MARIAN COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE AND PLANNING

KERALAM MUSEUM OF
HISTORY

AND
HERITAGE,TRIVANDRUM

NINTH SEMESTER
CRITICAL APRAISAL

Marian College of Architecture and Planning

Kazhakoottam, Thiruvananthapuram.

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 MARIAN COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE AND PLANNING

SUBMITTED BY:ADINAH ANIS

ROLL
NO:02
S9

CONTENTS
1. THE CRITERIA FOR THE SELECTION

2. ABOUT KERALAM MUSEUM

3. LOCATION

4. SITE BUILDING RELATIONS

5. FLOOR PLAN

6. DESIGN CONCEPTS

7. BUILDING CHARACTERISTICS OF THE

MUSEUM

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8. SPACIAL ANALYSIS

9. MATERIAL USED

10. CONSTRUCTION

11. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

12.BIBLIOGRAPHY

THE CRITERIA FOR THE SELECTION

 Kerala architecture is a kind of architectural style
that is mostly found in Indian state of Kerala.The
Tantrasamuchaya,Thachu-Shastra, Manushyalaya-Cha
ndrika and Silparatna are important architectural
sciences, which have had a strong impact in Kerala
Architecture style.
 Buildings, monuments and palaces in kerala are built
with locally available material

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 Keralam museum of history and heritage is

importance since its one among the most important
buildings in kerala and portraits all the essential
qualities how a typical museum should be .
 Kerala architecture can portrays through this small
building and its sits besides one among most noted
building portraing kerala architecture ie., Napier
Museum .

ABOUT KERALAM MUSEUM

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KERALAM is truly, simply Kerala. It will be your

passage to the land, spurred on by remnants and memoirs -
sometimes as simple as a piece of wood; sometimes as
mysterious as a burial urn.
Housed in a heritage building - one that saw history in the
making - KERALAM captures the quintessence of the
land in an enchanting 7,000 sq.ft of space. Here, quaint
hallways, majestic pillars and arched gates, built in a mix
of traditional and colonial style, will lead you across
different time zones and spaces, to reveal the soul of
Kerala.

Enhancing your Kerala experience at KERALAM will be

multimedia systems, video displays, information boards,
maps, charts and more. While strategically placed kiosks
and information points will assist you to know more about

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the various sections, short narrative documentaries will

help you experience first-hand the many facets of Kerala's
cultural history.
Apart from aesthetically designed galleries, a theatre,
library and a museum shop will add to your experience at
KERALAM.
Important Displays in the Museum
 Stone axes or celts, which signify that Kerala was
inhabited during the Neolithic Age
 Black and Red-tinged bowl and jar that were used as
burial accessories in the Iron Age
 A Roman Silver coin 'Dinari' which is proof for
Kerala's maritime trade relations with Rome
 Palm leaf manuscripts and Copper plate in Sanskrit
and Malayalam.
 Wooden Brahma sculpture of 14th Century
 Stone sculpture of Lord Shiva's Bhoothagana of 16"
Century
 A 16th century Bronze sculpture of Nataraja in the
tandava-nritya pose
 Murals of the 17th century from Pundarikapuram
Temple in Thalayolaparambu in Kottayam
 Thamburu made of terracotta
 Sword of Diwan Sir. T. Madhava Rao, the former
Diwan of Travancore
 Traditional Kerala Nalukettu and Kitchen.

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LOCATION

FIG1:LOCATION OF KERALAM MUSEUM OF HISTORY AND HERITAGE

 In the heart of trivandrum ,capital of kerala.

 Inside the kerala tourism complex,opposite to the
Napier museum and the zoo.
 About 12 km from the world-renowned Kovalam
beach resort.

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 Keralam is about 2 km from the bus terminal and the

railway station and is about 9 km from the International
Airport.

SITE BUILDING RELATIONS

 Thiruvananthapuram ,capital of kerala houses many

places of historic importance.


