page_title: Malayali
section_title: Architecture
hierarchical_section_title: Malayali / History and culture / Architecture
caption_attribution_description: English: Paliam Naalukettu (5/2006) --Vivin Paliath (വിവി൯ പാലിയത്) 17:18, 13 January 2007 (UTC)
context_page_description: The Malayali people are a Dravidian ethnic group originating from the present-day state of Kerala in India, occupying its southwestern Malabar coast. They are identified as native speakers of the Malayalam language. The state of Kerala was created in 1956 through the States Reorganisation Act. Prior to that, since the Middle Ages existed the Kingdom of Cochin, the Kingdom of Travancore and the Malabar District of the Madras Presidency. The Malabar District was annexed by the British through the Third Mysore War from Tipu Sultan. Before that, the Malabar District was under the Zamorins of Calicut since the Middle Ages.
  According to the Indian census of 2011, there are approximately 33 million Malayalis in Kerala, making up 96.7% of the total population of the state. Malayali minorities are also found in the neighboring state of Tamil Nadu, mainly in Kanyakumari district and Nilgiri district and Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka and also in other metropolitan areas of India.
context_section_description: Kerala, the native land of Malayalis has a tropical climate with excessive rains and intensive solar radiation. The architecture of this region has evolved to meet these climatic conditions by having the form of buildings with low walls, sloping roof and projecting caves. The setting of the building in the open garden plot was again necessitated by the requirement of wind for giving comfort in the humid climate.
  Timber is the prime structural material abundantly available in many varieties in Kerala. Perhaps the skilful choice of timber, accurate joinery, artful assembly and delicate carving of wood work for columns, walls and roofs frames are the unique characteristics of Malayali architecture. From the limitations of the materials, a mixed mode of construction was evolved in Malayali architecture. The stone work was restricted to the plinth even in important buildings such as temples. Laterite was used for walls. The roof structure in timber was covered with palm leaf thatching for most buildings and rarely with tiles for palaces or temples. The Kerala murals are paintings with vegetable dyes on wet walls in subdued shades of brown. The indigenous adoption of the available raw materials and their transformation as enduring media for architectural expression thus became the dominant feature of the Malayali style of architecture.
caption: A typical Nalukettu structure.
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