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Go to any culturally rich rural area in Kerala. One thing that draws your attention will be the traditional Kerala houses, Nalukettus. They stand there with elegance, telling the tales of joint-family system, prevalent in the bygone era, in which the family members stayed together under a single roof for generations.
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These buildings are a good example of traditional Kerala architecture. As the name indicates (``Nalu'' means four in Malayalam), the Nalukkettu is a rectangular building which contains four blocks. All the four blocks open to an open courtyard. Huge pillars, extensive use of laterite and wood, sloping tiled roof etc are some other peculiarities of Nalukettus.


Nalukettus were designed adhering to the principles of Vasthu Sasthra and some of them were adorned with a carved wooden ceiling too. A well, a pond, small rooms and corridors are part of the structure of Nalukettus.


Many Nalukettus were dismantled or sold by the present generation of respective families due to the difficulty in maintaining it. Some architects try to recreate the Nalukettus on a different location using the pillars, tiles and wood of the original one. Many a Nalukettu has now been converted to a five-star hotel/resort/ ayurvedic resortby many hospitality giants or individuals.