Step into the Past

The 5,000-square-foot home of the Battathirippads syncs perfectly with its verdant surroundings. Located in the midst of agricultural land,the illam a traditional Namboothiri house has three courtyards and 20 rooms,even though just three people live in it farmer Anujan Battathirippad,his wife Sujatha,and their son Swaroop. Their other son,Sudeep,lives in Kochi. The 105-year-old house was constructed in place of an undated structure that caught fire,says Sudeep. The house,he says,offered shelter to Communist workers in the late 1940s,when the party was banned. Shaju Philip