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In the heart of Thiruvananthapuram city lies the great

Napier Museum and the Natural History Museum in
the Museum compound, close to the Zoological park.
Built in the 19th century,an architectural masterpiece
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designedby Robert Chisholm, the consulting Architect

of the Madras Government. Napier Museum is a
landmark in the city with its unique ornamentation and
architectural style with gothic roof and minarets. The
Indo-Saracenic structure also boasts a natural air
conditioning system.
 Kowdiar palace also lies near to keralam museum of
history and heritage which was built in 1934 by
Maharajah Sree .
 C.S.I. Mateer Memorial Church, is one of the
protestant congregations in Trivandrum.
It was dedicated in the heart of city in December
1906 and has celebrated its centenary.
 And so on .

FLOOR PLANS

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DESIGN CONCEPTS

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Located in an enchanting 7000ft of space and built in a

mix of traditional and colonial style, will lead you
across different time zones and spaces, to reveal the
soul of Kerala.
According to the references, the architectural style has
evolved from Kerala’s peculiar climate and long
history of influences of its major maritime trading
partners like Chinese, Arabs and Europeans. Thereby,
the characteristic regional expression of Kerala
architecture results from the geographical, climatic and
historic factors.
The base model is normally circular, square or
rectangular plain shapes with a ribbed roof evolved
from functional consideration. The most distinctive
visual form of Kerala architecture is the long, steep
sloping roof built to protect the house’s walls and to
withstand the heavy monsoon, normally laid with tiles
or thatched labyrinth of palm leaves, supported on a
roof frame made of hard wood and timber. Structurally
the roof frame was supported on the pillars on walls
erected on a plinth raised from the ground for
protection against dampness and insects in the tropical
climate. Often the walls were also of timbers
abundantly available in Kerala. Gable windows were
evolved at the two ends to provide attic ventilation
when ceiling was incorporated for the room
spaces.
Most of Kerala buildings appears to low height
visually, due to over-sloping of roofs, which are meant
to protect walls from rains and direct sun shine.

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The belief system of Vastu plays a very important role

in developing architecture styles. The basic underlying
belief is that, every structure built on earth has its own
life, with a soul and personality which is shaped by its
surroundings. The most important science which
Kerala has developed, purely indigenously is
Thachu-Shastra (Science of Carpentry) as the easily
availability of timber and its heavy use of it. The
concept of Thachu underlines that as timber is derived
from a living form, the wood, when used for
construction, has its own life which must be
synthesized in harmony with its surroundings and
people whom dwell inside it.

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BUILDING CHARACTERISTICS OF THE

MUSEUM

 Poomukham is the first space of the house - it is an

open verandah that protrudes forward and is accessed
by climbing the steps at the front of the house. Pillars
(either wooden or cement/rubble) support the sloping
clay tiled roof of the poomukham. In traditional
homes it is common to find a planter's chair
(charukasera) in this space and it is reserved for the
head of the family.
 A nalukettu is rectangular in structure, where four
halls are joined together with the central courtyard and
tiled roofing slopes inwards into the nalumuttom.
Protecting the verandah and inner spaces from heat
and rain.
 Slopping roof
 Chuttuverandah is accessed from the poomukham
and is the open verandah in the front leading to either
sides of the house.

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FOTOZ

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SPATIAL ANALYSIS
 As the Kerala Museum is taken care by
government, it is under tight security. In order to
enter the museum ticket has to be collected from
the ticket counter followed by the security
checking where the ticket is checked and issued.
This gives the permission for the visitor to enter
the museum.Then following is the reception area
where the visitors are warmly welcomed by the
staffs. The entrance to the museum is through a
long corridor with tall pillars along the way.

 The Kerala Museum will showcase the heritage

of Kerala from the Paleolithic age to the nearly
20th century.The 98 lakh museum, on two floors
will have LED lighting and security
mechanisms.With a view to give the building an
old-book look, a horse drawn carriage used in
the Travancore-era and a couple of Tipu vintage
cannons from Malabar is displayed at the
entrance\
.

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 The museum has five galleries each of which

will have a kiosk where comprehensive
information about that period will be provided in
the form of pictures, videos and documentation.

 While the first gallery on the Paleolithic age will

feature tools of stone and a Marayoor rock
painting, the second one on the Iron age will
have an urn burial, samples of “kudakkal” and
pieces of pottery.

