Childbirth room? It’s next to the period room … the astonishing Kerala homes designed for women’s bodies

The tharavad is a traditional style of housing designed for and run by women. Our writer went on a pilgrimage to find her own family’s – and uncovered a way of life fast disappearing A chance conversation with a distant family member led me to Palayil, the name bestowed on my ancestral tharavad . The latter is the name given to a house designed around women. Ours had stood, in some form, since at least the 17th century. My great-grandmother, Palayil Sreedevi, was the last woman in my line to live in one. It was in the southern Indian village of Tholanur. My great-grandmother belonged to the Na

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