We can renovate a house the old way and leave an invisible thread of heritage to connect to the new generation. At a time, when it is believed that old houses are meant to be demolished, Sankaramangalam, an ancestral home in Eraviperoor, near Thiruvalla, is showing that there is no wealth greater than pure tradition. Here, what the new generation has done is not just renovate the ancestral home that is 309 years old, but also reclaim the tradition and memories by adding those parts that were lost in between just like they were.
The house was built by Kunjumman Tharakan in 1704. The house had three sections and it faced north. At that time, it had seven rooms. But, in the course of time, one section of the house was lost. The new generation has seen the house with only a southern section and a western section. However, the image of the ancestral home was there in the minds of the senior members of the family.
It cannot be lost
Today, the family members are part of the 12th generation of Kunjumman Tharakan. The family that inherited the ancestral home moved to the United States 10 years ago. After that, the house had remained closed. The demand to protect the ancestral home was made by the new generation, which realised that the house with wooden floors, walls and roof will be destroyed by termites if it remained closed.
An idea to renovate and protect the house arose after George Kuruvila, who was staying near the house, took the responsibility to look after it. With all members of the family at home and abroad announcing their full support for this, a way was cleared for the house to regain its youth.
The first step was to find out how the old house used to look. All the information that could be sourced from the elders and the history of family meetings was collected. As per the available information, it became clear that it was the eastern section of the old house which was lost.
Basement at the same place
The family approached Kanippayyur Krishnan Namboodiripad to draw a plan to add the eastern section. He came to see the house and measured the existing rooms. After that he drew the design and the plan of the eastern section. When they dug for basement at the place that was marked by Kanippayyur, after only one foot they found the remains of the old basement. Kanippayyur had given them a plan that did not deviate even a bit from the size and shape of the previous eastern section.
A kitchen and a dining room were included in the newly added eastern section. In the model of old ancestral homes and residences of Brahmins, there was a well near the wall of this house's kitchen too. The old house's floor, walls and roof were made of rosewood, iron wood of Malabar and iron wood of Burma. The same type of wood was used for the construction of the eastern section. They had to struggle a lot to find wood that was about 300 years old. Like that they collected old tiles for the roof also.
The verandas and steps of the southern and western sections were made of laterite stone. Many parts of the verandas were in a worn out state after bearing the footsteps of more than 10 generations. In all these places, laterite stones were replaced with granite slabs.
The old house had floors paved with wood and tiles. Since floor tiles in two rooms were damaged, they were replaced with wood. For this also, old wood was used. The older generation remembers that the rooms paved with tiles once had floors plastered with cow dung. The walls of the house that had storage rooms and cellars were made of wood, and they were protected. They did not bother to change the short doors and windows. The doors are only four and a half feet high, and people have to bend their heads to enter and exit the house. The new generation here would like to see this not as a difficulty, but as a respect for tradition.
As part of the renovation, all furniture made of teak and rosewood was repaired and polished. Even the newly added rooms have only old furniture. George Kuruvila arranged them from old furniture markets in places like Madurai, Karaikudi and Pondicherry. Old lights and curios too have reached Eraviperoor from these places. Family members like Dr Titus Sankaramangalam, Thomas Oommen and Prakash Thomas Mathew were active in supervising the construction.
A new gatehouse
They rebuilt the gatehouse that was lost some time ago and brought laterite stones from Kasaragod for the purpose. They renovated the protective wall of the centuries-old well also using laterite stones. Near the well there is a big bucket that is carved from a single piece of stone. This stone bucket was given to a head of the Sankaramangalam family as dowry. The elders of that house recollected this stone bucket when they saw the news and photographs of the renovation of the ancestral home and its dedication in the newspaper.
The function dedicating the ancestral home was held on May 25. In the decorated front courtyard of the house, Pooyam Thirunal Gauri Parvathibai dedicated it by lighting an oil lamp. Anyone can come here to know about the artistry of yore. Its gatehouse is never closed.