Some are made entirely of stone, others of wood. While some have slanted verandas, others look quite regular. They even have different names – Vazhiyambalam, Kallambalam, Kalithattu.
Forgotten and in disrepair, often on the verge of crumbling, these wayside halts that dot the landscape of Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam districts hark back to a time when bone-weary travellers or workers sought rest and shelter in them.
They usually comprised the structure, a Kalthotti from which animals could drink water, a Chumaduthangi (two vertical stones topped by a horizontal one) where people could unload the weight they carried, and a well that promised cool water.
To reclaim these structures from the ravages of time, the Directorate of Archaeology has taken up their conservation.
As a first step, the directorate launched a survey to identify such structures. The survey revealed that many of these wayside resting places had been encroached upon by people, were fenced off by other buildings, become a den of anti-social activities, or turned into a dumping ground. Some had even become casualties of road widening.
Besides the Kallambalam at Shanghumughom, Vazhiyambalams were identified at Perattil, near Varkala, Parasuvaikkal, Vettamukku, Thirumala, Kachani, Thattithamba, near Karakonam, Balaramapuram, Thamarakudi on the Kottarakara-Adoor route.
They vary in design, and a few of them are beautiful, Directorate of Archaeology officials said. There are ones with wooden rafters and a tiled roof and those with wooden platforms above a foundation-like structure. Some have thatched roofs. Some even have etchings on them.
A handful of them have already been restored, through chemical or structural conservation, G. Prem Kumar, Director, Directorate of Archaeology, said.
These include those at Shanghumughom and Perattil. The structural conservation of a Kalithattu has been taken up Thamarakudi.
The dismantled parts of a Vazhiyambalam at Kaimanam which became a casualty of road widening have now been kept at Madavoorpara.
Only a few of the Vazhiyambalams are protected monuments. The Directorate of Archaeology alone cannot conserve them; the participation of local bodies is also needed, Mr. Prem Kumar said.
Administrative sanction for an amount of Rs.2 lakh has been received this year for cleaning and chemical conservation of Vazhiyambalams, the officials said.
This year, work on five of them is slated to be taken up. Once it is over, it is hoped these remnants of the past will stay on.
