REPORT ON THIRUNANGUR VILLAGE

PROJECT : RURAL STYDY ON THIRUNANGUR VILLAGE

DATE : 11/11/2021
REPORTED BY : JENNIFER PAUL
SYNOPSIS:
 Introduction
 Location
 History
 Culture of the village
 Settlement & Planning
 Housing Typologies
-typologies
-general features
-example
 Conclusion & Inference

INTRODUCTION:
As a part of Architectural Design Studio, we went to Rural Study to
the village known as Thirunangur , which is located in Mayilaaduthura District in Tamil nadu,
on 17 October 2021 -22 October 2021 and studied the village on various aspects -Visuals,
Physicals, Socio-Economics & Housing.

LOCATION :
Thirunangur village is located in Sirkali Taluk of Mayiladuthurai
district in Tamil Nadu, India. It is situated 10km away from sub-district headquarter
Sirkali.The total geographical area of village is 616.38 hectares. Nangur has a total
population of 4482 peoples,as per census 2011. There are about 1,100 houses in Nangur
village.

Map showing Thirunangur cluster

HISTORY:
Name Reason:
Thirunangur is cluster of 4 villages,so it is called as Nangur
Thiru - Dhivyastalam
Nangur - cluster of Nangur , Thirumanipuram ,
Melnangur and Narayanapuram.

Earlier, the name of this village was Naapori, then it was changed as Naagaoor, and then
now it was named as Nangur.the name came because of the Thanjan Nagarajan(snake) lived
here.
The village is said to be 2000 years old. Its time period was 8th
century during Mahabharata period and has 3 main communities -Brahmins,
Velalar(Farmers), Senkuthu Muthaliyar( Land Lords).

Time line:
 Before cholas - 7th century
 Cholas - 8 - 12 th century
 Pandyas - 12 - 13 th century
 Vijaynagar - 14 - 15 th century
 Nayaks - 15 - 18 th century
 British - 17 - 19 th century

CULTURE OF THE VILLAGE:

The village is best known for its Temples and the
Festivals celebrated here. Earlier there was 12 Lord Shivan temples and 12 Lord Vishnu
temples out of which 6 Lord Shivan temples and 6 Lord Vishnu temples are found in and
around the Thirunangur village.

The 6 Divyastalam found in the village :

 Narayana perumal temple

 kudamadum kuthar
 Pallikonda perumal temple
 Van purushothamar temple
 Vaigundanathar temple
 Sempon arangar temple

Map showing temples and their location Narayana perumal temple

The Famous Festivals celebrated here are Garuda sevai, Risaba sevai,Mariyamman Kovil
thiruvila and kumbabishegam. The festival Garuda sevai is celebrated based on the Aalvar’s
visit to the temple to see Lord Vishnu .The visit took place for 3 days so the festival is
celebrated for 3 days where all the people in and around the village gets participated in the
festival.Thirumangai aalvar is the aalvar who sang the song for Lord Vishnu in Narayana
perumal temple, so the temple is famous among the village.The temples here give many job
opportunity for the people in the village. Lord Shiva temples also had a separate festivals
based on Lord Shiva's furious dance on the death of his wife Lord Parvathi (Uma) during the
yaaga made by her father,while dancing the 11 strings of Lord Shiva’s hair fell on the ground
which later araised as 11 Lord Shivan Temples in and around the village.

VILLAGE SETTLEMENT & PLANNING:

The villagers are settled based on the
occupation they do.4000 Brahmins were lived in this village,This settlement was here since
the sangam age.Thirunangur is said to be agraharam of Poombhuhar.Thirunangur is in
Marutham region near Neithal region, so the people started settling here to attain there
basic need and their main occupations are Agriculture, Brahmins and Muthaliyar.The village
cluster is found with Agraharam settlement which is restricted and Valalar and Muthaliyar
settlements in Nedun theru and Nadu theru. The temple roads and the main roads are found
with larger road width and the roads with residential blocks are found with smaller road
width giving the sense of privacy by restricting strangers.

