Food and Shelter for the Itinerant Pilgrims: Maratha Chattrams in Southernmost India

Abstract

A chattram, also called choultry, primarily refers to a wayside inn or resthouse for travelers, mostly pilgrims. They may halt here for a meal or for a few hours or even for a few days or weeks. Such chattrams were built almost throughout India by many kings and queens, ministers and merchants. Although there are copious references to such chattrams in ancient and medieval literature and inscriptions, actual specimens of such chattrams are limited in number. Many of them appear to have been destroyed during wars or in the course of later developments and constructions. In Tamil Nadu, in southern India, the Tanjavur Maratha dynasty (1676-1855) that ruled this region with Tanjavur as the capital, erected scores of such chattrams. Some of these chattrams have survived to this day. Many of these chattrams are massive and elegant buildings displaying innovative architectural features. Some of them also bear beautiful sculptures and wall paintings akin to those in the medieval temples of the region. Mainly based on archival and field researches, the present paper analyzes the historical, architectural and artistic importance of these chattrams and simultaneously, probes the role of these institutions in the socio-economic life of the Maratha period. The paper concludes with a brief account of the present-day condition of these chattrams and the ways in which they could be put to adaptive reuse according to the exigencies of contemporary times.