Brahmin Hut – Goa

This is one of most eye-catching buildings in Shilpgram, due to the deep reddish-orange, iron-rich stone, known as. Laterite, of which it is constructed endowing the building a look of prosperity. This Hindu Brahmin hut from Vasco in Goa is a well-built and substantial dwelling, designed with a front-facing verandah. The front door takes one straight into a reasonably large, rectangular living room, and beyond this, a further door leads into a rather unusual courtyard, which is, in fact, has a lower square-shaped portion in its center and what amounts to a wide verandah all around. The lower square section is open to the sky and has a decorative container in the middle that is for the sole purpose of holding a sacred tulsi bush, much revered for its medical properties. This feature is known as a math. The surrounding courtyard is protected by a wide carved projection and it is here, in this section where much of the day-to-day domestic life is conducted. Outside, facing the front door, another tulsi bush is planted. This time however, its container takes the form of a short piller, hollowed out of the bush at the top, and is termed a stamb.