Verandah or Patio has been an important part in traditional homes of South part of India, but in this post I will focus on Tamilnadu and Kerala.The main entrance or verandah, called Thinnai in Tamilnadu, can be found at the entrance of all kind of Tamil houses, from the humbles to the sumptuous ones.Traditionally Thinnai are raised platforms, running the entire front width of the structure on either side of the entrance , with wooden or stone pillars to support it.
via Mantravepathur
via Sarathavilas
via the bangala
Every house had a thinnai in olden days. Thinnai are the social media those days where elders sat and discussed politics,gossip with their neighbours and children played there with their friends.
A village street view with Thinnai.
Wealthier people adorn the pillars with nice carvings and tiled floors (typically with Athangudi Tiles which I will talk about in a later post)
In Kerala we can still find lot of traditional style houses with Poomukham, same as Thinnai.Usually a chair is placed on the Poomukham for the head of the family and this tradition continues even now.
via Happho
Thinnai are wonderful place to enjoy outdoors, sunny mornings or rainy evenings with a cup of coffee.But with the current pace of life,this tradition is slowly forgotten as older houses are getting converted into high rise apartments or hotels in the cities and towns.
