Traditional Indian Flooring

Imagine the harsh summer sun, beating down on you. There’s no respite from the hot winds blowing across the streets. Until you step barefoot, into a traditional built Indian home. Cool tiles underfoot soothe your soles, relieving all manner of tiredness, and in short, welcome you into cool confines, insulated against the worst of summer heat.

Different parts of India have their own flooring traditions, dependent on locally available raw material, craftsmanship and the extent of use of cultural symbols.

Athangudi tiles, named after the place in Chettinad, Tamil Nadu, where they are manufactured, come in myriad colours and patterns and are made by a unique process, using local soil. These tiles are testimony to the rich cultural heritage of the Chettiars, who traded extensively in the days of yore, especially with Burma. The Chettiars effectively adapted many an influence, to their own brand of local craftsmanship. The designs and colours used in Athangudi tiles are still those of a bygone era, with minimal contemporisation.

Recycling has been a concept that has long-existed in India. Traditionally, cow-dung was used to plaster flooring. Mandana is one such tradition, from Rajasthan, where red clay and cow dung are mixed to make the floor. It is then painted with traditional symbols with rice paste and coloured powders.

Terracotta tiles have graced many an old bungalow of the British Raj. Red Oxide was used to polish it and give it that unique texture and to deepen the reddishness of the terracotta. Clearly, local materials and techniques were used to good effect in those days to minimize the effects of the harsh tropical weather.

While Mandana and Athangudi tiles are patterned, the latter also come in unpatterned rich colours. Terracotta tiles come in a fixed range of earthy colours, depending on the place from which the clay originates.

There is a resurgence of demand for these seemingly rustic flooring options, as more and more people are looking to merge the contemporary with the traditional to give their homes a unique identity. Not to mention, that the options are eco-friendly and ideal for tropical weather.

Compared to most modern flooring options, they are also more cost-effective. Also, architects are returning to old materials and techniques, to give a fresh, yet traditional perspective to contemporary spaces.

 Pic by author

An edited version of this article was published in the October 2005 issue of At A Glance.