Travel to Peninsular India: Southern Villages

Meet Gopalpur, a village west of Yadgir and closely studied by Alan Beals. Then see Eruvellipet, south of Villupuram and studied long ago by Gilbert Slater. Finally, visit two houses in the Krishna delta. (For more on Eruvellipet, see The Spirit of the Place; for more on Gopalpur, see The Western Wind.)

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A good picture, because it really puts the village of Gopalpur in the classic context of dry and almost barren plains. This is peninsular India west of Hyderabad--without irrigation but heavily humanized. The village itself lies in the grove in the background; this is the main road in.

Making a circuit through the village in mid-afternoon. People are indoors, and the place is silent except for the occasional voice.

A construction detail.

A bit farther west, in Shorapur (not Sholapur). This is a typical house design, with a swinging screen door leading from the street to a courtyard, around which the house is built.

Eruvellipet is a much richer place, thanks to irrigation. Much of the village wealth went to build this home, owned by a man whose ancestors controlled most of the surrounding countryside. Land reform has removed that base, but the mansion survives.

The front porch of the same house, with magnificent polished-log columns.

Around the corner, a street with more typical village housing.

Close-up.

A well-built village house at Ayyampet, a Cauvery delta town.

Deep in the Krishna Delta. The house is decorated with rice flour for pongal, a Fall harvest festival.  The cylindrical vessal is a rice store.