THINNAI-VARANDA-ERAYATHU- SIT OUT-VERANDAH Dear friends,
The portion in front of the main hall of a home or buildingis called thinna in Tamil and varanda or erayathu in Malayalam. In old homesstill it is there. In modern homes the same area is designated as sit out. Inbuildings still it is called verandah. My home in native had verandah. During day time it was used to study and discussthings with class mates. Elders used the area to discuss things with guests eithersitting on the bench/cemented floor provided. I had started my studies writingin sand provided in the varanda of a nearby Variam house. Variasyar was myfirst teacher. Present day sit outs are made either in theform of square or rectangle type with sitting arrangement with back support.Back support is made either in wood or in RCC to appear like wood by painting.Earlier sit outs were small and closed. Present day sit outs are large and notclosed. My nostalgic memories went to thinna/ Varanda. Sincerely, Gopala Krishnan 27-11-2021. 1. Varandayilnilkkarathu. (Do not stand in the verandah) During examination time in the high school, there wereblack board displays”VARANDAYILNILKKARATHU”. (Do not stand in the veranda) Someexamination for other standards may be going on. Teachers may be rearrangingthe answer papers or re numbering the desks for next examination. Studentsstanding or talking might be a big disturbance. In college display was inEnglish. This display was changed in college before practicallabs during examination. “DONOT LOITER NEAR THE LAB”. Either the arrangements in the lab could gowrong on distraction, or the students may grasp from arrangements the topic ofexamination The school and college verandahs were/are wider morethan 8 feet in width. 2. Enjoymentsin verandahs. Rather than lecture hall verandah was liked by all studentsfor personal talks, either males or females or mixed. The freedom at Verandahcould not be in the class room. Especially during intervals it was customary tostand out and talk. While the lecturer or professor came with a smile weused to enter the class. The verandahshave witnessed budding of loves among many students later flowering anddeveloping to marriage. Though decades have passed after my college education theverandahs enjoyment has not changed for students. I worked as senior lecturer from 1991-1996 in ourTelecommunication training Centre at Trivandrum. Normally it was a practice forlecturers go together to lecture halls a few minutes later giving ample timefor verandahs talks. While we near the lecture halls, the trainees entered thelecture hall. Coming from different areas many had to talk matters and subjectsamong staff trainees. The training Centre verandahs become places fordeveloping love and later marriage among new recruit trainees. Many could beclass mates from same engineering or arts and Science College. They felt morefreedom after joining the training Centre. 3. Varanda and deepam. (Lighting Lamp in verandahs) In old nair families it is a practice, to light thenilavilakku in the front varanda in the middle during evenings. Some nairhouses had in addition one or two suspended lamps which were also lighted. Reciting“Deepam, Deepam” the youngster ladies after bath or wash bring the lamp andkeep in varanda. Nowadays people just pray after the lamp is brought for one ortwo minutes. In modern homes the lamp is brought to sit out and kept. However most Brahmin families lighted nilavilakku before AARA and not in varandaexcept for religious festivals like karthika, deepavali, ashtami rohini etc. Smalllamp was lighted before holy basil mount. Nowadays lamp is lighted in prayer rooms; sit out and before holybasil. 4. Thinnayilaeukkarungo (Earatthu Keri irunnattae) The first welcome to the just known or guests was invitingthem to sit in the verandahs by the receiving person. After the host came,either they talked in the veranda or called inside depending onthe type of guests. In old iyer homes Nera (wooden wall) was the supportif sitting in the floor of thinna. A small floor mat called thatukku was providedfor sitting. As years passed, benches and chairs were provided in the verandahs.Thadukku disappeared. Nampoothiri illams have verandahs even now. With allcourtesy, they receive people to veranda and offer seat. About three years backI had been to a nampoothiri illam for discussion about some offerings in theirtemple at Ameda in Kerala. The modernbuilt illam, had a spacious verandahs with half wall, and the hostess receivedme asking to sit in verandahs sofa. After three minutes the nampoothri came andoccupied his chair by the side of his table with a welcome smile for talks. The specialty I found in the illamwas the women freely talking with other caste men. 5. Verandahs asreading area. Many use the verandahs as the reading area, enjoyingsunlight and reading newspaper. Now mosthomes get newspaper subscribed though important news repeatedly heard from TVnews channels. My wife prefers hermorning coffee sitting in the sit out. 7. Raised verandahsand half closed verandahs. The verandahs could be in the same level of rooms orjust half feet below. For getting in to verandahs, steps are provided fromground level. In nair houses andnampoothri illams, we can see water kept with a kindi for WASHING LEGS BEFOREENTERING. In Brahmin homes this practice is after upakarma andcoming back to home. Similarly after attending any death etc., though bath hadtaken, still legs are washed before entering. Other times it is normally notfollowed. 8. Aramathil(partialwall) A finished wall with sitting slab arrangement aboutone and a half feet above was provided in some houses except in the entrancefor varandas. Many use this sitting arrangement even for receiving guests. More than sitting it is/ was a protection toverandahs. Many find this slab an enjoyment place for chewing pan, watching outsideetc. sitting on it. To avoid falling laterdays grill work was provided in many housesabove slab. In an agraharam home I recently found a photograph ofsuch a thinna with computer kept and an iyer working SITTING IN THE FLOOR. 9. Mannarsalaand thinna. In the mannarsala illam the valiyamma sits inside thethalam near the ara close to the woodendoor, and give darsan and remedies to devotees for their problems. The devotees sit in the verandahs before the doorand offer prayers and talk of their problems to amma. 10. Desatanam-Malayalam film Desatanam, Malayalam film is based on a nampoothriBrahmin story. One may recollect the scene where the Nampoothiri (LateUnnikrishnan Nampoothiri) using veranda to play chess with variar .Erethu isthe word used by local nayar people for verandah. Offering sitting in varanda is considered asa respect. 11 . Annan eppopovan, thinna eppo ozhiyum (When does the brother go out, I can relax on thinnacot) Some village people provided a small cot like fixedarrangement to one side in thinna in Tamilnadu. This is the relaxing area. Ifelder brother occupy it, younger might be waiting to occupy it when he releasedit. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/2042700198.2251154.1638024228835%40mail.yahoo.com.
