessels.
The evolution of the Church architecture of Kerala springs from two sources - the first from the work of Apostle St. Thomas and the Syrian Christians and second from the missionary work of European settlers. The tradition has it that St. Thomas who landed in Musiris in 52 AD had seven churches built in Kerala at Kodungallur, Chayil, Palur, Paravur, Kollam, Niranom and Kothamangalam, but none of these churches are now extant. It is possible that some of the temples were adapted as church for services by the population who got converted into Christianity by
St. Thomas.
Historical evidences suggest that the first wave of Christianity came from Syria in fourth century A.D. owing to the persecution of Christians in the Persian empire. They also played a vital role in trade and commerce. The domestic buildings of the Syrian Christians were akin to the native architecture. But original Syrians who had migrated to Kerala had brought with them some of the west Asian conventions in church architecture. Consequently churches with regular chance and have began to be built and there evolved a distinctive style of church architecture. The Portuguese were the first to introduce European styles in the church architecture of Kerala, followed by Dutch and British. The first church of this type in India was built by the Franciscan missionaries in 1510 A.D. at Fort Kochi. It is a small unpretentious building of the medieval Spanish type. When Vasco De Gama died in Kochi in 1524 his body was interned in this church and later removed to Lisbon in 1538. The church t hus came to be known as Vasco De Gama's church. It was later seized by the Dutch and was used for reformed services. Later with British occupation of Kochi it became an Anglican church and presently it belongs to church of south India.