 The gallery of the early historic age will feature

pottery and coins unearthed at Pattanam, coins
of the Chera Kingdom, and samples of
inscriptions of the age. Here in these rooms the
ventilation is limited and each painting is
illuminated by small LED lamps as the focus of
the visitor should not be diverted. These small
LED lamps makes the inner atmosphere hot
hence exhaust fans are provided in all rooms.
Pedestal fans are provided in most of the rooms
in order to make the inner atmosphere cool.

 While the gallery on art and architecture will

enlighten visitors about temple and church

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architecture and provide information about

mural paintings, the last gallery on heritage will
showcase the model of a “Nalukettu” complete
with household utensils.The gallery on
sculptures spot bronze and wooden statues with
details of artisans who fashioned them down the
ages. The long corridors are covered using
bamboo curtains which limits the natural light
into the building, thus making it dark. The
wooden statues and the wooden flooring will
fade due to the sunlight continuously falling on
it.

FOTOZ

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MATERIALS USED

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The natural building materials available for

construction in Kerala are stones, timber, clay and
palm leaves.
Granite is a strong and durable building stone;
however, its availability is restrictedmostly to the
highlands and only marginally to other zones. Owing to
this, the skill in quarrying, dressing and sculpturing of
stone is scarce in Kerala.
Laterite on the other hand is the mostabundant stone
found as outcrops in most zones. Soft laterite available
at shallow depth can be
easily cut, dressed and used as building blocks. It is a
rare local stone which gets stronger and durable with
exposure at atmospheric air. Laterite blocks may be
bonded in mortars of shell limewhich have been the
classic binding material used in traditional buildings.

Lime mortar can be improved in strength and

performance by admixtures of vegetable juices. Such
enriched mortars were used for plastering or for serving
as the base for mural painting and low relief work.

Timber is the prime structural material abundantly

available in many varieties in Kerala – from bamboo to
teak. Perhaps the skillful choice of timber, accurate
joinery, artful assembly and delicate carving
of wood work for columns, walls and roofs frames are
the unique characteristics of Kerala

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architecture.
Clay was used in many forms – for walling, in filling
the timber floors and making
bricks and tiles after pugging and tempering with
admixtures.were used effectively for thatching the
roofs and for making partition walls.
From the limitations of the materials, a mixed mode of
construction was evolved in Kerala
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 exterior of the laterite
walls was either left as such or plastered with lime
mortar to serve as the base for mural painting.
The sculpturing of the stone was mainly molding in
horizontal bands in the plinth portion
(adhistans) whereas the carving of timber covered all
elements _ pillars, beams, ceiling, rafters and the
supporting brackets.
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 Kerala style.

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FOTOZ

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CONSTRUCTION

 FLOORING:The most common type of flooring was

that of beaten earth polished with cow dung at regular
intervals Black colored traditional flooring used in the
more expensive buildings was done with the mixture
of lime, sand, coconut shell, white of egg, jaggery,
coconut water and other vegetable extracts. The
smoothness was achieved by polishing the floor with a
particular variety of banana

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 ROOFING:Sloping roofs

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fotoz

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CRITICAL ANALYSIS

 The windows and other ventilation openings are not used

effectively, and they are covered with exhibition furniture’s
for the sake of exhibition purpose, hence natural ventilation
isreduced. Exhaust fans are used to reduce the heat inside the
building
 Circulation through spaces is continuous and therefore apt
for a museum.
 Headroom’s of staircases is low in height
 The chuttuverandah is covered with bamboo curtains and
hence restricting the natural wind flow.
 Improper use of natural lighting .Uses more artificial light
maybe for the purpose of displaying the exhbites.

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Fotoz

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BIBLIOGRAPHY
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Architecture_of_Kerala
 https://www.museumkeralam.org/index.php
 https://www.keralatourism.org/destination/napier-museum-thiruvana
nthapuram/327

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kowdiar_Palace

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 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mateer_Memorial_Church#Architecture
 https://www.keralatourism.org/destination/keralam-museum-history-
thiruvananthapuram/540

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