Wooden Door

This door is a reproduction of the doors of the Royal Chettinad palace in the South Arcot District of Tamil Nadu. The chieftains of this area were known as Chettiars and were also known as The Trader Princes of the Pallava Kings. The Chettinad houses used to be built in temple style with the house having a central courtyard containing a mini pond, tress of banyan, tamarind & neem, and large corridors connecting different room looking out on to the courtyard. The tiled corridors were supported on solid wooden rafters resting on huge intricately carved wooden pillars. The main door as the most beautiful one with a lot of embellishment and pomp. The door used to be made mostly of neem and mango, as this was considered auspicious for the inhabitants of the house. The structure consisted of three parts namely, the vasapadi (frame), kadavu (shutter) & alankaram (top panel and overlay). The frame was solid timber and was as big as the beams that were used to support the house. The doors were of double thickness supported by clasps of iron mounted on solid pins and adorned with pointed panchaloha studs to protect the door from attack of enemy elephants. The top panel housed the mantap, which contained the Kalash or deity of the house. The base of the mantap was surrounded by annams (swans) on the bottom tier, the Kamadhenu (holy cow of the gods) on the second tier - blessing the household with plentiful of happiness, the Annapakshi (bird of prosperity) on the top most tier, below an over hang of creepers and pillar sections (bodhi) symbolizing the strength of the clan. It is believed that during the famine of Vaigai River, the landlords used to employ labour to make these doors in exchange for morsels of food. The artisans of this traditional craft have almost but vanished due to lack of patrons.