Beautiful House Amid Lush Greenery
Vorvady House, founded in the year 1893 by Thimmappa Heggade, is located seven kms off Hiriadka in Udupi taluk. (Vorvady Thimmappa Hegde was one of the thirtyseven eminent Bunt men who were in the core committee that laid the foundation for the Bunts Hostel and the Bunts Sangha in Mangalore in 1907.) Vorvady House is an example of traditional Bunt residential structure combining the beauty of colonial architecture. The Hebbagilu portion contains a raised verandah on both sides of the ceremonial entry door with a porch jutting out in front of the main door. On the upper floor of this Hebbagilu, a lovely little portico projects itself to the outside world, opening the visitor to a 180 degree view of the landscape around. This structure combines the elements of traditional architecture with modern perspective planning.
As the visitor enters the house through the ceremonial front door, one passes through a visitors hall. To the left of the visitor’s hall is a staircase leading to the upper floor of the Hebbagilu which, as already mentioned, contains the beautiful little portico opening up to the greenery around. The upper floor consists of a few rooms meant for special guests. On the ground floor, the visitors hall leads through a verandah on both sides to the main assembly hall studded with two giant wooden pillars with exquisite carvings. On the left side of the assembly hall is a big wooden door providing entrance to commoners into the house from the south. This portion also contains a room for the home deity, the Kodmanthaya. For the benefit of those people who are not in a position to gain entry to the main assembly hall for any reason, there is a small room reserved for the deity of the house on the left corner of the Hebbagilu. Any passerby could pay obeisance to the deity from this point as well.
A right side door in the assembly hall leads to the inner portion of the house. It consists of a hall for women. A staircase leads to the upper floor consisting of a few bedrooms with fine view of the greenery around. The upper floor of the main house also consists of a private assembly hall and an anteroom for storage.
On the ground floor of the main house, the inner hall of private assembly (mostly used by women of the household) leads to the main kitchen through a L-shaped corridor which is used as a dining hall for the entire household. Through the northern door of the corridor, one comes out to the second courtyard of the house which also contains the ceremonial well of the house. The general bathroom is located in the northeastern corner of this second courtyard.
The ceremonial field, the venue of the annual buffalo race (kambla), lies to the south of the house. A grand view of the kambla is obtained from the southern wing of the Hebbagilu. Vorvady House presents a highly aesthetic look in terms of perspective planning, surrounded by lush greenery, rice fields, coconut gardens amid wild streams flowing past big boulders, tingling to the divine music of the spheres.
The backyard of the house is a vast enclosure used for processing of agricultural produce. A cowshed is also located on the right side of the courtyard. Beyond the walled structure of the backyard is the open area leading to forest lands.
