Bhatkal Navayath house relocated in Manipal

OF late we are witnessing the wiping of Bhatkal's traditional siens (streets). One by one, the centuries-old magnificent houses of the Navayaths are being pulled down to accommodate matchbox structures. With this invaluable pieces of art and a leisurely lifestyle redolent of the past are also being destroyed.

V. Shenoy-headed the Hasta Shilpa Trust, Manipal, has taken up the task of preserving old buildings of coastal and Malnad Karnataka and relocate them in the Heritage Village which has come up in Manipal. It has been Shenoy's mission to identify heritage houses on the verge of being dismantled or destroyed and buy and reassemble them.

One such house and a sein-like series of house facades in the Heritage Village are of the Bhatkal Navayaths. Shenoy collected salvaged material from the debris of demolished houses in Bhatkal and has beautifully recreated a Navayath house retaining all the original architectural characteristics and using all the original material.

Author - Aftab Husain Kola