Softscapes of the village

Roads with residential blocks - STREETSCAPE OF THE VILLAGE - Main road

HOUSING TYPOLOGY:
The village is found with various typology of houses but all the
houses in the village had some features in common.The houses are built according to the
user’s need and built with locally available materials and it is vernacular in its nature. Dating
from the year it was built to till date,it undergoes many transformations and alterations and
also satisfies the people’s need till now.Each user made their home flexible for their
occupation by altering it. The houses in the streets called Nedhun Theru and Nadu Theru
were taken for documentation since these streets has high Valalar and Muthaliyar
communities with traditional typology of houses.

-TYPOLOGIES:
 Twin houses
 Single courtyard with open Thinnai
 Single courtyard with closed Thinnai
 Double courtyard with open Thinnai
 Double courtyard with closed Thinnai
 Closed Thinnai house without courtyard
 Thatch house with external portico
 Thatch house without external portico

-COMMON FEATURES:

 Thinnai with colonnades

 Courtyards for lighting and ventilation
 Pitched roof with queen post wooden truss
 Bamboo and timber rafters and purlins
 Pot tile roofing
 Flat brick flooring
 Mud and lime plastering
 Cob walling with surkhi
 Linear planning
 Single roof with shared wall
 Niches for lamps
 Wooden columns
 Grill windows
 Mostly single storey houses
 Backyard

house with closed Thinnai house with open Thinnai

 Roofing with clay pot tile Thinnai with wooden columns

Courtyard -source of lighting and ventilation-multipurpose usage Niches for lamp

-EXAMPLE -TWIN HOUSE WITH SHARED COURTYARD & COMPOUND WALL

Spaces inside :

 Open thinnai
 Muttram(courtyard)
 Thazhvaram(corridor)
 Living room
 Pooja room
 Bed room
 Kitchen backyard

Initialy the spaces are used for different purpose, and in later days the usage of spaces are
changed based on the need.
PLAN

+0.18m

+0.18m +0.18m

+0.18m
TOILET
+0.17m

+0.92m

GARDEN +0.27m
+1.00m

+0.27m

+0.35m
PUMPSET
+0.24m

+0.18m

+0.61m +0.18m

BACKYARD BEDROOM
+0.21m
+0.21m

+0.61m

D4

+0.31m +0.31m
+0.41m
HALL KITCHEN

+0.21m

+0.21m

+0.21m
BEDROOM
+0.25m

+0.46m
+0.37m
D3

+0.37m
-0.22m

+0.21m +0.47m
POOJA ROOM
+0.38m
D2

+0.37m

+0.21m +0.28m
D1

+0.15m +0.15m

THINNAI +0.05m THINNAI

+0.56m +0.56m
 PARAN

CROSS SECTION
UNDERSTANDING RURAL SETTLEMENTS AND ITS ARCHITECTURE
CASE - THIRUNANGUR, TAMILNADU
RURAL STUDIO - THIRUNANGUR HOUSING

NAME OF THE SURVEYOR: JENNIFER PAUL DATE : 17/10/2021

PART-1 GENERAL DETAIL

STREET NAME: NEDUN THERU KEY MAP

WARD NO.: 3

DOOR NUMBER: 3/97

GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION: 11°10'38.98"N 79°46'52.08"E

YEAR OF CONSTRUCTION: 80 YEARS OLD

NEAR BY LANDMARK: PILAIYAR KOVIL THERU,HIGH SCHOOL

TYPOLOGY
HOUSE NAME
PART-2 DWELLING DETAIL
NO. OF STOREY: SINGLE STOREY
STOP
TWIN HOUSE WITH SHARED
COURTYARD WITH SHARED
COMPOUND WALL
BALA GURU’S HOUSE OR TAILOR’S
HOUSE

BUILDING MATERIALS: MUD HOUSE WITH SURKHI

BUILDING COMPONENTS BUILDING MATERIALS MATERIALS CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUE

SOURCED
FROM
PLINTH GRANITE - -

FLOORING EXTERIOR-CEMENT FLOORING SRIKAZHI -

INTERIOR-FLAT BRICK FLOORING RAMCO

WALL BRICK & MUD - COB WALLING

FENESTRATIONS WOODEN DOORS - -

COLUMN WOODEN COLUMNS - -

ROOFING MATERIAL BAMBOO & TIMBER TRUSS WORK, - -

CLAY POT TILES FOR ROOFING

STRUCTURAL SYSTEM:

