Houses of Konkan

Red thick walls and sloping roof surrounded by sky touching coconut trees and lush green paddy fields is the common scene if you take a simple ride by Konkan railway through this region. If you go closer, the simplicity will make you fall in love and you will carry a dream of spending all your life close to nature and nature-loving people. Amid of urbanization, this region has successfully retained its tradition and its reflection can be seen in the way houses designed. In this Houses of Konkan series, we are going to see some typical form. 

Let's start with the simplest form- Linear arrangement Angan –Otti - Majghar (surrounded by small room) - Kitchen with store area – Padvi – Paras (Backyard)

 

• Angan - Open area in front of the house. Regularly finishes with cow dung. Adorn by Holy - Tulsi Vrindavan- Meant for social gathering. seasonally covered with a temporary covering made up of natural material such as thatch, coconut leaves different outdoor activities which vary from harvesting the fruits, drying, cutting, peeling, making by-products, or utilizing various parts of trees such as wood, leaves, branches, etc. These activities are manually carried out and take place in Angan, Padvi and Paras during the summer season only. During summer, Angan is covered with temporary roofing in the form of interwoven coconut leaves supported on bamboo posts which can be dismantled as per climatic needs.

• Otti- semi-open space with low height seating covered with a permanent roof. Transition space leading to an enclosed environment. Sometimes sides are covered by wooden jali walls. Otti generally is the most comfortable space considering Hot and Humid climate of the Konkan region; it offers temporary resting space to house members during the afternoon and evening time.

• Majghar- Large open room situated at the center of a house, surrounded by small rooms like Pooja Ghar, kitchen, and private areas. 

• Kitchen- Elaborate, most important and busiest room with in-build shelves in walls and levels to facilitate women gatherings. Mangalore tiles roof for the kitchen are designed in a specific manner to regularize natural air circulation and to capture maximum daylight. A small storeroom is situated adjacent to the kitchen to store yearlong food items like grain, pulses, and pickles, etc. 
• Padvi- semi-open space covered by a permanent roof and connected with washrooms. This area generally has a specific area for Chulha (Firewood burning) which is mainly used for heating bath water during the day to day life. 
• Paras (Backyard) – Open to sky area at the rear of a house having entry through kitchen. Seasonal vegetable, medicinal plants, Local fruit plants, flowering plants are planted in this area. For big houses, water wells are situated in this area. 

This sequencing is climate-responsive. This systematic transition promotes much-needed air circulation throughout the year intern most comfortable stay.