South India and Jungle Cultures

INDIA: LESSON V

As we move South and West through India, the dry, arid deserts and great plains become jungle

In this lesson, we will be looking at the two southern states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, each with their own distinctive culture and particularly interesting architectural tradition.

The jungle stretches for many thousands of miles, and is thick and dense, and yet cultures have grown out of it. How do people live in this environment? Building houses comes with many dangers….

However, the jungle offers many, many building materials which people have used in many ways

You have three options to choose from…• The Canopy (in the trees, above the jungle floor

• The jungle floor, beneath the trees

• In the swamps and rivers

• Now, in small groups, think of the advantages and disadvantages of these places, and how you would build a home here. What materials would you use? How would you use them? Why?• Fill in the worksheet, and quickly design a jungle home and say which materials you are using and why (think of the properties)

The traditional form of living in the backwaters and swamps of Kerala was and is the Kettuvallam

These houses are MULTIFUNCTIONAL.What functions do they have? Have these functions changed with modern times?

Unlike the barren deserts of last week, the jungle is incredibly fertile…• What does this mean?• What industries could have grown from the jungle, and still exist today?• What new industries have been developed here?• How has the modern world affected these jobs and industries?

What is this? How has this affected the jungles?

Why do western tourists come to the Keralan jungles? Why is it also so popular with Indian tourists, too?

IS TOURISM GOOD FOR THE JUNGLE? WHAT ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES DOES IT BRING? DOES IT AFFECT ARCHITECTURE?

Fort Cochin/Kochi – the great Keralan city• Kochi (formerly Fort Cochin) is undoubtedly the most popular and successful industrial town in the state of Kerala. As the capital of the communist state of Kerala, it has grown rich by combining the traditional industries of fishing and coconut and wood trade with modern tourism, and offering some of the most interesting aspects of traditional Indian music, dance and cusine.

The most famous icons of Kochi – what are they? How do they work?

Architecturally, Kochi is…unusual for India

Typical buildings of Kochi. What is so unusual about these buildings? Where do they look like they should be? Why? How?

The most southern part of India is in the state of Tamil Nadu• Tamil Nadu has never really been ‚part’ of India – they have always seen themselves as ‚Tamil’, not ‚Indian’ – why might this be?• Their language, their religion, their architecture, their culture in general is unlike any found elsewhere in India.• Perhaps this is because they have always been a jungle culture, building their cities from the jungle itself, protected from other cultures and peoples by hundreds of kilometres of forest and mountains.• Any ideas of how their religion might look? What might their temples be like? Why?

The most popular deity in Southern India…

What icons can we see? What do they represent?

Ganesh is the god of ‚plenty’ – he is fat, rich and surrounded by fruits and sweets. He is also the god of travellers, and he is the ‚clearer of paths’ – why would this be important for a god of the jungle?

Madurai and the Meenakshi Temple Complex

What are the obvious differences between these temples and the ones we have seen before? Why might this be?

Read your information on the components of the temple, and tell the class when you see ‚your’ picture….

The Future of Kerala and South India – tourist haven and horrible modernism… is there anything good about this? Is there a better way?