LOAD BEARING STRUCTURE WITH QUEEN POST TRUSS WHICH SIT ON THE WALL OF 2 FEET THICKNESS,THE
HORIZONAL RIDGES REST ON THE WALL CARRIES THE LOAD OF TIE BEAM AND THE ROOF LOAD.THE WALL IS MADE
OF MUD AND BRICK WHICH WITHSTAND SUCH LOADS FOR MANY YEARS

(PNCA) PRIME NEST COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE AND PLANNING TRICHIRAPALLI

UNDERSTANDING RURAL SETTLEMENTS AND ITS ARCHITECTURE
CASE - THIRUNANGUR, TAMILNADU
RURAL STUDIO - THIRUNANGUR HOUSING

PART-3 QUESTIONNARIE

GENERAL INFORMATION:

OWNER’S NAME BALA GURU-35 YEARS OLD

OCCUPATION TAILORING-25 YEARS- EARLY OCCUPATION-WEAVING
COMMUNITY SENKATHAR MUTHALIYAR
HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS FATHER ,MOTHER,SON, DAUGHTER,GRAND MOTHER
LIVESTOCKS -
HOUSE NAME BALA GURU’S HOUSE OR TAILOR’S HOUSE
AGE OF THE BUILDING 80 YEARS OLD
BUILT BY WHOM -
ALTERATIONS & ADDITIONS:

MATERIAL:

FLOORING FLAT CLAY BRICKS

COLUMNS WOODEN COLUMNS

WALL MUD BRICK, SURKHI MUD & LIME

ROOFING BAMBOO RAFTERS ,TIMBERS TRUSS & CLAY POT TILES

OTHER ALTERATIONS CEMENT FLOORING FOR THINNAI WAS DONE LATER, MUD PLASTERING WALL REPLACED BY
CEMENT & LIME PLASTERING

PLANNING:

ADDITION OF SPACES THERE IS NO ADDITION OF SPACE BY THE USAGE OF SPACES CHANGED ACCORDING TO
GENERATIONS AND THE USER’S NEED. TOILETS ARE ADDED IN BACKYARD.
ADDITION OF STOREIES SINGLE STOREY ONLY

OTHER ALTERATIONS INITIALLY, THE HOUSE HAD SINGLE COUTYARD .LATER, THE HOUSE WAS PARTITIONED
SYMMETRICALLLY ALONG THE COURTYARD WITH 2 M HEIGHT COMPOUND WALL AND CEMENTT
WALLS ARE RAISED FOR PRIVACY

SERVICES:
ELECTRICAL SERVICES INITITALLY,THE COURTYARD IS THE ONLY SOURCE FOR LIGHTING AND VENTILATION.LATER
ELECTRICAL CONNENCTIONS WERE GIVEN
SOURCE OF WATER FRESH WATER FROM KAVERI THROUGH PANCHAYAT MUNICIPAL STREET WATER

PLUMBING FRESH WATER-COMMON STREET TAP, BORE WATER-PUMP

WATER TABLE -

GARBAGE DISPOSAL BURN THE DISPOSALS NEAR MARIYAMMAN TEMPLE

DRAINAGE SYSTEM DRAIN IS GIVEN IN COURTYARD WHICH IS COLLECTS THE WATER THAT FLOWS IN THE INTERIOR
AND DRAIN TOWARDS STREET , BLACK WATER AND BACKYARD UTILITIES WASTE WATER FLOWS IN
THE BACKYARD GARDEN

SALIENT FEATURES;

IT IS ONE OF THOSE HOUSE WHICH HAS MUD WALLING WHICH IS DIVIDED INTO THREE LAYERS WITH BOTTOM LAYER WITH BRICK
WALL, MIDDLE LAYER WITH COB WALL USING SURKHI AND THE TOP LAYER AGAIN WITH BRICK.IT IS THE ONLY HOUSE THAT
PARTITIONED ALONG COURTYARD SO IT IS NAMED AS TWIN HOUSE.

(PNCA) PRIME NEST COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE AND PLANNING TRICHIRAPALLI

CONCLUSION & INFERENCE:

 Understanding the village from micro to macro level

 The method of documentation of a house
 Relationship between built form and their culture
 Exploring different material & their structural capabilities
 Transformation of the built form along with the time and users
 Interacting with villagers and experiencing their life

Thank you…