Knowing More.... Houseboat

Hi everybody! This is the second article on knowing more about the icons on the karimeen incorporated T-shirts you have, or will buy soon i hope ;) Today's article is about a modern design movement that only appeared in this beautiful state in the 90's, but has now become one of THE most recognizable icons of kerala. Welcome ladies and gentlemen, guys and gals, to the kerala houseboat.:

Aren't they beautiful? Looking at them, one would assume these sort of boats have been around for ages. Well yes, and no. Houseboats have only been around for about 25 years, but kettuvalloms have been around for way longer than that.... confused? Well, there's more to read in this article guys, read on!

The Malayalam word for houseboat is kettuvallom, but when you translate the word into English, it doesn't say 'house-boat' or 'boat-house'.... instead it translates into 'tied-boat'. Now, if this thing had been around for centuries, it would probably have been called something like 'kudilvallom or veeduvallom'....so the hunch is ... that this is a new thing based on some old thing.... hmmmm.....

Now, when the language means 'tied-boat', they mean the construction of these boats, because, believe it or not, these boats are wooden boats that are held together not by nails, but by rope! A unique and interesting style of construction that has been in practice for centuries, these boats are tied together using 2 types of coir ropes.

The commonly used wood is called jack-wood, and it's pretty durable. That with coir, a type of rope resistant to seawater, and a final coat of black resin (made from cashew kernels which makes it immune to many mollusks that may eat through the wood), means that this is a super eco-friendly piece of design also meant to take heavy loads and last for as long as possible. All the material required to construct this boat is found within kerala, so this makes it a truly local and indigenous style of boat construction! Daym! guess these people were so hip they were doing eco-designed boats before it was cool!

Well, now for the purpose of use... these boats were never originally built to build lavish rooms upon them...... nah, their purpose was more basic.... they were cargo boats.

Kerala has been called the 'Venice of Asia' for a reason... there are several canals and waterways that interlink the villages near the shores and backwaters, so boats were ones the preferred method of transporting heavy goods around. Once technology advanced and trucks and roadways appeared, the boats were slowly phased out. Many of the craftsmen who were building these were disappearing... that's when a really cool dude came up with an idea... TOURISM!

The dude is Babu Varghese, and in the late 80s he came up with a plan to develop kerala tourism by conducting water tours with revamped boats! The first boat rolled out in '91, and the rest is history... Now the industry has revived oldschool construction techniques and the tourism industry continues to thrive!

Well, thank you Babu for being an awesome part of kerala design! Creating a distinctive local style while being true to indigenous construction techniques and environmental sustainability has made your idea a truly great one which will be a legacy shared by tourists for many more years to come!

(disclaimer: I don't own the photos of the houseboats in this article, with exception to my own icon design on top)

Sources of references:

http://themarineinstallersrant.blogspot.my/2011/09/yogattorney-and-kerala-houseboats-of.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artocarpus_hirsutus

http://www.tourindiakerala.com/

http://ecoclub.com/news/097/interview2.html